When to plant annuals

It may be too early for most annuals, but it's not too early to plant pansies outside.
There's a fund-raiser plant sale for Habitat for Humanity, May 6-7 at Culvers in Lake Orion, where you will likely find pansies and other flowers.
For most annuals, if you can't cover them, keep them inside until Memorial Weekend. That seems to be the best time for Southeast Michigan. always wait until then to plant tomatoes and peppers because they grow slower when it gets too cold at night. Besides I'm lazy about covering them at night, when there's a frost advisory.
All is not lost if it does frost. If you have plants or flowering trees that are frost sensitive and you didn't get them covered before a frost, go outside before the sun shines on the plants and spray water on them, rinsing off the frost. This works for a light to moderate frost, but not for a hard frost or freeze.