in z4 . i would suggest you start the seed indoors 4 to 6 weeks PRIOR to the last frost .. and have plants ready to go into mother earth around 6/1 ..

my frost free date is around 6/1 in z5 MI .... if you have a seed that take two weeks to germinate.. due to cold soil .. and then 60 days to bloom.. there is a good chance.. your plant may not bloom until 9/1 ... generalizing w/o specificity.. cuz you didnt tell us what plants you are talking about ...

though the seeds may germinate on top of your mulch.. they will only have a few days to get roots into the soil ... and that is why you would pull back the mulch.. and plant on the soil ...

what ended up happening with me.. after i got experimenting out of my system.. i realized that all the potting media.. flats.. cell packs.. and electricity of lights.. for the few plants i needed was not cost efficient.. fun yes.. cost not ...

so i highly suggest you try ... better to have tried and failed.. than to never try ... but figure out if it really will end up cheaper ...

one other thought.. is to make a small nursery area .. where you can coddle some plants.. and then when a few inches tall.. move them out into the garden ...

last thing.. there is a winter sowing forum ... used to be very active .. and they might have a whole different outlook .. check it out

ken

If your house is going on the market in the spring, I'd probably consider the cost of purchasing some flats of annuals as a necessary part of staging the house. Don't get stingy on that kind of thing...curb appeal can make a big difference. Buy the darned things and plant them when all chance of frost is over for the year.

agreed.. i didnt see this is a plan for setting the house for sale ...

go buy plants when its time to plant them ... the odds of you perfecting the whole process .... to have perfects plants at a specific .. is low to nill ... especially for a newbie tot eh process ...

been there .. failed wildly.. spending a lot of money messing around .. only to go spend more money to fix the problem ...

good luck

ken

ps: a good layer of mulch.. is money better spent, rather than flowers.. i doubt anyone is going to decide to buy the house based on pretty flowers ... real gardeners will look at the beds .. and picture it bare.. potential for themselves.. and non-gardeners will simply not care ... make it look neat and carefree.. not like a burden for a non-gardener ...