From: ai888@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Thomas Flesher)
Subject: Blooming annuals before last frost?
Date: 8 May 1993 00:23:47 GMT

The average last-frost date in my area is approaching, and I find
myself thinking about what to plant next year to bring more variety to
the pre-last-frost-date garden. I'm looking for plants that I can grow
indoors to the blooming stage, then harden off and plant out a
substantial length of time before the last-frost date (four to six
weeks or so). They need not be annuals in the technical sense; they
just need to come into bloom after a reasonable period of growth (five
or six months at the most).

As a starting-point for this discussion I reproduce a list from the
December/January issue of Flower & Garden. The inclusion of Nicotiana
and Petunia surprised me, as I think of them as tender.

Intro from the article: "The annual flowers listed here won't be
harmed by unexpected late frosts. A late May snow can all but bury
these hardy annuals. They'll not only survive, but also go on to
provide a spectacular display of blooms."

The list:
     Pansy (Viola x wittrockiana)
     Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
     Flowering Kale (Brassica oleracea acephala)
     Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)
     Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana alata)
     Strawflower (Helichrysum bracteatum)
     Baby's Breath (Gypsophila elegans)
     Petunia (Petunia x hybrida)
     California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica)
===

Subject: Re: Blooming annuals before last frost?
From: thacker@rhea.arc.ab.ca
Date: 18 May 93 16:13:51 MDT

[above list deleted]

I'll certainly vouch for two of them.  Some of my pansies survive our
Alberta winters with green foliage intact, to bloom before the
tulips.  This winter two of maybe a dozen survived - this is under
about 6" of snow cover, in temperatures that fell as low as -37C
(-34F).

As for California poppies, they are killed off in the fall after
nights start hitting about -8C (18F), but I've had early germinating
seedlings survive early spring frosts as cold as -16C (3F).