Rabbits ate it as soon as it was unloaded and before I was able to plant it :).
So, Wholefoods satisfied my needs this year.
Next year - it will be planted ASAP and in windowboxes or tall containers.

It seems to do better in cooler weather. I had a ton of it in the winter!!!!!

But summer is hard on it. Early spring -- fall -- seem best. I grow mine from seed.

It's too bad on the timing though. I like mine with tomatoes for fresh salsa!

Conflicting information indeed. I want to plant cilantro for fall, but can't get past said info. Anyone who has been successful please give tips/dates/etc. I thought I'd use coriander seed from DeKalb Market. Now read that it might have been treated to prevent sprouting. Arrgghhh.

Have a great new neighbor from Mexico I want to share with. And it's so much better fresh rather than several days in the fridge.

Rosie -- quite honestly, my best cilantro plants have been accidental! I'll plant some and it won't grow, then later, I'll find a lovely full plant in a corner of the bed -- where I didn't remember putting in seed.

This isn't the definitive answer that you hoped for, :) but I would get a couple of packets and try putting in two or three seeds now -- then two or three seeds in September. Then try again in January (if we have a mild winter.)

Once you get a good plant, you can let it go to seed -- save some, and let some just fall to the ground.

It is kind of a goofy plant.

Good luck!

bagsmom, thanks for the post and the encouragement. Will do just as you say. One question: should the seeds be presoaked? I'm going to try first using the humongo container of coriander I got recently from the DeKalb Market. Must be 1000 seeds - cost $.36!

Rosie in Sugar Hill

Whole Foods and Ace Hardware have seeds in stock now, so you could just get seeds and grow them without gambling on the Dekalb Farmers Market seeds. Some things grow just fine from supermarkets, some just don't. It depends if they are heat treated or radiated (sadly, yes it is true).
I grow cilantro both under plastic during winter, and out in the open in rather sheltered spaces. It makes a fantastic winter ground cover!

Rosie -- I've never presoaked mine -- but it couldn't hurt to try it!

As soon as frost is past, I just chunk a bunch of seeds into a largish container of my special potting soil. Which is to say, part compost, part clay, part "stale" potting soil, part topsoil, and part Nature's Helper. It's nice and loose and rich. Keep it watered but not wet. Full sun.

I am up North in Canada and just found this forum. I use and grow a lot of Cilantro, but I find it does best in cool weather. It tends to bolt in hot weather. I direct sow mine in window boxes, and plant in succession every month so that when it warms up and the first set starts going to seed I have another to use. Then I keep rotating them until it gets cool in the fall. I then let one set go fully to seed which I collect to use as coriander and I save some for planting the next year. I don't know what type of winter temps. you have down there, but it will certainly do better then. Good luck!!