Lunaria. Planted out Feb 26. Survived this with no problems.

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I planted out dianthus in mid January and it's putting out nice growth now. They had their first set of leaves.

Moral of the story: DO IT! Water well, and be sure to keep an eye on them for a couple days. At the end of a week, I feed mine with 1/2 strength fertilizer. I haven't done anything else to any of my wintersown babies. Kick them out of the nest and check on them every few days.

I also am a little bit nervous about plating out. some of my poppies are growing strong so I may plunge into planting as soon as my back is up to it.

Karen

You can plant out any perennial as long as it is hardy to your growing zone. You can plant out any hardy annuals as long as you don't expect any deep freezes in the future; they can tolerate frost fine. There is an exception for a few hardy annuals that do remain green all winter; these are those that self-sow themselves in mid fall and bloom the following spring: Larkspur, Nigella, Poppy, Chamomile and Viola come to mind; the ground could freeze and and they wouldn't care...deep freeze so what! Half-hardy annuals tolerate the cold and even a slight touch of frost but will die in a freeze. Some half-hardy annuals would include: Alyssum, sunflower, Cosmo, Datura, Amaranthus, Asarina, Nicotiana and Nasturtium. Although everything I listed does self-sow (except Asarina that I know of) they'll wait until temps have warmed up; sunflower will take some frost but not for very long. Tender annuals won't tolerate temps below 50; they will survive as long as it doesn't frost however they are often stunted as a result: Basil, Coleus, melon, pumpkin, Tithonia, Marigold, Zinnia.
Even though I could plant some things out now (Poppy,Stocks,Chinese Houses)I won't until the soil dries out some. It's never a good idea to be digging or walking on the soil if it's so wet you can squeeze water out of the soil yet.

The first planting out looks insane. Small sprouts in the bare ground. Then they trive. After the first year, it's OK and you can handle it.

It's always a bit scary to let them out of their containers - but as bakemom said - once in the ground they will thrive and it's fun to watch them grow everyday

Carrie

If you are planting out individual seedlings, think of them as a tree. A tree will recover from an injury to its leaves or canopy, but will die with from a damaged trunk. Likewise, if a seedling must be handled, do it by the leaves and roots, not the stem. Hunk o Seedlings addresses this nicely.

I have better luck if I put a potting mix "plug" in the hole where I am planting out. It helps retain moisture. I also like putting collars made from toilet paper tubes or water bottles to protect the seedlings from pillbugs.

Out here on the Island, I am waiting just a little bit because I think the deer will graze on those tender sprout morsels!!! They have already been nibbling on my iris and lilies and other early "showing green" perennials.

My sprouts still have plenty of room in their containers and if I wait a few weeks, there will be more "up" in the beds and fields surrounding the property to provide options for the deer, therefore lowering the risk to my babies!

Almost all my poppies and some of my lupines have first true leaves, so I do want to get them in. But a couple of weeks more will insure better survival.

We are fenced in and the deer just jump over the fence! They are out of control out here. We have friends who can not garden at all...they lose everything. We do OK once there is a LOT up - they like a smorgasboard and at that point rarely chew down to kill the plant, just take nibbles.

just checked out my planted seedlings after snow and recent 26 temps- everything looks like a champ- occasional leaf damage from frost but overall- perky and ready to grow. I did not even watered anything as we have snow and rain.
Am starting to plant out tomorrow again- rest of primroses, columbines and hardy geraniums going out. oh, yeah, lunaria have been out for while also- they are toughies as well as dianthus. Pansies are going to get planted in the containers, leaves turned some purple from the last cold but it looks very attractive.