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Late August

The Joy of Zinnias

An Easy Way to Grow Them…Successfully

Every time I go to the nursery in the spring, I slowly pass the zinnia section and try to decide whether I want to chance buying zinnias, and potting them up for my back terrace. Every single year they have gotten powdery mildew, withered, slowly died or just looked ugly after a few weeks.

I either place them in too much sun, let them dry out, or I overwater. I can’t figure out why I am unsuccessful. Could it be they don’t like being in pots and it’s not my ineptitude?

Zinnias

The botanical name for zinnias is ‘Zinnia elegance’. This annual belongs to the huge family of asters. They are originally fromsouthwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America.They are not Natives to Virginia,but do serve as huge pollinators for insects, butterflies and other wildlife. They like full sun and like to get a little dry in between waterings.

Their blooms are diverse in petal type and colors. Pink, coral, yellow , white and red are a few of many colors found. In the picture below you can see all the petal types and clusters.

If at First You Don’t Succeed…

This spring Kevin and I bought 20 lbs. of seed. We plowed a special section in our wildflower meadow near a water source, and planted zinnia seeds in the ground. W hat a fabulous result! We have had zinnias running 100 yards in length and 5’ wide since early June. We wander past their vibrant colors all summer. Neighbors have even thanked us for providing them a lovely detour on their daily walks.

Zinnias, like any other seeds you plant, need to come in contact with dirt. In mid spring choose a section in your yard where you can scrape away lawn, mulch and/or weeds and sprinkle seeds on the dirt. You don’t need a huge plot like mine to enjoy zinnia color and cuttings.

This more city like garden probably used about 5 pounds of seed. As you can see, a few seeds go a long way!

The plentiful rain this year helped tremendously with our crop. In other hot years, you may have to water, but not this year. As a matter of fact, the weeds are growing up higher than the plants right now due to plentiful rainfall. The area may look messy for lack of weeding, but high weeds do not get in the way of cutting the zinnia’s sturdy stems.

My neighbor, who inspired me to try planting seeds in the ground, weeded her crop. Hers was a more civilized stand than mine. Her comment was however, ” It’s alot alot alot of work…” You may not want to take the ‘weeding’ route unless you have a small area.

Picking

I think my favorite part of seeding this annual is the joy people have in cutting them when they are mature. It’s funny to hear the surprise in people’s voices when I invite them to “cut all the zinnias you want! I encourage them to cut long stems so that when put in a vase you see a large full statement of color.

I get lots of thanks and photos of their vase arrangements.

Collect seeds

Hard core and amateur gardeners can collect seeds. Wait for the flower heads to die on the stalk, cut them off at the flower heads, pull off the petals, tug off the seeds and overwinter them in a cool place .

You can also cut the heads off the flower and just put them in a basket til they dry out to harvest the seeds.

Zinnias will also reseed somewhat if you just leave the stalks standing. This method will may not provide as many flowers if you have a harsh winter. My sister-in- law still harvests seeds in the fall. Year after year she has successfully planted zinnias she got from our mother- in-law’s garden 20 years ago. Somehow I feel like we are touching on her Spirit as they grow and bloom.

Perhaps a Legacy

When my 3-year-old grandson came earlier this month, he picked flowers everyday.He would run into the house calling, “Coco, I have flowers for you!” After a few days he endedmaking bouquets that included limelight hydrangeas, bonarnesis, daisies and grasses.

My sweet neighbor pictured below came after 3 invitations to cut blooms for her vase at home.

As I have just turned 69, I have been told a few time to think about what legacy I want to leave behind. I don’t think I’ll be launching a ship, or sponsoring a new wing of a school. It may not be a legacy which speaks to scores of people, but I figure if children remember me as the flower lady or grandmother who encouraged them to cut brilliant flowers with abandon, that would be enough for me.

Christie lives in Manakin Sabot , Virginia where she manages a 3 acre garden. Her blogs are written from her 35 years as a personal and professional gardener.