pansyloverandgrower,

"...when will be the last frost here in lynnwood?"

There is weather data available, but it is in terms of probabilities. I am sure that you know that no one can say with certainty that the last killing frost will be on a certain date. It varies from year to year, and some years can have some unusual weather. What state is Lynnwood located in? Knowing that, we can access some specific data, and maybe come up with a 90% certain date.

ZM

Zinnias are not happy in the cold even it does not reach the killing stage. I would not be in a hurry to put them out, even if they don't die, they will not grow either. Al

And you can call your local extension office to learn the date of the last expected frost.

you should also make some good notes about starting your seeds too early .. lol ...

a 2 week delay would have put you right in phase ..

timing is the biggest problem i ever encountered with starting seeds ... especially up here where i have frosts thru 6/1 ... in MI ...

ken

ps: and if you bought them.. same note .. different subject.. lol ..

Well now, depending on where you live in zone 8, it might be okay now. My night time lows are forecast to be in the mid fifties with daytime highs in the seventies to low eighties for the foreseeable forecast. That is warm enough for zinnias. You did start them too early for a normal year, but that's not what I'm having. The groundhog was so right! We've had an extraordinarily early spring! I am going to start my zinnia seeds this week. And will grow them outside with the option of bringing them in if nights get cold again. (A real possibility until early April.)

Here is a link too: NCDC: Freeze/Frost Maps [That is NOAA's site. Why is it called NCDC?]

The maps are not to good. I would appreciate a link to better maps.

Google's first ghit for ''lynnwood'' is WA. If you are in Washington state Sunsets Western Garden Book might be the best place to start. If there is a nearby library I wouldn't just run out and buy it but my 30 year old book still has maps that are quite reliable in Nevada.

If the Lynnwood we are talking about is the one in Washington state, its climate is described as "cool and rainy", which is far from ideal for zinnias. I didn't see any weather data for Lynnwood, but there is data for nearby Everett. But cool wet weather promotes several zinnia foliage diseases.

ZM

We are promised next week to have daytime temperatures as high as 70 degrees, we haven't had any yet. Here in sunny California most days so far are in the high fifties or low sixties. Unfortunately plants don't know about the calender, but they do react to the temperature. We are well over our normal amount of rain and well under the normal amount of heat. Al