a lot of what we in z5 know as annuals are perennials in warmer zones .... they can reseed but not survive as young plants over the winter ... so ID of what plant you are talking about is step one ...

all seeds require a certain soil temp for germination ... which a lot of us in the great white north.. are not going to get in fall ... you might get the 70 during the day.. but its soil temp.. and when it gets down to 40 at night.. that soil is not going to be warm enough ...

i think the late winter sowing is called winter sowing.. go figure on that.. and i think there is a specific forum for that... where i suspect you will find a bazillion posts on the subject .... if you dont get enough knowledge here ...

most seeds are incredibly hardy.. and will not mind the suspended animation of winter... but what will get them is the mice.. birds.. mildews.. disease ... and repeated freeze and thaws in our zone .... so winter itself is not necessarily the only issue ...

lol ... you will have much better luck if you SOW them.. rather than trying to make wearable clothing by sewing them .. rotflmbo.. hope you have a sense of humor

but short of asking about a specific plant.. and suggestions about one in particular.. you are asking for answers on a subject that a million books have been written about..

so perhaps.. ID a plant.. and start a new post about that one particular process.. and you will have a start on your project ...

ken

Ken is right....you need to collect some information on a plant by plant basis. Some annual seeds require a cold winter before they will germinate in the spring. They don't germinate out there in the cold; they just sit and think about how gorgeous they will be come spring.

Other annuals do not have that cold requirement for their seeds. There are varying degrees of cold tolerance. There isn't a rule of thumb for all annuals as one big group.

You can look up the germination requirements for your seeds on a plant by plant basis, or let us help you.

Don't forget that hybrid plants don't come true from seed. But I'll bet you already knew that.

Dorie

This is the site I use to determine what and when to plant.

http://www.backyardgardener.com/tm.html