It would be optimal if you can gradually acclimate them from the containers with tops on to full sun. I think I have fried some poppies I planted out the first sunny day after weeks of cold and cloudy. I forgot to acclimate them to the sun!

They won't need to be hardened off to the cold, but they have been somewhat protected from the sun in most of our containers.

I'm not the best at pinching back - still learning. But from what I've read you want to wait till they have enough true leaves to leave 1-2 sets of true leaves when you pinch them back. They will need those to make food with. Remember the seed leaves will fall off pretty soon.

Don't start pinching until you can leave at least 2 true sets of leaves. I haven't pinched anything that was sown this year yet. I'm letting them get their roots down first. From last year, I have already started pinching agastache, bee balm, butterfly bushes, and a few unknowns. If you're not sure what to pinch, try it on one plant. If you see new growth in a few days, pinch some more. If there's new growth again, continue pinching for a couple of weeks. At some point you want to stop so the plants can bloom. ;)

Most of my seedlings are already acclimated to the sun. They get bright morning sun until about 12pm. Since they live on concrete right now, I'm keeping them in the shade in the hottest part of the day. Once it rains again, planting out will begin in earnest. I've had to water too much already this year. It's 92 degrees right now.

Tom, it was the same here yesterday. My kind of weather! Beleive it or not, we do need a light rain. Meterologist predict it Thursday night. I'm going to a lady's house today that has decided to re-landscape all her flowerbeds, plus the city has decided to put in sidewalks in her neighborhood, so a lot of her plants has to go and she's giving them away. Will go and see if there's anything I can use. Said she has peonies, pink and white ones but she didn't label them so guess it's pot luck. Will be interesting to see what she has to offer. I'm going with my shovel, some cardboard boxes and plastic trash bags but I won't be greedy just because it's FREE. No need of taking anything that doesn't fit into my proposed cottage garden color scheme. What happens to the HOS that have become so spindly? Should I try to separate them? I'm afraid they will fall apart as I try to break apart. Will they get fried from the afternoon sun if I plant them out?

Peonies resent being moved, so give them a few years to recover. I moved some last February and got two blooms from many clumps last spring. I see a few more buds this year, but not as many as the original plants produced. Next year, they should be recovering from the transplant. Mine all came out pink.

The HOS's that are spindly will strengthen once they get in the ground and get some rain. Mine are doing the same thing. The garden hose water just isn't the same as rain. I'm only planting in semi shaded areas right now. The full sun areas are on hold until we get some rain and the temps fall back into the normal range this weekend. I'll be planting like a madman on Sunday.