January-April are good months to sow cilantro seeds. You can sow them indoors but we find it's even better to sow them outdoors in large pots, and they will germinate when ready. Cilantro doesn't like to be transplanted once it starts growing deeper roots. And, since Cilantro is very frost resistant, it will sprout when the outdoor conditions are right, and grow slowly until it warms up in February/March/April/May depending on where you live and then it will take off! Cilantro really is a cool-season loving plant, and will thrive in the early spring to early summer months.
You can also encourage cilantro to grow over the cold winter months by growing it inside a greenhouse, hoop house or cold frame. As it's quite frost tolerant, many gardeners can grow and harvest cilantro nearly all winter long if protected under cover. 
We seem to have the most success planting the seeds in large 5 gallon container pots in winter and early spring. The seeds sprout and grow quickly once warmer spring weather arrives and you'll have more cilantro than you know what to do with! We make a lot of salsa recipes and cilantro pesto with the abundance.
You can also freeze cilantro for later use in salsas, since it's often difficult to keep growing in the heat of summer!
Typically once the heat arrives, Cilantro will start to bloom, keep in mind all parts of the plant are edible so you can put blooms in your salsa for great flavor as well! If you let the blooms be, native pollinators will love to visit, and provide you with a fresh batch of seeds for sowing again to keep it growing.
So don't get frustrated by Cilantro, it's hard to get cilantro to grow well in hot summers as it always goes to bloom so it doesn't last long. Enjoy the blooms, collect the dried seeds. You may be able to get it growing in the perfect part-shade place in the heat of the summer, depending on where it's planted. We suggest to sow seeds every few weeks for a more consistent harvest, we like to sow cilantro seeds all around the garden and in pots and tucked into flower beds to see where it will take off throughout the year.
Cilantro seeds can also take some time to sprout, so don't give up on them, keep the soil moist and hopefully you'll see sprouts in now time! You can also crush the round cilantro pods, which is actually two cilantro seeds, which can help speed germination.
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