Don't let starting plants from seeds scare you!
You can do it! --- and there are lots of people here who would be able to help you with ideas.

We all learn by doing and learn from our results!

You're in a good zone for seed starting. You really should try a few "easy" seeds. Maybe some annual flowers like lion's tail or california poppies. Those tropical milkweeds will germinate well too, just wait until it's around 70F out and then keep them damp.

Dee,

I'm forever amassing tips on outwitting deer so a question for you about the 8" cups...don't the deer just knock them down or chew through them? "My" (it owns me more than I own it) property looks like the setting for a Halloween party....I've strung up lines of those inflated packing pillows....great for fluttering in the wind, sheets of all colours to use as distraction and to hide anything green, fishing line, window screen, you name it, I'm using it. Despite all of this, the deer will shred the sheets and coverings if they detect the tiniest bit of food....I think they know that any object that obstructs their view is hiding food so they remove the object! So how do you secure those cups?!!

You know I really do have lazy deer. They are only really a problem in late summer when the food all dries up. They won't even jump a four foot fence. I think the cups are really most effective against the birds, I have hundreds of birds that visit my garden daily. The quail just walk around and eat every seed in sight. I just kind of twist the cups in over the seedlings, they rarely get disturbed. I feel for you. Sometimes I "cage" plants that I think the deer will like since my garden isn't fenced. We call it Dee's plant zoo, haven't had a plant escape yet!

Love seeing what everyone is growing!

I grow between 800-1000 plants from seed each year, mostly herbs and veggies. I grow a lot for our Master Gardener group, and enough for my own small garden as well. I love starting seeds in the winter when I can't get outside to play in the dirt.

Good grief Linda --- That post could have been from me. Though 3 years ago, I started ~ 2,000 in my basement. Rgis year will likely be ~ 500 as I am using so much room for existing plants.

I grow a lot from seed, several hundred on my large mat in winter, but mostly outside or in my unheated greenhouse. I can't imagine living in zone 5 and growing that much! What a major project, moving everything in and out and the transplanting too. And here I am complaining because I have a half dozen tropical houseplants I still need to move inside for winter. Wow, I'm impressed.

There is always some panic in the spring when it's time to start getting these plants outdoors because there is not enough room under the lights once they start getting big!

Was lucky this year--we were able to move everything out and not have to move everything back in multiple times due to weather.

As much as I love growing the plants, I'm always happy and relieved when they are picked up to be transported to the plant sale. I do my happy dance in the driveway as the truck pulls away

When I move stuff out or in - they never go back. In the Fall, I always wait til the absolute last minute. This year, I used 6 frost blankets over stuff on my deck and screen porch 3 times. And bringing stuff in is when I panic - so much stuff - so little space. Every freaking room - some filled.

The seeds I start inside are most all grown in 72 cell trays and stay there til April or May. I do not transplant anything inside.

I too grow a lot of stuff that is donated to my Master Gardeners group and sold at our late April Plant Sale. Everything we sell other than cannas and elephant ears are grown from seed. This year we sold nearly 3,000 plants and had our best sale ever.

In many ways Zone 5 sucks Dee - particularly from Nov - Mar. I am kept busy watering and trying to keep things alive for 5 or 5 months inside. But come Late Dec - Mar I am a seed planting maniac. :thumbsup.

Thinking of trying Welwitschia mirabilis again. Last year I totally failed with 12 seeds. The challenge is getting the plant more than ~ 3 inches tall before they die.

I like growing weird stuff and challenges.