Lisa, We cross posted. If you have stored them in the Frig. all winter, I would say you are good to go. Plant those puppies!
You must have had a cold winter! It got down to 7* at my house the first week of February but everything seems to have survived. I always buy self-rooted roses for that very reason. When on their own root, they can freeze to the ground and come back up whatever they were supposed to be. I have to say, I've never heard of a crabapple being killed by the cold.
Lavender is a Mediterranean plant even though its listed at cold hardy. Its just going to be tricky to grow, no matter what. I buy burlap in bolts so I can cover sensitive plants with 4 layers of the stuff (anything else would blow away) and weight the edges with bricks.
As I said earlier, any seed will benefit from bottom heat. Keep us posted. I would love to see pictures of your progress.
Daisy
