A cold frame will give you about a months head start, but it's impossible to tell you more unless I know what kind of cold frame you have and what seeds you are planing to plant.

Example some cold frames are built on the side of a house and use a heater. Some are straw bales with windows and maybe a manure base that heats it.Some are polycarbonite. Some have cement under them that helps retain heat and others are just plastic covering over hoops.

Let me know just what you are going to plant and how your cold frame is made and I'll help all I can

Thanks so much!
I have a ton of garden books and all they tell you is the different style of cold frames and their uses not what I am looking for and I really don't want to waste my seeds.

My plan is to have a spring, summer and fall crop...maybe winter but I don't know if I want to tend to a garden in a Ct winter just yet.

Here is a list of my seeds I ordered:
Spring/Fall

Dill Elephant
Parsley, Extra Curled Dwarf
Parsley, Plain (Single Italian)
Thyme, Common
Cilantro or Coriander, Organic
Kale Dwarf Blue Curled Vates
Onion - Salad Red
Three Peas in a Pod Collection
Radish - Red Glow
Beet Gourmet Duo
Swiss Chard Bright Lights Mix
Garlic Early Italian
Maliner Kren Horseradish
EZ Serve Lettuce
Lettuce Vivian (Romaine)
Spinach Baby's Leaf Hybrid

Summer

Basil Summerlong
Basil Boxwood
Runner Bean Scarlet (Pole)
Pole Bean - Purple King
Cucumber Sweet Burpless Hybrid
Cucumber Straight Eight (Slicing)
Sweet Pepper Golden Giant II Hybrid
Sweet Pepper California Wonder
Zucchini Burpee Hybrid
Eggplant Fairy Tale
Eggplant Purple Rain Hybrid
Summer Squash Saffron
Summer Squash Early Golden Crookneck
Tomato Fourth of July Hybrid
Tomato Burpee's Supersteak Hybrid (Giant)
Tomato Big Mama Hybrid

These are my flowers to start from seed for my deck pots and hanging baskets. The perennials will go in my flower beds. :

Basil, Purple Ruffles
Basil - Sweet Petra Dark Red, Organic
High Scent Sweet Pea
Thunbergia Alata Mix
Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
Petunia Baby Duck Spreading Hybrid
Marigold - Scarlet Starlet
Gazania Daybreak Red Stripe
Lavender - Provence Blue

My cold frame is a hoop house made out of Pvc pipe covered with the thickest grade plastic. It has been up for almost 2 weeks over my raised bed warming the soil which is now no longer frozen and workable.

Here are the things I am wondering:
My plan is to direct sow all the spring plantings in half the bed. Then in the other half of the bed I was going to start the summer seeds in pots because I am assuming that that will keep them warmer to germinate I can even bag them inside the cold-frame which would bring up the temp until they sprout? I will also use this space to direct sow my flowers in their containers or should I start the flowers in pots and then transplant to their containers? I would really like to direct sow as much as possible.

I plan on sowing the spring vegetables and flowers this weekend which would be 7 weeks from the 5/8 frost date. My thinking is that the spring plantings should be just fine but I am not sure when I should start the summer seeds. They are the intimidating bunch for me being so temper-mental and all. I think I will be cutting it really close for the tomatoes and maybe next year I will have to start them indoors. Should I start those indoors now until they germinate and then move them out to the cold-frame keeping them bagged or some sort of micro climate until they can be transplanted?

Is my plan ok?

I would love to hear what others think of my plan and offer advice on what will not work or what would work better.

Thanks for taking the time to listen!

Do you have a garden too. That is quite a list to sow in one cold frame. Some do not even require a cold frame and will do better planted outside. Some of your seeds need to be planted earlier like garlic and onions and some I have never grown. Others need to be planted indoors under lights or in a greenhouse, because their germination takes place at a constant higher temperature than you can achieve in a cold frame. All will be better in the ground as compared to pots. Pots do not keep the seedlings warmer unless they are buried up to their rims in the soil. The air above the ground is cooler than the ground. You never use a humidity bag in a cold frame.

That being said here is what I know about your seeds.
Garlic should be planted in the fall for harvesting the next year or started early indoors
onions and kale too need starting indoors if you are starting from seed. Personally I use onion and garlic sets and plant them right in the garden.
Dill, peas, radish, beets, swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, beans, cucumber, zucchini and squash we plant in the garden.
Peas like to germinate in cooler soil and need a trellis to climb on. The rest plant when danger of frost is gone. Radish will be up and ready to use in a month so you could get an early crop in the cold frame, plant a few lettuce and spinach seeds too for early eating and plant the rest in the garden. Lettuce and spinach will bolt and not be good so a sucession of plantings is the way to go.
The others will not benifit from early planting because the start you get will be used up by recovering from transplanting and you are just making work for yourself.

Basil is a tender annual and fast growing so plant it in the center of your cold frame.

Peppers and tomatoes must be started indoors too. The temperatures vary too much for them to sprout in a cold frame.

Sweet peas like their cousins garden peas like cooler temps and can be planted outdoors very soon now. Be sure to soak the seed for a couple of days before you plant. That will soften the hard outer coat and get them off to a good start. They can tolerate the odd frost so don't worry about planting too early outside.

Rudbeckia, Marigolds and ganzia should be fine, but petunias should be started indoors. I have never grown lavender from seed only from a plant. They are a perennial and hard to start from seed.

I don't know about your catagorization To me all these are summer plants. Some mature earlier than others and some take longer.

