I don't think that mean Wisconsin lady understands natural selection. If all of her zinnias now have supernatural powers to withstand disease, pests, and natural disasters how did she achieve this? How it would have to happen is she had three zinnias in her vast field that survived a tornado, so then she kept breeding those three plants until she had enough tornado resistant zinnias to fill the whole field. This process would have to continue with pests and disease that wiped out the whole field, but left a few mutants with resistance. The mere act of planting outside doesn't change the genetics. That's Lamarckian theory which says that a giraffe reaching for leaves makes its offsping have a longer neck. Sorry, doesn't work that way.
I do agree that zinnias should be sown outside for ornamental purposes. The transplants are so much weaker that the direct sown always catch up.
