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Last date for starting annuals by seed in Zone 5

17 years ago

Since this is my first experience at growing my own plants I was wondering if someone out there might be able to tell me when I probably should stop starting annuals from seeds for zone 5. I planted several containers this past week of annuals, and wonder if I should be calling it quits for the season. ????? Thanks so much.

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Comments (4)

muffienh
17 years ago
That's a good question. I am going to plant some alyssum and zinnias and I hear they take 5-7 weeks to flower, but I think I am optimisitic too.
mary_max
Original Author
17 years ago
Well that sounds okay 5 t0 7 weeks should work. I think we will have time to see them perform. Usually we can count on Sept being nice in my area. I too have zinnias that are just sprouting. I think this is my third planting of annuals. So hard to call it quits.
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is the house heated??? they generate a lot of heat during the day .. but can get really cold at night.. and until you can maintain at least 60 to 70 degrees at night ... i dont think you can grow seeds nor maintain seedlings... when i used to do a few seeds.. INDOORS... i learned not to start until almost march .. since last frost/freeze was nearly 6/1 in my z5 .... so though i understand the itch to get going.. i suspect you are at least a month away ... which is the perfect time to be planning it all ... if you have any local greenhouses nearby.. a quick call to them.. might get you their schedule ... and give you an idea for your area ... z5 is pretty wide ranging.. how about giving us the closest large city for reference ... and also give us an idea of what you want to grow ... some things.. perennials .. might not mind the cold this time of year.. to stratify the seed ... but its way early for tender annuals .. IMHO ... more info please ... ken
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I think the earliest ones wouldn't start producing until early november. So you'd need some kind of season extender. If you put them in containers, you could bring them inside on cold nights. And I read that Matt's wild cherry may even survive a mild frost. Maybe a really early cherry variety that "realized" the season was coming to and end soon, would hurry up and produce a few. You'd also have the problem of the days getting shorter, so that would have an effect. It might be worth doing for the experience, so you can see for yourself what will happen. But I wouldn't expect much, if any, tomato production. I'm still transplanting the last of mine, and I think I'll get some worthwhile production from them. But I think it's getting pretty late even for transplants.
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mje769
17 years ago
It is to hard for me to quit planting, I am sooo addicted when it comes to planting perennials and annuals! Here in my zone five it stays very warm till October, sometimes November, our weather pattern is so goofed up the last couple years, makes me wonder if we are going to be a different zone in a few more years!
I am going to plant marigold & summer-sun sunflower seeds today, time will tell if they have time to bloom..sure hope so.
Good luck!
Marsha
janetr
17 years ago
If you can't quit with the seeds, switch to perennials! July to September is prime time for perennials seeding.

Stokes has a list of seeds appropriate for those months. Just the ones they sell of course, but it's a good place to start. The links are at the bottom.

Janet's Garden Blog

Here is a link that might be useful: Stokes perennial seeds

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