I'm a newbie too but I can tell you what I've read so far.

You'd have to water the pots if they were on the porch. I wouldn't do that because I'm so lazy so I won't have mine sheltered at all. Because you have a long winter, I imagine that you can put them out any time after it gets really cold. I don't have such a long winter so I have to worry about a lot of unpredictable weather and the seedlings being exposed to a dangerous cold spell. So long as your seeds don't sprout until they are ready you won't have any tender seedlings to worry about.

But... maybe someone more experienced will come and say something different. ^^;;

Thanks -- I think I'd better put them outside in the snow and rain. The whole idea, after all, is to LET THEM BE and still have seedlings in the spring! Good luck with yours too!

Zone 6 but I think the rule remains the same - OUTSIDE! I let ma nature garden for me - she's much smarter than I am. Here in Columbus, I start after the winter solstice 12/21. I generally start with perennials and move into annuals by Jan/Feb. It's a nice relaxing progression that feeds my need to garden in the winter months.

Zone 4a and this will be my fifth year doing this.

I start around new years, typically with hardy perennials in my zone, shurbs/trees and seeds that i don't really care about (e.g. old seeds). I typically wait until late February to start putting out a lot of my annuals, and I leave the following til the end of march or early april:

zinnias
sunflowers
ornamental millet
abutilon
dolichos lablab
morning glories
4 o'clocks
cosmos
and pretty much anyhting tropical in origin

Most of these will sprout if sown earlier, but their foliage is sufficiently tender that I lose them in the cold nights we have earlier in the winter/spring. If I wait til then, they typically don't pop til mid april or later and i typically don't have to worry about the seedlings freezing then.

Outside it is. I'll start the perennials in January and hold back on the annuals till later in February/March.

spartangardener, thanks for the list -- I saved the seeds from this year's cosmos and now I'll wait till March/April for that one.

BTW I'm planning to use peat moss mixed with a bit of seed starter. I got a great buy on a big bag of peat moss. Any reason I shouldn't do this?