I would start them all indoors but I am also a seedling control freak.

I'm in your area.
I would start everything inside but:
Cosmos
Cilantro
Dill

Thanks plantlady! I'm glad to hear from someone in my neck of the woods : ) BTW, when do you usually start your seeds? I know it's early, but I'm thinking of starting some of the herbs now, since most of them will stay in a container anyway.

I have grown Cosmos from seed once before and direct sowed, but that was simply because I waited too late to start indoors. Basil and oregano are the only other ones that I have grown from seed before, and I did start those indoors and transplant to a larger container successfully. I have read that parsley doesn't like to be transplanted. If I start indoors, is there a way to increase my chances of success when transplanting outdoors?

Might as well wait until early to mid-March. Most of these will want to be outside (even in pots) but I don't leave seedlings out overnight until nighttime lows are 40 or above. Peppers and basil I might not leave out until it's a little warmer even than that.

The one I'm not positive about is the asclepias which might need to be chilled for a few weeks. That one you could plant, cover and sit out on the back porch or in the snow for a month.

Asclepias needs to overcome dormancy by spending a couple of months in moist cold. I sow mine in pots on moistened planting mix, cover, and put them in an unheated tool room until they start to germinate -- late March, early April. Same may be true of Agastache, but I don't remember for sure. Parsley also germinates better for me if it's just sown outdoor (self-seeding usually) and left over the winter, so you might do the same with it. The annuals like basil, etc., will germinate right away (they're native to climates where they don't risk freezing if they come up early, so they don't have a cold dormancy period).

i wintersow asclepias and agastache, and they do really well. i always direct sow cosmos. i start dill outside in pots/seed starter mix sometime around last frost date. i have not started spearmint, but most mints don't need much special treatment, so i would try at least some of the seed direct sown.

Thank you everyone for the great feedback! I just read through the FAQ's on the winter sowing forum, which was very helpful. It looks like winter sowing is the way to go for the oregano, thyme, and asclepias. They listed agastache for spring sowing, which is probably right for my zone, as the seed packet says after last frost. Couldn't find any info about winter sowing the verbascum.

I've already started my seeds.
Waiting until March doesn't seem to work for me.(and I've been doing this a long time)
What I usually do with parsley is plop the whole container of seedlings into the ground. I can then thin them without disturbing the roots.

Plantlady, if you've already started your seeds, what do you do with the seedlings until the last frost date, which usually isn't until May around here? I don't have any grow lights, or any space to put one, except maybe an unheated garage. I think that is why the winter sowing sounds so appealing to me.

Oh...I have lots of places.
I have grow lights in my basement.
And I have a greenhouse to put them out into in about March.
I do some Winter sowing too.

highalt -

If you don't have any lights set up for growing seedlings, you'd be better off starting everything on your list outside by either direct sowing (Cosmos) or winter sowing.

None of the plants you mentioned will grow inside without lights for the 4-8 weeks before the last frost. Well, maybe some of the herbs could, but not the rest, and I'm sorry I don't know which ones for sure, but basil and parsley grow on windowsills, don't they? Parsley is a weird one...look it up, but as I recall, it needs very high heat to germinate, like 80-85°, but then the seedlings would like to grow a little cooler (reg room temperature).

Lime

I second what Lime said. You will definitely need lights to keep anything going for more than 4 weeks or so without getting terrible leggy.

plantlady:
"Oh...I have lots of places.
I have grow lights in my basement.
And I have a greenhouse to put them out into in about March.
I do some Winter sowing too."

Have you been spying on me? LOL

Yes
But I won't tell all I know!

Thanks for suggesting winter sowing! It looks like almost all of my seeds can be started that way... except the basil, peppers, and maybe the African daisy and Cosmos, which would be better off direct sowed or started indoors in April.

I bought several seed starting trays with the peat pellets hoping I had enough, and now I don't even think I will use all of them! Now if I can just come up with enough containers to do my winter sowing in, and it looks like I will need more potting soil too. At least I can get started which will help with my "gardening fever."

Highalt,

Just to clarify -- the peppers can be started indoors in April if you can rig up some lights, they like it nice and warm - but the Cosmos prefers to be direct sown. Based on personal experience, it must be the fastest plant from seed to flower there is, so no need to do anything but direct sow. Basil grows pretty fast, how about starting it the end of April? I don't know squat about African Daisy except they must have lights if you sow them inside.

Lime

if you just starting peppers indoors try using
one of those new floresant light bulbs that will
screw into a reading lamp (a bending lamp
works best so you can keep it close to the plants.
Ive got baby mimosa trees growing under a 40 watt
bulb since Dec. and they are doing fine. Sit
your tray ontop of something if you have to.
the light is not real strong so it has to be close.
dawn

well..I came here to tell you all about wsing,but seems Lime found you first.I ws'd over 200 containers last season w/ 98% germ.success.Come on over to wsing.You will love our crazy but wonderful group.I will never sow seeds any other way.But in honesty,I do direct sow my cosmos,zinnia,larkspur,cleome and a few others here in Ga.just because it is easier and it works here for me.I ws everything else.
moonphase

Thanks for the invitation, moonphase! I am learning so much, and having such a good time on the WS forum, that I may have to change my "favorite forum" on my member page, LOL!!!

It seems almost everyone I have heard from so far, recommends direct sowing the Cosmos, and the African daisies. The peppers and basil I will hold off on and probably start them indoors in April. I have started basil indoors once before, and I was able to keep them alive without growlights long enough to get them planted outside.

So far I've WS the Agastache, Asclepias, Chives, Marjoram, Oregano, Spearmint, Thyme, and Verbascum. The Cilantro, Parsley, and Dill haven't been winter sown yet, because I ran out of containers. DH drinks a lot of soda, so I should have enough 2L bottles to finish up in a week or so. That is assuming I don't acquire any more seeds, LOL!

I am still nervous about giving up control, but I am trusting you experienced WSers not to steer me wrong : )

Cilantro is easily direct sown. Presoak the seeds first, then drain the water, cover with warm moist paper towel overnight. They should germinate then sow them directly in the garden. My grandmother did this for dacades. No prblem at all. :-)

zone 5 a here.
Asclepia, pepper, cosmos, agastache are all fine for me as a spring sow

chives I have winterssown fine.
Looks like you got a lot of advice already.
I suggest if you ws you save back half your seed in case it fails the other half you can spring sow... then you will know which is best for you if you wish to sow it again.

Email me personally if you want the link to germin. info from Thompson Morgan. ( 17 pages) That way you know which require cold stratification and which do not. Also tells you temps, plant depth etc tthat my help you.
Karen

Karen, that is exactly what I did. I WS approximately half of each seed packet, except one. I can't remember which one it was, but the seeds were soooo tiny that I unintentionally dumped them all in the pot. That whole "leap of faith" concept with WS was difficult for me, but the more containers I sow the easier it is getting. Maybe next year, if I have a high germination rate with the things I WS this year, I won't feel the need to hold back seeds.