I live in the middle of lower Mi and started them indoors with out too much trouble so I don't have a lot of wisdom, I just treated them like a sunflower... but, in the end I wasn't too impressed. They ended up kinda tall and bushy and the flowers were smaller and fewer than I hoped for. It would be interesting to know if a different climate would make a difference or maybe there are better varieties.

I have heard that quite a few people winter sow Sunflowers with great success. There is a Winter Sow forum on GW. You still have time to do a few outside now (Winter Sow Style)in a container for transplanting later. It may not bloom as soon as the ones started indoors, but if you do it now it will bloom. In any case, check out the link. The people there are really nice and love to help.

(WARNING: The forum is highly addictive)

Here is a link that might be useful: GW Winter Sow Forum