yeah, mine overwinter....but they are pretty huge and gnarly, fit only for roasting and borscht......nothing like those little golfball summer beets. In truth, I mainly grow them for the leaves cos I am not keen on quite a lot of root crops (parsnip....gah!)...but essentially, they are biennial so will bolt to seed next year around May (for me).

I agree, fall and spring. I plant in sept along with carrots and lettuce and keep sowing about every month till march then turn under first week in May. I guess you could start now But I like it to cool off alittle mainly for my own comfort since I have to turn under the garden. Rodger

Hi Cabrita, You can collect seeds from them. They are biennials, so yes, that means they flower in their second year. If conditions are right(or not right, lol) they may flower in their first year especially since you have a long growing season. Carrots grow umbel like flower heads and make lots of seeds. Most people forget they know carrot flower heads, not from their gardens, but from Queen Anne's Lace which is a wild carrot. If you have Queen Anne's Lace nearby flowering at the same time, you will need to bag your blossoms since they will cross-pollinate. Beets grow upright candelabra type flower stalks, and will make a good amount of seeds too. Beets cross pollinate from long distances away like 5 miles, so you will need to bag your blossoms if you wish to keep you seeds pure. One plant of each will give you more than enough seed for your garden. It is normally recommended to save from more than one plant to keep genetic diversity. If you are saving for certain characteristics though that doesn't matter. Remy

According to some of my references, you can plant beet seeds up to 6 weeks before last frost date. For me that is May 15. Since we are having insane warm weather here in Rochester, NY, I would go ahead and plant a few. You could always cover them if it gets way below freezing. Some say you can per sprout the seeds, but I haven't had much luck with that. Keski