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hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
Sun Oct 26, 2014, 01:25 PM Oct 2014

Any zinnia growers here? I have an on-again, off-again relationship with zinnias.

This year I had a good crop, but I had to leave for a good part of the summer. I loved the first batch of flowers. The later flowers look pretty pitiful - the petals are shrunken and the center emerges as a cone so it looks like a very sad echinacia. Is this progression fixed n stone, or would my later blooms look better if Iwas more aggressive about cutting the earlier blooms?

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Any zinnia growers here? I have an on-again, off-again relationship with zinnias. (Original Post) hedgehog Oct 2014 OP
I love them. There is just such a variety to choose from and they are best from seed NRaleighLiberal Oct 2014 #1
Mulch w/ compost, water & deadhead regularly. CottonBear Oct 2014 #2
I had gorgeous zinnias this year! They were huge. femmocrat Oct 2014 #3
Not sure what variety we had, but full blossoms about 12-18 inches tall Melissa G Oct 2014 #4
Butterflies and bees loved my zinnias! That's reason enough for me to plant them. :) ellenrr Nov 2014 #5
I love them too, but they can be persnickety. Lex Nov 2014 #6

NRaleighLiberal

(60,500 posts)
1. I love them. There is just such a variety to choose from and they are best from seed
Sun Oct 26, 2014, 01:42 PM
Oct 2014

My advice is to try a different selection - and do lots of deadheading to keep the plants fresher. Also, maybe stagger some later seeding - pull the tired ones and let the newbies thrive.

femmocrat

(28,394 posts)
3. I had gorgeous zinnias this year! They were huge.
Sun Oct 26, 2014, 04:28 PM
Oct 2014

The tall ones were almost 5 ft. high! I had them along an open fence in about 50% sunshine. They did get a powdery mildew on the leaves toward the end of summer though and the little ones became rabbit snacks.

I can't wait to add more next year.

Melissa G

(10,170 posts)
4. Not sure what variety we had, but full blossoms about 12-18 inches tall
Sun Oct 26, 2014, 08:42 PM
Oct 2014

Zinnias were the flower of my childhood in South Texas. I helped plant them every year in my grandmothers garden. We seed saved them in a chest and then planted them again the next year. There was a mimosa tree volunteer that sprouted up in that garden as well and they both remind me of my grandparents.

Zinnias main gift is they were so simple to grow in that climate. They grew perfectly year after year with no effort, no muss, no fuss. I think it was just a sublime combination of variety, time and place. Have never had any other zinnias from packages do quite as well in Central Texas. May try some again this year now that you reminded me!

Lex

(34,108 posts)
6. I love them too, but they can be persnickety.
Fri Nov 7, 2014, 07:14 PM
Nov 2014

This year, some of mine were being eaten literally to death by a tiny bug that I could never find on the plant or in the soil.

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