When you transplant from the ground--- first water the plant, dig your hole, fill it with water and let the water soak into the ground. Then plant and cover the plant with an upside down flower pot and leave it on for 2 days. This allows the roots to hit moisture right away and shades the plant from the hot sun so it can recover from transplant shock.
I would advise you to read the seed packages and experiment. That is the only way you'll know for sure if what you do works.

I hope I've helped a little

Your cold frame will need to be opened almost daily--either a little or a lot. Even on a cloudy day heat will build up in there and if it gets too hot it will fry your plants. Figure out just how you can open it and keep it open for the day. When I used cold frames I would close them up around 4 o'clock and open them first thing in the morning

Thanks so much for the quick response.
The raised bed the hoop house is over is my garden it is a raised bed and I do the square foot method when using it. The front of it fully opens and folds back on itself. I plan to only have it on for a month or 2. I have the option of taking one-side off and leaving the other side which was my idea for the squash and other veggies I considered summer.
Right now I direct sowed all of the spring on one-side and the other has my containers being warmed for my flowers.
I can start the eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes inside would I do that right now?
The garlic is a set your right about that but the seed place said that I could plant in spring and have a small harvest at the end of summer and a progressively larger harvest each year. That I am going to put in my ornamental flower bed. The horseradish comes as a root and I am also going to directly plant that in the flower bed as well in a bottomless bucket so it does not overtake its allotted space.

If I still have the cold-frame over the bed a week or 2 before the last frost date could I plant the cucumbers and squash earlier?

I am not really sure how long to leave the frame on.

I can post a pic of the frame tomorrow to show you the set up. There is a link to my square foot bed the first year I started it attached to show you how the bed is set up.

If you click on the layout tab it will show you how much I was able to fit into it. It did really well however I did not know that you can actually get 3 seasons out of it until now.

The plan is that when all of the veggies from my spring list are finishing I am going to replace them all with the summer list then do the same for the fall.

Here is a link that might be useful: squarefoot bed

Oh Ok. If everything that is garden is staying there then, Yes you can start all the garden veggies early. To save space grow your cukes on a trellis of chicken wire or my garden center had a wooden trellis that could be used. There are lots of options, you just have to find one. You may be able to grow the other vines that way too. I've never done it because we have a big garden, but I've heard of it. It would be worth investigating.

A lot of the things on your spring list will grow all summer. The herbs for one and your peas won't mature until well into the summer.

I don't know how long you have until your last frost date, Peppers, Tomatoes and petunias require 6 to 8 weeks growing time before setting out. It might be good to buy a couple of tomato and pepper plants for early fruit and plant a few seeds now for later ones. You can save any left over seed for next year. Keep it in a cool dry dark place.

Yes start your petunias indoors. When they have their 3rd set of true leaves then transfer to the cold frame. Sink all of your pots for flowers into the soil up to the rims. It will not only keep them warmer but also keep them from drying out as much, but the pots will make it easier for transplanting. A thermometer hung on one of your hoops will give you an idea of the temperature in there.

Why not put your dill in the flower bed too. With it's feathery leaves it will make a nice backdrop for your flowers.

As for when you take it off. Watch your weather forcasts. Leave it open when the nights are warmer. You may be able to take the front off first if you are prepared to put it back on if the weather turns cold. Take the whole thing off when all danger of frost is gone.

Sorry that I did not get this up sooner. My two little ones caught a nasty virus and were under the weather so no gardening for me.

Here is a link to photos of my bed and coldframe setup.

My trellising is conduit frame with netting it is 8ft however this year I will need to make it taller than the 8ft because last year the tomato and bean plants over grew the trellising and I had to add wood extenders with rope effective but not very attractive.

I am starting the seeds we spoke about inside this week and have set up grow light for when they sprout. I read about using a laundry basket in the hardening process have you tried this? I would bring the plants out for awhile protected by the basket for a week during the day then plant them and leave the basket over them for a week then take the basket off? or start them inside and then let them spend a week in the coldframe then plant and use the basket for a week?

Here is a link that might be useful: cold frame and bed photos

Ok I am back with more questions.

I located a book which tells me about all the different seed starting times... ie: In a heated greenhouse, unheated/coldframe and direct sow... it also tells when to plant seeds started in each area to set out and transplant.

However what it doesn't tell me is, How to transition into the coldframe from inside. I started peppers, tomato, eggplant, zukes, yellow squash, cucumbers and the flowers inside and everything is growing like crazy almost everything is starting to get its second set of leaves. The plants that are the biggest I would like to start moving to the coldframe. Do I need to harden them off away from the sun first before putting them in? Because the sun would be to strong through the plastic?

Yesterday I tried to set out a flat in indirect sun that had the cucumbers and zukes and sweat pea flowers on it for a few hours. The cucumbers instantly did not like it. That is what prompted me to locate the book. The book stated that the cucumbers wont want to be outside until a stable 60 degree temp is reached.

I thought maybe I would put the zukes and sweat peas out in the coldframe under a clothes basket. Do I leave the frame closed and vented? Or open it up like I have been doing for the flowers that I started in pots? If I do the clothes basket thing can I just set them out and leave them out overnight as well and just begin to take the basket off more each day?

I need some guidance on how to get all these guys out to the frame before they take over my basement.

The book states:

Tomato coldframe middle of May
Peppers " early June
Eggplant " early May
Squash " end of May early June
Zuke " end of May
Cucumbers " end of May early June
Direct sow the Beans in May