Yes for me they transplant well to both the ground and into pots. But you do have to watch out for snails and other sprout eating bugs. And since I am a heavy sower I just plant out little plugs which usually mean a few near the edges will wilt and maybe die but the ones in the middle will be just fine. And I have found some of my pots that were stored over the winter to have reseeded them selves and I usually let one of them grow to see what mother nature wanted to plant out. hehe You can take you time and alot of work of transplanting the tiny seedlings into the flats to get bigger or just leave in the milk jugs and just take care of them still have to watch out for snails (snail bait works great at that time of the year)because the snails and slugs will crawl into the jugs and hunker down for a buffet. So I just watch them and then trandplant them out after mothers day. With the jugs with low gernination you might be able to plant out the single seedlings. Just depends on heavy you sow and weather conditions. I had maybe 3 or so jugs of petunias that had zero gernination last year who knows why one was even a commerical pack of seed. But there was more than enough seedling to "find" places for. Paula

You can get seeds for either from Sheffield's, and several mail-order nurseries selld the trees, but only the Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) would be acceptable in Mississippi. The Giant Sequoia will die from a fungal infection probably almost immediately - does not do well with heat + humidity. Another recommendation, which is deciduous, but is a "redwood" is Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, which should do OK in Southern MS since I have seen people say it does well in Houston, which should be a similar climate.

Planting "Impatiens" anywhere in Northern California now is not a good idea. Even in the mild winter areas of Southern California, Impatiens will not give you their best performance this time of year. The best bets for planting in any part of Caliofornia now would be: Tall (over 3 feet) -- Alcea rosea HOLLYHOCK Campanula pyramidalis CHIMNEY BELLFLOWER Digitalis purpurea FOXGLOVE Verbascum bombyciferum SILVER MULLEIN Medium (1-3 feet) -- Antirrhinum majus SNAPDRAGON Digitalis purpurea Foxy FOXGLOVE Matthiola incana STOCK Salvia argentea SILVER SAGE Scabiosa atropurpurea PINCUSHION FLOWER Short (under 1 foot) -- Antirrhinum majus SNAPDRAGON Bellis perennis ENGLISH DAISY Brassica oleracea var. Acephala FLOWERING CABBAGE, KALE Calendula officinalis POT MARIGOLD Campanula medium CANTERBURY BELLS, CUP-AND-SAUCER Chrysanthemum multicaule YELLOW CLUMP DAISY Chrysanthemum paludosum WHITE CLUMP DAISY Clarkia amoena GODETIA Cynoglossum amabile CHINESE FORGET-ME-NOT Dianthus barbatus SWEET WILLIAM Dianthus chinensis, hybrids PINKS Matthiola incana STOCK Myosotis sylvatica (alpestris) FORGET-ME-NOT Primula malacoides FAIRY PRIMROSE Primula obconica GERMAN PRIMROSE Viola cornuta VIOLA Viola tricolor JOHNNY-JUMP-UP Viola x wittrockiana PANSY Direct Sown -- Agrostemma gracilis (A. githago) CORNCOCKLE Amberboa (Centaurea) moschata SWEET SULTAN Calendula officinalis POT MARIGOLD Centaurea cyanus CORNFLOWER, BACHELORS BUTTONS Chrysanthemum carinatum TRICOLOR DAISY Chrysanthemum segetum CORN MARIGOLD Clarkia unguiculata (C. elegans) CLARKIA Consolida regalis/ajacis LARKSPUR Eschscholzia californica CALIFORNIA POPPY Gaillardia pulchella BLANKET FLOWER Gypsophila elegans ANNUAL BABYÂS-BREATH Iberis umbellata CANDYTUFT Lunaria annua HONESTY Malcomia maritima VIRGINIA STOCK Malope trifida MALOPE Matthiola longipetala bicornis EVENING-SCENTED STOCK Nigella damascena LOVE-IN-A-MIST Papaver commutatum FLANDERS POPPY Papaver rhoeas CORN POPPY, SHIRLEY POPPY Papaver somniferum PEONY POPPY Reseda odorata MIGNONETTE Silene coeli-rosa ROSE-OF-HEAVEN Tropaeolum majus NASTURTIUM NATIVE WILDFLOWERS Camissonia bistorta CALIFORNIA SUN CUP Clarkia amoena GODETIA Clarkia bottae BOTTAEÂS CLARKIA Clarkia unguiculata ELEGANT CLARKIA, FAREWELL-TO-SPRING Collinsia heterophylla CHINESE HOUSES Eschscholzia caespitosa DWARF CALIFORNIA POPPY Eschscholzia californica CALIFORNIA POPPY Gilia capitata QUEEN ANNEÂS THIMBLES Gilia tricolor BIRDÂS EYE GILIA Lasthenia glabrata GOLDFIELDS Layia platyglossa TIDYTIPS Limnanthes douglasii MEADOWFOAM Linanthus androsaceus FALSE BABY STARS Linanthus grandiflorus MOUNTAIN PHLOX Lupinus bicolor FAIRY LUPINE Lupinus densiflorus GOLDEN LUPINE Lupinus succulentus ARROYO LUPINE Lupinus nanus SKY LUPINE Madia elegans ELEGANT TARWEED Mentzelia lindleyi BLAZING STARS Nemophila maculata FIVESPOT Nemophila menziesii BABY BLUE-EYES Phacelia campanularia CALIFORNIA BLUEBELL Phacelia tanacetifolia TANSY-LEAF PHACELIA Platystemon californicum CREAM CUPS Salvia columbariae CHIA Stylomecon heterophylla WIND POPPY "Hardy" perennials to grow as winter/spring annuals Alcea ficifolia ANTWERP HOLLYHOCK Aquilegia COLUMBINE Aurinia saxatilis BASKET OF GOLD Campanula lactiflora, C. persicifolia BELLFLOWER Catanache caerulea CUPIDÂS DART Coreopsis x grandiflora TICKSEED Delphinium DELPHINIUM Delphinium grandiflorum DWARF CHINESE DELPHINIUM Dianthus deltoides, D. gratianopolitanus, D. plumarius PINKS Digitalis lanata GRECIAN FOXGLOVE Echinacea purpurea PURPLE CONEFLOWER Erysimum x allionii SIBERIAN WALLFLOWER Erysimum cheiri WALLFLOWER Papaver croceum (nudicaule) ICELAND POPPY Penstemon x gloxinioides BEARDTONGUE Primula x polyantha ENGLISH PRIMROSE Primula sinensis CHINESE PRIMROSE Rudbeckia hirta BLACK-EYED SUSAN Joe

"it's just not done" I think the pic you've already posted here would be of more concern to most people than a closeup of the tree canopy! Not completely discounting the lightning theory...but my guess would be if a tree this close to houses was struck, it would have been a quite notable event for at least all of the immediately adjacent houses. I think glass panes can be broken by the noise at that range, and the electrical surge via ground can damage appliances. And at least throwing a branch or two down from the canopy or in some other way memorializing itself. But looking at the picture it does appear the damage radiates from a single path coming down from the top of the canopy. Maybe it was a smaller strike that was a finger of a bigger one?