Syracuse won't be seeing sprouts for a few weeks; you will be happy dancing soon, but not yet. It's cold up there! My daughter lives there and just came home this week saying she feels spring will never come. But it will. It's hard when you read on the forum that other's have sprouts (for me, they often are in lower zones too!) but I have come to accept that most of my sprouts won't come till April at least. I try to remember that I get a slightly longer growing season in the fall as my consulation prize! Nancy

Dea, I'm in zone 7, south central Virginia. In 2006 I sowed cannas on January 23 and had germination in early May. I sowed them again this year on February 28 but no sprouts yet. I would think you would have enough warm-cold, warm-cold temperatures yet to sow them. Why not experiment? Nick some and leave some intact. If none germinate, let me know. I have surplus canna seeds (some still on the plants!) and would be happy to send you replacements. Barbara in Virginia

Sounds like you might have had some bad seed. It's also possible that the cool, excessively wet weather we've had in much of the North has taken its toll; soybeans need warm soil, and too much moisture after planting can cause the seed to rot in the ground. Is it too late to plant edamame for eating? Probably not. Depending upon the variety, you should be able to plant until the end of June & still get edamame. Bordering on too late to get dry seed, though, if you were intending to save some. If you are looking for more edamame seed, you might want to try Peace Seeds (link below). I would recommend the varieties "Sapporo Midori" (they use a different spelling) and "Cha Kura Kake". Both are large-seeded & early, and "Cha Kura Kake" has bi-colored seeds. If you can get them in before the end of the month, you might even get some dry seed from them. "Hidatsa" is even earlier, and has a higher protein content (around 50% dry weight) but has fairly small seed. Here is a link that might be useful: Peace Seedlings

Depends on the zone that one is in. Down here, paniculatas and arborescens (Annabelle-like hydrangeas) are starting the broccoli phase so pruning now would not be a good thing. In Zone 5, you probably have some time. However, due to its propensity for weak stems, I would hesitate to prune Annabelle at all. The stems get stronger as they get older thru the years so that would make me hold off on pruning it... unless there are other reasons.