Subject: When to plant annuals/perennials - Chicago (Zn 5/6)

From: [email-masked] (Baker and McKenzie)
Date: 6 Apr 1995 15:38:01 GMT

I started a whole bunch of plants from seed this year that are 
getting mighty big (marigolds, sweet peppers, sunflowers, gazania, 
cosmos, tomatoes, etc.) because I started them in late February.  Also, I 
just received some plants I ordered from Park Seed that are supposedly 
"shipped at the proper time for planting in your zone" (creeping thyme, 
hibiscus), but I understand that the last frost date for Chicago is 
mid-May.  (Easy to believe since it was 20F a few nights ago)

	Can I plant some of this stuff out *now* and just cross my 
fingers that it will survive?  I have no "wall of waters" to protect the 
plants if I do so, but I guess I could throw some plastic or mulch over 
the plants if a frost is predicted.

	If not, what should I do in the meantime with these plants that Park Seed 
shipped to me 6 weeks before the last frost date for my zone?  What about 
the annuals that I'm growing?  The sunflowers and marigolds are going to 
be *huge* if I have to wait until Memorial Day to plant them out, and 
the stems on them are already starting to grow laterally to hog more of 
the grow lights for their own foliage.

	Help! - Dave Davis