| You're close to where I am -- I'm near the Kirtland-Chardon-Mentor area. The growing season seems short compared to TX but it's long compared to Maine, for example :) so you can still get some things going. If you're right on the lake you have to deal with cooler nights than people inland a little bit -- hope you're staying warm -- I know it's a huge change from TX! Vegetables don't get enough light to do well under lights -- I've started plants that way to set out in the spring but they are eager and ready for sun by the time they get out. Probably too late to get much of a tomato crop, although you could always look for a short short season tomato and give it a shot, but if you're interested in beans and things like that you may be able to get those in and harvested... you can start the short cool season things like lettuce and spinach from seed in August, and set out things like broccoli from sets around the same time. Okra is a fast crop if you like that -- 50 days or so -- so you can get that in. If you pick a short-season sweet corn you could be harvesting it around Labor Day (I used to always plant my last crop of corn July 4). As for flowers, you can put in lots of things, especially if you grow from starter plants rather than seed. There are some great family-owned nurseries in NE Ohio and most of them still have quite a bit to choose from. They may be able to help you but getting some advice from the county extension office or master gardeners in your area would be good. here are a couple of links (you'll have to copy and paste) to get you started on finding info from the extension service in Ohio: http://extension.osu.edu/ (you might want to scroll down and look on the left for the "publications" link to see if there are publications on specific topics you're interested in) http://extension.osu.edu/counties.php (scroll down to find your county) (they should also be able to tell you about local master gardeners if you call, and they'll also be able to advise you of things like first and last frost dates and give you more general gardening information) and here's the link for Ohio master gardeners; again, you'll have to search around but you should be able to find someone in your area: http://mastergardener.osu.edu/ Good luck, and happy gardening! | 
