Zinnias

All went well with respect to seed saving.... until the strong winds came. Wanting the large pots for something else, these early zinnias were growing in, I clipped them all back and put the plants into a large plastic bin to dry so I could harvest the mixed seeds. The next day, a really strong wind blew over the container, and all the drying plants were just gone. Poof! Down the hill. They were not rare seed - I was just trying to save some money. Oh well.

 I grew two new queen varieties - queen lemon peach or sometimes, queen lime peach. Bloomed OK, but nothing special. I think the queen series without this yellowish hue is better. Personal taste of course.

The other new one, Queen pure orange, from Baker Creek, is very nice. Very clean, bright, striking orange, but in a limited range of color - I had hoped for a few with darker orange. I'll grow these again. I had them right next to some pygmy yellow sunflowers (don't ask, lol) and together the colors just popped out.

In addition to a few odds and ends, I mainly grew 3 varieties. The queen series, which I planted early. Those were lovely, but powdery mildew got them. I'd grow those again.

The next variety is Benary's Giants. These are touted as the go-to zinnia for flower farmers because of the size and range of colors. I put the seedlings in a prime bed and while they are blooming with a very good colors, the plants themselves tend to be kinda short - a foot and a half or so. A nice bed, but not spectacular. The flowers themselves tend to be extremely double, which I don't like that much. Doubt I'll grow these again. Once the seed is gone, that is.

The 3rd variety is some sort of generic Zinnia from Johnny's. Giant Dahlia Flowered. These seem more healthy than the Benary Giants, and have a more pleasing flower form (semi double). The color range is fair, with a few too many reds and dark pinks. I did save the seed from those plants that were really nice colors however. There was a striking yellow-orange that was absolutely luminous. And a few others worth saving.

I also really liked the bright Queeny orange and Zinderella Peach, both of which I'll grow again.

That's unbelievable, desertwoman! I just pulled most of mine yesterday.

Does anyone have a suggestion for any varieties that are short and bushy? Mine got too tall and overgrown; even though I did try to trim them frequently, I guess I should have cut them back a lot more!

Thanks ahntjudy - I'll have to look into them for next season.

I have never grown it, but I did get some seeds of the Profusion in several colors that looked very appealing. Maybe next year they'll get planted.

Wanted to show a picture of a Katydid that was on the zinnia a couple of weeks ago. I was about to cut that stem and noticed it, was pretty big. Glad I didn't put my hand on it!

Yes, it was kind of cute, saw me moved around and put it's head on the other side of the stem, as if that would prevent me from seeing it. The rest of the body was in full view.