I've grown autos outdoors for a few years now. I like to start them inside mid to late April and put them outside 2nd week of May at around 3 weeks old. They usually finish around the 4th of July. That puts me in flowering through the entire month of June, more or less. I guess I could start the seeds a week or two later and hit the day length "bell curve" more towards the middle, but I don't feel like it would make a huge difference. For me, the point of doing a few outdoor autos is for the fresh bud early in the season, so I want them finishing as soon as possible.
Don't get me wrong, I think outdoors is the best application for autoflowers, but the yield isn't like what you see with some of the indoor grows. I average only about 1.5oz per plant. But, like I said, those 5-6oz early on is worth it to me considering the minimum effort.
I've done a later season batch that turned out OK. I think I started the seeds late in June and they finished up early September. The longer days early in the season definitely help.