Nancy, I'm glad everyone here has been able to shorten the learning curve for y'all. That's one of the amazing things about this forum, and all other forms of social media that we have nowadays. It used to be so much harder to learn to garden---you had to talk to other gardeners, read books, watch TV gardening shows, etc., and largely learn through a tedious process of trial and error over a prolonged period of years. Back then, the learning curve was very long and very slow, almost painfully so. Now, people have access to all sorts of info right at their fingertips and in an instant. My dad and my grandparents would be amazed at how much easier it is for gardeners to get info nowadays.

Timing always is an issue here at this time of the year. I blame our weather for that---we have what absolutely feels like spring and sometimes summer days while still having winter like weather at night that precludes moving plants outside to stay once they outgrow their indoor areas. It never will change, and that's why hoop houses, cold frames, greenhouses, etc. are our friends. It helps to have somewhat of a sheltered area to which to move plants while they adjust to the outdoors and still have some protection from the cold nights.

A lot of people here where I live out in the country have screened-in porches, or even sun porches or sunrooms that started out as screened-in porches. I learned pretty quickly that the screened-in porches/sunrooms (unlike the fancy sunrooms you see in home decor magazines) often were added on to homes to give gardeners places to harden off plants, so they really were built more as a working space than a lounging space. They also often double as mudrooms, catching all the boots and shoes covered with mud and stuff from working outdoors. Over time, a lot of the screened-in porches have been converted to sunrooms so they can be used to overwinter plants or to harden off plants started indoors under lights in a more protected manner than a screened-in porch allows. Often they have a spare fridge or freezer tucked away in the corner. Our sunroom started out as a deck. Then, we turned it into a screened-in porch, largely used as a mudroom but also often filled with flats of plants that weren't quite ready to venture out into full sun/full wind. Eventually we turned it into a sunroom, albeit one currently occupied by our son's tropical birds. We sectioned off a part of it as a mudroom before he moved the birds there, so we still had a place to leave our coats and boots. If he ever finishes his house, which he is building (ever so slowly) with his own two hands and moves his birds to his house, maybe the cats and I will regain the use of our sunroom. It is their favorite place to lounge around on winter days, soaking up the sunlight and heat. The cats are fairly good about not bothering plants in the sunroom, but we built the greenhouse to give me a cat-free place for plants because well, cats still will be cats, and plants aren't totally safe from them. And, of course, with the tropical birds in the sunroom, it has been off limits to the cats, and they aren't happy about that either.

Dawn

Had to laugh. we have a deck on the east side that stretches the full length of the house. And we have a porch on the west side that also stretches the full length of the house. Neither could be turned into sun rooms, because neither gets sun! Shade on the east side all day long, shade on the west side all day long (because of the trees).! BUT. GDW turned half of the double car garage into a studio for me. I paint and quilt . . . and it's a good-sized area.. . . hmmmm. we could get plexiglass panels inserted into the garage door (which faces north), and they're not TOO terribly expensive. . . and I could have a lot of light. I've been toying with the idea just for painting. But I do believe it could be very good for plants, too. . . the sun moves across from east to west. . . the north side of the house is the ONLY side of the house that gets full sun all day, about 5 feet out from the house. The sun is high enough in the late spring, summer and early fall that there is not much shade, except right next to the house. Now you've got me thinking. Everything I am coming up with is probably your fault, you understand. LOL

I'll gladly take all the blame for being your enabler. Enabling is what I do best.

Really, I think sunrooms and screened porches are better off with no direct sunlight here in the summertime. We have to work hard (via window blinds, curtains, planting deciduous trees, etc.) to keep the sunroom from overheating on full-sun days. Our screened-in porch in Fort Worth got very little direct sun due to its location on the north side of the house (between the house and a garage) and with trees to its east and west. It was cool all the time, even in summer, and I loved that.