Is it too late to plant anything from seed now?

I missed the spring planting season - is it too late to plant anything right now or do I have to wait until the fall? What about if I want to grow anything in containers? Temperatures for the next 10 days are forecasted to be in the 80-85 range. Right now I have some seeds of shasta daisy, marigold, hollyhock, oriental poppy, johnny-jump-up, forget-me-not & some herb/vegetable seeds like basil, chives, dill, watercress, tomatoes, cucumber, kale, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower ...

Any tips or words of advice for a novice gardener?

Well, from one novice to the other: I think hollyhocks you plant more late summer early fall. It would depend on how long your season is...marigolds are annuals, so they'll probably grow, but if you don't have enough of your season left, they may not bloom before it gets cold. This being said, I think I planted french marigolds from seed in April and they bloomed by June. I think the Jonny-jump ups need to be planted in the fall too, not sure. I'd guess that the basil, chives, and dill can be planted now, you could put them in pots that way if they're not quite done before it gets cold you could bring them in. Chives are perrenials so then next year in the spring you could plant them outside if you wanted. Basil is an annual, but I believe it does well inside in a pot. Dill is also an annual(as far as I know) but reseeds itself readily. So, if you do have to bring them inside, collect the seeds and plant in the spring. Tomatoes and cucumbers like the heat, so I'm pretty sure they'd grow, its just a matter of reaching maturity before the first frost. Check to see how many days til they mature. lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower like cooler weather, so I'd wait til fall. I do plant lettuce during the summer(they say it bolts/goes to seed quickly in the heat and can taste bitter). I water it a lot and harvest it as soon as it gets big enough to eat and I haven't had a problem with it. There's also lettuces that are more heat resistant than others. I believe kale is also a more cool weather crop, but not sure. Oh, and I think the oriental poppy are planted in the fall to, not sure. Hope this helps and that I didn't give you bad info!

Kristie

I would skip the tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, you won't have time between now and the end of the growing season for them to do much more than take up space.

Shasta daisies are perennials - you won't get blooms this year but they should come up again next spring. Once they're well established, you can get more by dividing them. As I recall they're fairly shallow rooted, so mulching and keeping them well watered is a good idea. I've never direct seeded them - they're fairly easy to start in pots though.

Marigolds bloom pretty much until killed dead by frost if you keep them dead-headed. They're tough little buggers so I don't think it's too late to start them. They're annuals, but they grow pretty fast, they take a lot of abuse, and they tolerate heat pretty well.

Oriental poppies are one of those plants that I think requires extra care of the seed bed to start from seed ("well-raked, sandy soils" type of stuff, the seeds are teensy), so I've always started them in pots. You can as well start in pots now as direct seeding, and then transplant. They're perennials and you can start them from root cuttings once they're established. I don't think they bloom the first year, either.

Hollyhocks - I haven't grown Hollyhocks since I was a kid. They're biennials, so they won't flower until next year. They love full sun. They also tend to get some sort of fungus or something that turns the leaves icky looking if they don't get enough air circulation, so don't crowd them. Fertilize away - since you're getting them in late and you already know they're not going to bloom anyway, you want all the vegetative growth you can get. (Well, don't over fertilize, but there's no need to skimp, either). I can't remember how to overwinter them. There's something about pinching to make them branch out, I can't remember how to do it though.

Johnny-Jump-Ups and Forget-Me-Nots - I'm no help here, I've never grown either one.

Basil will do fine started in pots, which you can take inside later. So will chives

Dill - I think if you haven't already got plants started that this is one that would do better to start in the fall and overwinter. You could try a few seeds and see what happens. I'm guessing you'd get better germination in pots, but I don't know for sure.

Watercress is a mystery to me. I'm not even sure what it is!

Lettuce can still be grown - I grow leaf lettuce, Cos type (romaine) on the east side right in front of a wooden fence so they get reflected light but they're cooler and semi-shaded. I start a few at a time in 4 packs and transplant over the entire summer - just snip what I want and replant. I start them every couple of weeks (I don't eat THAT much lettuce).

Kale - I'm thinking this is in the cabbage family. I think this doesn't at all like hot weather. You might be better off to hold off on the kale until next year along with the broccoli, tomatoes, and cabbage.

If you can get tomato plants already started somewhere it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and plant that. I wouldn't try to start from seed this late in the season in your area, though.

Hope that helps!

Sojourner