It is very weird isn't it? In the 5 years that I have been winter sowing, I have most of my germination falling between mid February thru April. My first winter I had planted Delphinium, Hollyhock and Foxglove seedlings out in the middle of February! Of course the few tender annuals I do don't usually get sowed until mid April thru first week of May. This year we have been having a cooler than average March. On average 50-60 is norm for March and lows in the mid 20-40 mark. Matter of fact last March we had only 5 days below 46 and the rest were 50 to 62! Also last February less than 5 nights fell below 26 degrees and only 3 daytime highs fell below 32. April is the month you never know what to expect...days can be nice but nights can drop quite a bit below 30!! I believe last year we hit 8 degrees the first week :O Vera

Stop your darned worrying! My goodness, so much depends on so much when it comes to sprouting. Everyone has their own micro-climate. Everyone has their containers in a different spot, where the sun may hit at a different angle. Each container has it's own climate. If I have a jug on my patio and the guy behind me does the same, I PROMISE you they WILL NOT sprout at the exact same time! I am in zone 5, but my containers are in a cold, shady spot. My sprouting won't happen until the middle of next month. If they sprout before that, it will be a fluke. Now, stop your darned worrying!! Check out this database, someone worked really hard so we can all STOP WORRYING! Here is a link that might be useful: W/S 2006 Zone 5 Germination Database

Hey "Thumbers" I'm in the lower Thumb, 5 miles in from Lake Huron. Sprouts started right on time this year, the first week of April. As of today I have: Alyssum Calendula Mountain Phlox Bachelor Buttons I expect more to pop if we get to 60 tomorrow. I still have alot of annuals to do this week, been stalling due to the unusually cold weather here. Thumb of MI Rocks! April

I received 3 helianthus "lemon queen" for mother's day. Unfortunately 2 of them didn't make it, but the 3rd one did... just barely. Seems, as the plant was just taking off, a ball from over the fence broke most of it off. It has since regrown but hasn't bloomed yet. I also just received 2 replacements from the company my daughter bought the originals from and will plant them as soon as it stops raining. (I may just have to build an ark if it doesn't stop soon!) I've also acquired some Boltonia from a neighbor and bought a black sambucus. Let's see... from seed I started some perennial sunflowers and heliopsis. Most of the new perennials did pretty good this first year but I imagine they'll do even better in the coming years! In the meantime, to fill in the gaps until the perennials fill out I planted tithonia, annual sunflowers, along with scarlet runner beans. Next spring I'm going to transplant a clematis too. All in all it was a successful year keeping the little darlings at bay. They've also made friends in the neighborhood and, now that they're a little older, mom lets them go to the friends' houses so most of the time they're gone. Peace at last. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions!