Consider Starting These Seeds Indoors Before Spring Officially Begins

There are so many ways to set up, start, and run a garden that you can have the freedom to experiment with and explore to your heart's delight. Over time, you'll be able to find what works best for you and the USDA zone you live in, such as which plants will grow best. But sometimes, you want to break the mold and plant flowers sooner than recommended, or even try and grow something that doesn't do all that well in your zone.

While you could just plant these straight into soil when spring rolls around and hope for the best, there is another option. By starting your seeds indoors a few weeks before the last frost, you give your plants a headstart in growing, and offer them a chance to grow sturdy before they face the harsh elements outdoors. Starting your seeds indoors early can take up a bit of space and time, but it offers many perks. Two of the biggest include the ability to start on your spring gardening early and increasing the chances of your plants surviving once they are placed in the soil, allowing your garden to really thrive. 

There are many different tricks and tips to help your plants germinate, including incorporating turmeric into your garden. You can still use these tricks as needed, but starting your seeds indoors offers you better control of your plant's growing environment, and therefore increases the chances of them not only germinating but also popping up happy and healthy. 

If you haven't grown a lot of plants indoors, petunias are a great place to start. They don't need a lot of work to get started, and you can use what you have around you. Grow lights can help if you own them, but they aren't necessary. You'll want to start your petunias about 10 weeks before the last frost. They like warm temperatures (up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit) and bright, but not direct, sunlight. There are a few benefits to starting petunias indoors, including their long germination time. They also tend to get tangled up as they are growing, and it's easier to separate and detangle them while they are inside rather than already planted in your garden. 

Petunias aren't just pretty. Some people say they also have the potential to keep away pests and are one of the main ways to make your home garden repel ticks and fleas. However, petunia seeds are very, very small, making it incredibly hard to put the right number into each container, and difficult to see if you are even dropping them on the correct spot, as they blend with the soil far too easily. There are versions of petunia seeds called pelleted seeds, which are a little easier to work with, but they aren't as easy to find. If you end up using standard petunia seeds, be gentle, and use them sparingly. The other trick is to add a pinch of sand to them, as the light color of the sand makes it far easier to see than just the petunias alone.

Sage is one of those rabbit-resistant plants that helps to stop rabbits from destroying your garden. Not only do they keep certain pests out of your yard, but they also don't have many problems. Your biggest threats aren't insects, but rot and mildew if your soil is poor. There are dozens of different varieties of sage, which provide a mix of flowers, colors, and sizes to fit your needs and your garden.

While sage is slow-growing, and there is no need to get it started early by planting it in your home, it's still considered best to start these seeds indoors. That's because they are pretty hard to grow if planted directly in the soil. Growing them inside to start is much easier. They take about 15 days to germinate. During this time, you'll want to keep them in warm soil, between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Once they sprout, continue to grow them inside until each plant is at least 4 inches tall and there is no more danger of frost. Those plants can overwinter easily; they are still pretty weak as seedlings and need a little extra care. 

Germinating sage, there are a few things you should be aware of to get it started well besides just the temperature. It's a plant that likes dry soil, so normal potting mix is often too wet, and you want a free-draining mix instead. They also need a lot of sun or equivalent, usually at least six hours of light. 

Broccoli is a little funky, as they can be planted in fall or spring, depending on where you live. In zone 11, this beneficial plant can be grown at any time of the year, but for others (3 through 10), you need to pick a cooler season. For zones that do best in the spring, you'll want to start them pretty early indoors, sometimes as soon as the middle of February. Broccoli is a little slow to grow. Because of this, it's a good idea to start the seeds indoors about eight weeks before the last predicted frost.

There is another reason this plant is a little odd. It enjoys growing in cooler weather, which is why they can work for either fall or winter. However, they don't like being cold when germinating. This makes it an ideal plant to start indoors, where you can give them a warmer environment, before moving them outside. 

Broccoli might not be the prettiest vegetable you ever grew, but it can be a stunning spring plant in another way. It offers you lots of produce, giving you plenty of food with three to five plants per person in your home. If you enjoy the chance to grow your own food, then broccoli is a great place to start, offering you something edible and fruitful to mix into your spring garden and requiring minimal care for a great return on your investment.

