Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 3, 0 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Lucy,

"I bet that ME was colder than KS."

I wouldn't make that bet for our recent cold spell. We lived in Manchester, Maine, and I think that for the last few days it has actually been warmer there than here in Wellsville, Kansas. For example, as I type this, the temperature here is Wellsville is 47 degrees while the temperature in Manchester is 51 degrees. You can compare the temperatures at the two places hour-by-hour at these two links:

Wellsville, KS http://www.accuweather.com/us/ks/wellsville/66092/city-weath...

Manchester, ME http://www.accuweather.com/us/me/manchester/04351/city-weath...

They predicted an overnight low here for Saturday morning of 31 degrees, but it turned out to be 33 degrees. They predicted the same 31 degrees for Sunday morning and Wellsville reported 31 degrees. Last night was a bit warmer at 35 degrees. Amazingly, my zinnias have survived these frigid nights -- so far. But, I expect that they will decline rapidly in such cold weather and that a killing freeze could come at almost any time.

For that reason, I have been saving seeds and taking cuttings of some choicer specimens for indoor growing. My indoor plant stands are my "Arc" for threatened breeder zinnias. This "spiderish" zinnia is one that I took cuttings from.

ZM