When I lived in Zone 7a, I used to put hardy frost tolerant plants such as lettuce, pansy, cabbage family, etc. out anytime after Winter Solstice… and then use cloches or wet burlap over them anytime a hard freeze warning occurred. :)

I used to plant out my non-hardy plants such as tomatoes peppers eggplants according to the Farmers almanac avg last date of frost, which was typically March30 or so. This is also the date I used to plant my trees and shrubs.
I didn’t buy the Farmers almanac, because I was a starving artist and had to pinch pennies. So instead, I either consulted the copy in the local library, or picked up the almanac at the general/feed store, quickly browsed through it to get my planting date, then put it back on its shelf.

Each year for 4 yrs. I went by the Almanac, but also took careful notes as to what Nature was doing around me on the recommended last date of frost. By year 5 I no longer needed to consult the Almanac because I could do it by experience.
I knew by then that if the peach and plum trees begin to flower and the garden has been full of a fresh new crop of wind-sown thistles and dandelions for at least a week, it meant planting time!

Right now I am waiting until the last frost date April 10th, to put everything that is going outside, outside. This is my first year trying to container garden on my patio, so everything will be trial and error this year. The plan is to watch the weather and plant by plant move them outside when the night time temps can support. The only thing out there right now is Broccoli. The tomatoes will soon follow (at about 50 degree nights and up) and then the Beans when its a little warmer than that. Any feedback from experienced people will be helpful. Thanks.

I agree on the tomatoes. I’ve started waiting until May to put them out. When I put them out earlier, they just kind of sit there and don’t grow, I assume because the soil isn’t warm enough.

@doubledug – Got that date as the average for the area from the Farmers Almanac. I was at McDonald’s Garden Center today and they had a big sign that said it was April 15th. Right now i have all my plants growing on a desk with several lights on them to meet their current light requirements, and to keep them from getting leggy when they were smaller. I am starting to harden them this week during the day and bringing them back in at night. If the weather forecast supports it I am going to move them to their five gallon containers about the last frost date and leave them out as long as it stays above 50 at night. If it doesnt they are coming back in for those few nights. That is one big advantage to the container gardening over putting them in the ground.