I sow everything at this time of year -- tomatoes, marigolds, petunias, herbs and many others. In fact, I did my first 13 containers today and have two of zinnias and one marigold. I've been doing this for a few years now, and though I've never done zinnias this way I'm sick of them not sprouting when I direct sow so I figured I'd try them this way. Marigolds do fine at this time of year, so why not zinnias. Nothing's going to come up until the temperature and the soil in the containers warm up anyway. This isn't a way to get a headstart on the season. It's a way to utilize nature's own way, and free up space on the windowsills. :) BTW, I've had the occasional dud container, but very occasional, and the one time I'm pretty sure it was the seed because I tried again in the mid-spring with the same seed and got nothing then as well. Caryl

In fact it overwinters well for me, here in Seattle--the Asian mustard greens growing in my raised beds (albeit sheltered from the wet by plastic covers) are looking pretty and robust after even this year's unusual chilliness. Germination, too, of cold-hardy greens has not been a problem for me in our mild-ish winter/early spring months. What has seemed the main hindrance is wetness--all that rain that we get makes for water-logged soil that, as corrine1 suggests, leads to rot.

But a zone 8 climate, assuming that is accurate for your location, can often harvest well into late November. Even here I harvest ripe fruit until end of October. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Zoning number have a high co relation to frost free season and winter hardness issues but not meaningful for summer growing/gardening. I have gardened in ATL, GA, zone 7b/8a and I am in Seattle area also zone 7b/8a. The two climates , as far as summer growing is concerned have no resemblance. Even in July( one of the warmest months) our nigh temperature are in mid to high 50s On the snipping issue: Here is my understanding and view point. Everything has a cost. In tomatoes, plant direct a lot of energy to fruits production(seeds). That is the ultimate goal and mission of the fruits bearing plants: PRODUCE SEEDS TO GUARANTEE THE SURVIVAL OF ITS GENE, as much as possible. Where does the energy come from to grow from flower to fruits? It is part of the limited resource of the plant. So it is logical that if new flowers are snipped the plant will spend its energy somewhere else, like the existing fruits. What do we do with BER affected fruits ? We pitch them as soon as we find them, because we do not want the plant spend/waste any energy on them. It is also widely believed that unpruned plants may grow more fruits (in terms of numbers) but generally they will be mostly on the smaller size side. So then by preventing any new fruit development, more energy should be directed towards the existing fruits. This, in my view, is a PAT OF the concept called "pro Active Gardening"

I moved in before Quartz install except for the sink cabinet. I did figure out my cooktop drawers but I think I removed the items for the install. I took items out of my top drawers - but wasn't really necessary. My quartz ended up being delayed to an accident in the truck on the way to my house - I was so frustrated and KD and GC said go ahead and put things back. Even though I planned locations and was pretty close, I made a few modifications on shelf heights and what went into the drawers - the biggest issue was no first drawer under my cooktop - so had to figure where to put the implements. It actually worked out fine.