I want to add zinnias to my garden.
Does anyone have a favorite?
Are most cactus types 30 inches tall?
Do the large bloom varieties tend to flop?
I really want the airy looks of spots of color amongst the other perennials.

I love all zinnias! But my favorite are the mexican varieties.

Beautiful. I really, really love zinnias also.

I think I have some on my other vendor list.
I have grown the short bush ones in containers.Zahara White


and Starlight Rose

I just checked and the bush type from the new vendor are Persian carpets


these are also going on the list







pink senorita




California Giants


Redman super giants

Here are some stands of Zinnia that I saw this summer..........

thanks Paul.I googled certain varieties and there werent any garden views with zinnias just bloom closeups from vendors. I think they add color in late summer.

Those are really pretty Jo Ann and Paul. Zinnias are fabulous!

I love the Persian Carpet

This is the thread I started when I went into town and saw the quaint house with piket fence plantings.The first images are what I saw wooopie.
The thread "I shall plant zinnias" in Annuals forum

So Jo Ann, will you direct sow? The Zowies are a bit pricey, but so pretty.


Peppermint stick are very pretty as well. I ordered the red lime this year. I hope they are as pretty as the photos!

This is a morph of a Zowie I think.

Arlene: Those are really great.
I ordered zinnias this morning. I realize I also have a few dahlias ordered too, so the drama will be over the top here unless I find a way to keep from planting both together.
I will direct sow. I dont have an early start situation here.My studio is in the basement where the trays and lights would be even if starting appealed to me.
I have pretty good luck waiting for soil to warm and choose easy to grow flowers that do pretty good.
I have daughters who live nearby so extra seeds can be shared with them.
Here are some combos for perennials in 2 gardens

Jo Ann, those are beautiful combos! I don't know why I never think to use photos to plan! I guess I'm just in denial and think it will all work out. Besides, clashes rarely bother me, I just love the blooms no matter what!

So you ordered the Rose Lime? I can hardly wait to see how it turns out!

Will you use the zinnias to shade the heuchera? The nice thing about zinnias is they do great even waiting for direct sowing. I usually direct sow, just that I do rows, 3 1/2' X 50' with about 5 across if I remember correctly. I have found I have to put stakes around the perimeter and twine because they spread out with me cutting on a regular basis. They still flop though. Most of what I grow are the Benary Giants because they are for cutting. I throw in a few of the Mexican/Persian ones but they are tiny and a pain to use for cut flowers! But they sure are pretty.

That lime red is just fabulous with the red center. I looked at Google to get a variation of it in gardens and I believe it holds pretty good. The web site image is perfect but I saw a grouping that looked great.
Many times I have to just go with the flo when my collages dont work out because website colors are off.
I agree blooms are fantastic no matter if they clash with neighbors.
That garden with Heuchera gets half day sun and the heuchera seems to do fine in it.Of course there might not be enough for zinns but we will see.
This is the spot in june

Nice spot! I think the zinnias will be fine with half day of sun.

Arlene,thanks for the reinforcement. I really have no idea except I have grown pots of petunias along that border.

Jo Ann, you got me thinking about Zinnias till I had to order some! I do some gardening for my landlord and his wife, and she loves her cut flowers, so I wanted to pick up some nice cutting varieties for her anyway. And of course I can't plant some in her yard and not in my own, LOL. I ordered mostly Benary's Giants, that are said to be reliably fully doubled. In that line I ordered a large pack of mixed colors, and smaller packs of Lilac, Lime, Salmon Rose, and Scarlet. Also ordered a large pack of Sunbow mix, with smaller doubled blooms with long stems for cutting. Got a pack of Dreamland Pink to grow in containers too, they have large, double blooms on short bushy plants.

I believe I'll use the wintersowing method in milk jugs to start mine, but wait till sometime in late March or early April to sow them. I've done that in the past with good results, better than when I've direct sown. I think that bit of protection from bugs and slugs is why it worked out better for me, and I like getting a little bit of an early start with them.

Neal, I hope you have good luck with winter sowing. Of the hundreds of things I winter sowed last year I was most disappointed with the zinnias. I did get ok germination (not excellent like most other things I WS'd). But the plants just weren't that robust or healthy. It really surprised me. I direct sowed some and they did better.

FWIW

I have never tried sowing anything under jugs except poppies.
.
Neal Your selections sound great. The images of zinnias were id'd as Sunbow mix

That's interesting Jennifer, I had great success with wintersowing Zinnias. I did wait till later to sow them than the rest of the seeds I wintersowed.

Jo Ann, that's good to know those are Sunbow mix! Excited about that choice.

Goodie.

If I winter sow zinnias here the seeds rot befor germinating. There are just not enough warm days and nights before mid May.The cold and rain just make for hostil conditions.