Sure you should bother. All gardening is a risk and there is no guarantee in any year we will be successful, but we have to try don't we? And one hot day doesn't make a failure. Yesterday was too hot and windy to plant broccoli, today it was too cold and windy to plant broccoli. But one day this week should be just right. I have over 100 plants on the porch which will go in the ground either Thursday or Friday of this week. They'll get fertilized and watered and if they don't get frosted back or burned up, they will produce 6-9" heads Memorial Day weekend. That's what they've been doing for me for well over 20 years now, so I expect them to do the same this year. Good luck to you.

Mia, I just got tired of fooling with mine and planted all of it. It looks like some may already be bolting,they have heads about 2 or 3 inches in dia., others looking OK. I have had one Chinese cabbage to bolt.

It seems as tho I am running out of time and space (in the house). I planted three tomatoes so far, may loose them tonight.

I plan on direct seeding some. I know this is a big risk, but every time I try to start indoors it flops. The soil temp is right now for that.

Mine are outside being hardened off. Should be able to plant up soon. I know it was cold last night, but since they are already outdoors, I left them there thinking that broccoli can take pretty cold temps.

Susan

At least u have plants!
rabbits ate mine 50 in 1 night.
So I put out my 2nd batch. Rabbits ate all them last night.
I had an old cat that lived in the garden, he's been sick and staying indoors so the rabbits are taking over.
How do u get rid of rabbits?

Patience and a 22!

I planted clover last fall and turned my place into a rabbit farm. I didn't think I had a chance with the broccoli then my great horned owls came back to next again this spring. They're doing a nice job. I'll see the occassional clump of rabbit hair in the yard. I think they're pretty easy to pick off for the owls. My broccoli is still standing. I mulched it heavy to try to make it "blend in" instead of being so exposed and visible on the bare soil. Probably didn't help, but it made me feel better. Whatever the case, it's still standing.

If you don't have owls, patience and a .22 would be the next best option. Or if you're slow, patience and a 12 Ga.

Luckily, the rabbits haven't bothered what I've already planted (onions, potatoes, radishes, lettuce), but I will plant the broccoli in two waves to see if they munch it. I left mine outside last night, too, thinking it would like the cooler temps.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

I agree with everyone that since you have it, you might as well plant it.

The weather is wacky and the hot days are very hard on some of the cool-season crops, but our weather is so changeable that you never know if we'll continue to have exceptionally hot days for this time of year, or it the weather will turn more moderate...or if it will snow. Gardening is full of risk as Dorothy said, and that seems especially true this year.

I have tried to deal with the weather by planting two types of broccoli:

--Packman, which is normally a great producer here provided I get it into the ground early enough that it can produce by the end of May and late enough that it doesn't get too much exposure to very cold temps which can cause it to bolt.

--Piricicaba because it is supposed to tolerate hot temperatures into the 90s. I sent lots of Piricicaba seed to the plant swap too so others could try it. It doesn't form big heads, but little heads are just as tasty as big ones, especially when they're being produced after the big heads have been harvested.

Cool-season crops are always iffy here in Oklahoma because we often go from "too cold" to "too hot" overnight, but in the years when they do produce well, it is wonderful to have them, so I think it is always worth trying. Some years you and your crops win, and some years the weather wins.

As for rabbits, all that's ever worked for us is a rabbit-proof fence. We have tons of rabbits and even the owls and hawks cannot keep them under control, although in a year with a high coyote population, the rabbits are pretty much gone by mid-summer. In early spring, though, there are lots of rabbits, and lots of small, young ones so your fence has to be able to keep out not only the full-size rabbits, but the baby ones too.

Dawn