I'm with you on the wanting longer nights than warmer weather. Summertime is wonderful but the nights are way too short. It sucks having to wait until 10 p.m. for complete darkness in late June. 🙁
As far as planetary nebula go, right now I'd be trying the Eskimo Nebula NGC 2392 in Gemini. It's small, but immeadiately available. NGC 3242 the "Ghost of Jupiter" is a nice showy planetary in Hydra, so if you're up around midnight to 3 a.m. that one is a dandy, but there's some starhopping involved. The Little Dumbell in Perseus M76 is still available to the northwest, but for all year round planetary fun NGC 6545 the "Cat's Eye" nebula in Draco is almost always there. (P.S. You've GOT to see that one in Randy's scope – awesome!)
For the summertime, it's the Ring Nebula, M57 in Lyra and the Dumbell Nebula, M27 in Cygnus. Both are easy to find, pleasing to the eye and showy. 🙂
My all time favorite is still the Helix Nebua NGC 7293 in Aquarius. It has a low surface brightness, but on a very good night it is huge in a telescope and wonderful to view, especially with an OIII or Ultra High Contrast filter. 8)
When we finally hook up for a session at Eagle Bluff we'll make a stab at NGC 5053. Until then…clear skies! ;D