Sowing Seeds Outdoors

[hb_colby]

Hey! I'm a novice gardener and have been doing a lot of research the past year to prepare for the garden of my dreams! I have a lot of perennial, flower seed and some annual seed waiting to be planted. I'm running a little behind my original schedule (I have a 2 year old :}) so I'm worried if I start sowing seeds indoors now, I'll be putting my seedlings out too late when it's too hot. Has anyone ever sowed seeds outdoors and just made a DIY greenhouse by draping/covering the area with a clear tarp/shower curtain? Was it successful? Do you have dos and donts?

OR does anyone have another strategy? All help appreciated. Thank you.

Over the next few years I plan to turn my backyard into a cottage garden style space. This is the space I'm working on this year. I live in Zone 7B.

Here are the seeds I plan to grow in this space:

 

[Tetters]

Welcome to the forum @hb_colby . Firstly I admire your ambition, and really wish you good luck with your plans. I hope you are not biting off more than you can chew though.
My advice would be to read the instructions carefully on the back of your seed packets, and follow the advice they give there.
The first sowing for me, to achieve some results this year, would have to be any really tough annuals you have, and plants that we might refer to as 'wildflowers'
I notice names on your list like marigold, poppies, and cosmos, and would suggest marking out patches where you want them to grow, and sow them thinly in rows as you can be sure that weeds will also grow there. If your seeds are in rows you will be able to determine which is which!!
You have a very large variety of seeds altogether, and may be tempted to try and grow all of them. You will find that there will not be room for ALL of them, so it may be wise to choose some of the most important perennials, and sow just a few of them. Sown in small pots (say 6 - 10 seeds in a 9cm pot) and let them germinate maybe on the kitchen window sill or similar place.
If you go too mad all in one go it could end in tears.
When I first started (a very long time ago) I pricked out hundreds of one variety, because I couldn't bear to discard any. I ended up with no space whatsoever for anything else.