Zone 4a and this will be my fifth year doing this. I start around new years, typically with hardy perennials in my zone, shurbs/trees and seeds that i don't really care about (e.g. old seeds). I typically wait until late February to start putting out a lot of my annuals, and I leave the following til the end of march or early april: zinnias sunflowers ornamental millet abutilon dolichos lablab morning glories 4 o'clocks cosmos and pretty much anyhting tropical in origin Most of these will sprout if sown earlier, but their foliage is sufficiently tender that I lose them in the cold nights we have earlier in the winter/spring. If I wait til then, they typically don't pop til mid april or later and i typically don't have to worry about the seedlings freezing then.

I have a mammilaria rhodantha that is two inches wide and four inches tall. sadly, it appears to have base rot and I fear that my only options are to either cut it in half and try to root it or just throw it away. Can it survive this kind of surgery???

The window itself isn't a problem if your local code allows it. The window might make your hood higher than optimal however, and it can be dangerous reaching across hot pots to adjust the window. With induction you won't set your sleeve on fire, though. Moving the ducting for your hood might well be a bigger deal than moving the gas. The best way to know is to talk to your plumber and HVAC guy and get estimates from them. A range is usually the less expensive route. Plus, if you don't already have induction capable pans you'll need to budget a bit more for cookware (though sometimes they give a few pans away with the cooktop). Most people here report back after changing from gas to induction that they'd never go back. A few miss their gas or actually do change back. Most of the reasons are in the realm of it being too weird cooking without fire or otherwise missing the flame, or having trouble adjusting to setting the temperature by number rather than sight (flame height). Have you tried getting advice on your layout in the Kitchens forum? If you did, and didn't get much response, try again.

I found out I can go into "View", then "Explorer" & it comes back but doesn't stay there & cuts off my screen. Rats! I thought I figured it out. Wrong! I hate this when I do something & can't figure out how I can undo it. So frustrating. I shouldn't have done something but I don't know what.