I was thinking the same thing. 3-4 weeks isn't enough. I have already started some broccoli and plan to start flowers and peppers and tomatoes next week. Maybe that is a little too early, but I'm goign to try it. My backyard is kind of a microclimate. I'm in the valley and my yard is small and surrounded by buildings so I took the average last frost date and subtracted a couple of weeks to do my planning.

Is the seed packet for a very hardy annual intended to be direct sown? In that case, 3-4 weeks before last frost date might be okay for planting outside.

I usually do 8-10 weeks for eggplants and hot peppers, 6-8 weeks for tomatoes and sweet peppers, and I tend to start early. There's lots of variation among other types of plants, including herb. You might find the calendar on the following page useful. Scroll down to find it.

Here is a link that might be useful: U of M seed starting calendar

I start indoor annuals early and it depends on what they are.

-Hot peppers were started a couple weeks ago
-Sweet peppers are being started this coming weekend
-Tomatoes will be started mid March. Some will say too early but it's been working for me for years.
-Annual flowers - now starting things like impatiens, coleus, pentas and a few others that are slow growing for me. I'll keep at sowing other annuals, a few each week, until about mid April or till I run out of vareities I want to start. I'm lucky to have a room dedicated to seed growing, a small harbor frieght greenhouse to put them in come April. I do all my perennials via wintersowing!!

Sandy

The UoM seed starting calendar is indeed very useful (thanks, bitterwort). A couple of recommendations that differ: Â start petunias early to mid March, if you want to take cuttings and have all of them ready by planting time (especially good if you favor the more expensive Wave varieties and like lots of 'em); Â I also plant tomatoes a bit earlier, usually third or fourth week of March, but no earlier).

The calendar doesn't deal with perennials, but I've had good luck starting delphiniums in mid January or even earlier, then transplanting and growing on under lights, for bloom the first year (and that's why I don't winter-sow them).

Gary

I start the super hot peppers anytime after Christmas as some of them take 150 days to produce so may have to be brought in for the winter. Anytime from the first of the year on is good for peppers, I start tomatoes and eggplant between then and March. I know it's a little early but by then I 've had enough of winter and need to see something growing besides houseplants.

You should look into wintersowing. I have been doing it for 5 or 6 years and have a wonderful germination rate. I just put the last of my veggie outside today.It is so easy.

Here is a link that might be useful: wintersowing

I plan to put the brocolli plants I started under lights out into my coverd raised beds tonight. I rigged up a little hoop house/low tunnel on top of one of my raised beds. The plants have been replanted once already and are getting too tall for my lights. I could move them to a window sill, but I think I'm going to try them outside.