Marigolds are another flower that does well germinated indoors. Like a few others on this list, these gorgeous yellow plants ward off many pests for good. They are pollinator-friendly flowers that work wonders in your vegetable garden by keeping them safe from a variety of harmful insects. So it's nice to start growing these early so they are ready to get to work once spring comes. While it is possible to buy transplants from stores, it is much cheaper to buy the seeds and germinate them yourselves inside before planting them in the winter.

These are popular flowers, used in many different celebrations, weddings, and other events. They come in several styles and colors, from the balls of yellow easily recognizable to more unique five-petaled red blooms. You have the freedom to play with the different kinds and see which ones you enjoy most in your garden.

Marigolds take somewhere between six and eight weeks to germinate. So if you are going to start them indoors, you want to do it no more than eight weeks before your last freeze. Germinating in your home first lets you start the flowers sooner. This isn't as big of a deal as with cosmos, because marigolds will continue to bloom until the first frost of fall. However, if you're hoping to keep pests away, or just want to make the most of these mostly annual flowers, germinating can get them ready for your garden that much sooner. 

Rosemary is such a great plant to grow in your garden. Not only does it make charming blue flowers; it's also a delicious herb great to add to many savory dishes. There are some reports that it can improve your cognitive function, which makes it one of several medical plants you can grow in your garden. 

Germinating rosemary seeds isn't easy, and can take anywhere from 15 to 24 days. They shouldn't be planted until they are 3 inches tall and there are no more chances of frost. They like moist environments, and it's easier to control inside with plastic wrap to hold in the moisture than outside. If you are going to germinate so your rosemary will be ready to plant in May, you want to start in the middle of February and keep them indoors until the end of April.

Rosemary is a perennial plant, and is a little slow to grow. In the first year, you won't see much growth, but they can reach 6 feet tall under the right conditions. If you wait to plant them until after the last frost, they will take a long time to grow. For zones where they aren't hardy, you may only get a year out of them, so you want to maximize your growth so you can get the most from your plant. Another benefit to growing rosemary indoors first is that they are fairly difficult to grow; by planting them directly in your yard, you risk not getting any to grow. It is easier to monitor them inddors, plus you can use your limited garden space for other flowers if you end up without a successful germination.

There are all kinds of cosmos, and all are beautiful in their own way. For example, chocolate cosmos are sweet-smelling flowers perfect for attracting hummingbirds, but there are plenty of other colors and types of these flowers to grow. Additionally, the sulphur and garden varieties of them are also great ones to start with, attracting friendly pollinators and bringing rich color to your yard.

There are many different species of cosmos, and most start blooming in the summer. They are a fairly hardy plant that does well just being planted directly into the soil in spring. However, if you want to make sure these short-lived flowers bloom throughout their entire growing season, it's a good idea to start your first round indoors starting in January or early February. Once they start to bloom, you can drop them into the soil and get an extra burst of flowers while the ones you plant directly outside start to grow. If you're having a cold spring, or the chance for the last frost is long, you may also want to germinate these plants indoors to ensure you get to see their full blooming season. 

The best thing about cosmos is that they're relatively easy to grow. Whether you're new at germinating your plants indoors, or at gardening in general, cosmos give you the flexibility you need to learn without the fear of killing everything you touch. Because of their popularity, it's easy enough to find step-by-step instructions for growing cosmos indoors and when to move them outside, further making these plants beginner-friendly.

Oregano does best when planted outside shortly after the last frost. Therefore, to have it ready to be transplanted from inside to your garden after the freeze, the seeds need to be germinated no later than eight weeks before then, though you can go up to 10 weeks out. After you transplant it, this herb is incredibly easy to maintain, as it's able to handle the occasional neglect and needs minimal care as far as plants go. Additionally, in most zones they are a perennial plant, so after you grow it once, you may never have to start another batch indoors. It's hardy from zones 5 to 10, but some can even handle the colder temperatures of zone 4.

Oregano has a lot of benefits, including acting as a medicine, bringing in beneficial insects, and being an essential herb in the kitchen. So not only does it help attract pollinators to keep the rest of your garden growing, but you can also turn around and use this plant in your home. It's pretty as well. Its leaves are bright green, though there are several different varieties, and the flowers are small but attractive. It may not be the main attraction in your garden, but the colors will certainly support your other stunning plants.

If you're looking for the oregano you'd find in your kitchen, Origanum vulgare (aka Italian oregano or true oregano) is the one you want. There's also O. vulgare hirtum, which is Greek oregano. However, other kinds exist that are less common but still edible, such as Mexican oregano, golden oregano, and Syrian oregano.