The hyacinths were not bred for indoors, but conditioned, i.e. refrigerated, to bloom indoors. You get conflicting reports about whether they are worth replanting. Last year I put mine in the ground and I will be happy if it comes up at all. I've been warned not to expect blooms the first year as it recovers from being forced. Hopefully next year. If you do try to save it, make sure you let the foliage go brown, either in the ground or in the pot, before you pull it off. It's the foliage that feeds the bulb to provide energy for the next year's growth and blooms. I don't know about the hardiness of Paperwhites in Chicago, although somebody here probably does, but I figure, what have you got to lose? Let them get as much sun as possible until the foliage dies down, and then slip the bulbs in your flower beds. They will take up no visible room, and if they come back, great. If they don't, you've supplied organic matter to your beds, which is better than just throwing them in the garbage. It would be nice if you reported back next year how successful the experiment was.

You might like the planting guide for vegetable seed planting on the Digitalseed.com website. I find it very helpful for our particular growing area - zone 23/24 climate. I usually wait until the soil warms a little to plant cucumbers, squash and melons. I have a few Roma tomatoes started - as they seemed to be overwintering from last year and hope to find a hardy variety for my cool summers. The peppers could be OK now too - but will wait until warmer weather once planted out. A few are still braving the cold nights with several hardy ancho types turning red, and a Bell-type trying to produce new fruit. They are perennial - although I prefer to start new seedlings each year - mainly because I want to use the space for earlier plants - lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, etc. These latter plants are already in-ground and growing well - should be able to pick broccoli soon. Lots of lettuce, green onions, chinese cabbage and bok choy coming on fast, and hope to seed more greens directly - before they are all gone. Bejay

I absolutely DO recommend it. Works perfectly for me, I end up with full, even stands of corn, not a patchwork of different ages as results from direct sowing followed by filling in of the hills that didn't germinate. I usually use about a #48 sized cell pack, but you can adjust accordingly. No such thing as too large, smaller than about a 48 is too small IMHO. I would say 3-4 weeks is about right, depending upon temperature. Might get away with 2-3 weeks in consistently warm temps. I start mine in an unheated cold frame, and the May nights are still pretty chilly, often in the 40s, so it takes a little longer to grow than it would indoors where day and night temps are the same. The only danger is keeping them too long before transplanting, which results in stunting. Be sure to get them in the ground when no more than about 6 inches tall.

I got a fairly long bloom season the year before last with Vassio Meggos bought from Swan Island. It's listed as producing 9" flowers, but I allowed it to grow 3 main lateral stems after topping at 3rd leaf level, and I didn't do any disbudding, so it didn't grow any 9" flowers, but they were usually averaged from 6 - 7.5". Oddly, once late October rolled around, Vassio Meggos actually started its most prolific bloom phase to date, with 8 flowers on it at once! Unfortunately we got our 1st hard frost on like Nov 2nd, which wiped most of them out before they had fully opened. I'd say I got a total of 20-25 flowers on it in the 2 months it bloomed. But on my one Freckle Face plant from Swan Island 2 years ago I got 80-100 flowers of 3 - 3.5" in nearly 3 months of blooming, and its listed as a 3" flower producer, so even with 6 laterals, almost no disbudding, it still always grew flowers of at least 3 , at least til the end of October when the suddenly got small due to the colder weather and serious lack of sunlight.