ZenMan said:
Hi j52,
Welcome to the National Gardening Association's Annuals forum.

I am a zinnia hobbyist and make my own home hybridized zinnias. There is a popular misconception that zinnias need to be dead and brown before you can collect seed from them. Actually, you can collect a zinnia seed as a green seed about three weeks after it is pollinated. That can speed up the zinnia seed collection process by months.

The viable green seeds will be plump and filled in, while the un-pollinated ones will be slim and "empty".

All of the photos here on NGA will respond with a larger version if you click on them. Give it a try. Notice that the attached petals are still alive and have their full coloration. If you plan to store the seeds for use at a later time, spread them out on a paper or some other handy surface and let them dry for a week or so before packaging them. (If you package them wet, they might sprout in the package.)

If you want to plant them immediately, you will need to "breach" the green seed coat before planting. The green seed coat is alive and impervious to water. You can skip the breaching step and just plant them immediately with the green coat on (and optionally even with the petal still attached) and in two or three weeks the green seed coat will die and become pervious to water. But you can speed the green seed germination by several weeks by breaching the seed coat. Several techniques for breaching the green seed coat are shown in this photo.

As a zinnia hobbyist I find it to be very helpful to get more than one generation of zinnias per year. Saving zinnia seeds in the green stage has other advantages. You reduce the danger of pre-germination of the seeds in the seed head during a wet rainy spell, and you reduce the window of danger from seed eating birds, like finches and such.

If you are curious what it would be like to make crosses between different flowers and see what the results will look like, zinnias have several advantages. They have a wide color range and variety of plant habits, they bloom quickly from seed in about six weeks, their seeds are big and easy to handle, and the zinnia flower parts are easy to manipulate to make your own hybrids.

If you have questions about any of this, I would be glad to have a go at answering them. Plant breeding can be a fascinating hobby and zinnias can be an easy way to get into it.

ZM

Thanks so much for that information. Last year was the time I decided that I needed to cut down on the cost of my seed buying and wanted to go a season with only seed that I collected.
I had no idea the zinnia seeds can be harvested when the blooms are not dry and brown. I even dug up plants and put them in pots in the GH, hoping to give them more time. I got the wrong idea about collecting the Zinnia seed from a you tube video.

Well one never stops learning in the gardening world.
Thanks again

@zenman
Atta way ! More valuable info about our beloved zinnias. I've been taking notes, especially about systemic fungicides.
Thanks
@j52
Glad to meet you.

Thanks for the welcomes ZenMan and Katesflowers.

My Lathyrus sativus var. azureus have sprouted.

Jack do you have it inside or outside?

Outdoors. They require cool temperatures so I planted them when it was still in the upper 20s and they've done well, which honestly surprised me a bit.

ZenMan said:Val,
It's interesting that your Bright Lights cosmos grew so tall. Some cosmos can grow even taller. Cosmos do have an interesting variety of plant habits. If I had more time and space, I would breed cosmos. My first objective would be to cross the yellow species with the pink species. The success of that cross should give Cosmos a color range competitive with zinnias.
ZM

ZenMan ~ You were reading my mind. I was wondering why no one has done that yet. (Maybe it has been tried.) I am not a breeder like you, but I sure would like to see this done. You know that there is a pale yellow C. bipinnata right? I notice that it was on the market this year. I have grown 'Yellow Garden' before and it bloomed rather late. The color was quite pale, like a pale yellow wash over white. I think this year's variety might be better. It claims to be earlier in bloom as well.

evelyninthegarden said:
I am not a breeder like you, but I sure would like to see this done. You know that there is a pale yellow C. bipinnata right? I notice that it was on the market this year. I have grown 'Yellow Garden' before and it bloomed rather late. The color was quite pale, like a pale yellow wash over white. I think this year's variety might be better. It claims to be earlier in bloom as well.

Hi Evelyn,

It's not hard to become a "breeder". Just dab some pollen, mark the bloom in some way, and save seeds. Cosmos have some interesting flower forms, such as the "Sea Shells".

Like I said, if I weren't so into zinnias, cosmos would probably be my hobby. Breaking the yellow/pink color barrier would be a prime goal. And I would throw some Sea Shells into the mix.

A few years ago I saw a planting of cosmos in which all the plants exceeded 8 feet in height. They were almost like small trees. Cosmos plants can be powerful, and come in a very wide range of heights. And their foliage has an interesting look as well.

It can't hurt for you to "dabble" with cosmos. You already know more about them than the average person. You could start with planting at least two different varieties.

ZM

I want a red daffodil. Any hope of that?

longk said:As it is native to Asia and East Africa I have never tried excessively cold germination and I have never had volunteer seedlings pop up in the spring. Cool germination works best - I soaked mine for 24 hours and put them in a pot about half an inch deep in an unheated greenhouse on Monday. Four seedlings poked up yesterday.

I want to just say "thank you" for alerting me to these peas. Mine are still small but I'm already getting enjoyment from them.

Of the ones I planted 100% germinated--I did not expect that so now they're too close together (oops).



In the back are the Lathyrus sativus var azureus and in the front are some dwarf fragrant sweet peas.

I can't wait until they bloom!

I love zinnias and 4 o'clocks!

Favorite annuals:
Sweet Peas
Cornflower
Larkspur
Alyssum
Pansies
Petunias
Cosmos
4 o'clocks
Iberis umbellata - annual candytuft
Godetia
Coleus
Impatiens
Celosia
Marguerite daisies
Snapdragons

I probably have more. I am growing some new ones this year. I'll see how they do before adding to the list.

Update: my Lathyrus sativus var. azureus has started blooming, but the first couple of flowers are pock-marked with pink spots.



Any idea what's going on?

Jai could be from the cool weather we are having, I know that happens often with my blue morning glories

I agree, it could even be hard killing frost damage. I see this in my garden, too. We had two hard frosts in mid-May.

Jai_Ganesha said:Update: my Lathyrus sativus var. azureus has started blooming, but the first couple of flowers are pock-marked with pink spots.



Any idea what's going on?

Mild pink shading is a feature of the blooms but not usually as pronounced as yours. As already said it could be down to cool conditions.

Mine have been in bloom for a few weeks now................
Lathyrus sativus var. azureus by longk48, on Flickr

However, I can beat you in the weirdness stakes - some of my seed have reverted (?) to pure white blooms...........
Lathyrus sativus by longk48, on Flickr

longk said:
Thanks for the welcome!
New for this season will be Petunia exerta and P.ovata - interested in seeing how well they will do here in the UK. I also have some different Salvia and some Lepechnia to try.

The Lepechnia seed bombed but here is the first bloom on Petunia exserta..........
Petunia exserta by longk48, on Flickr

Nice blooms and it appears to be bushing up quite nicely so this could be a real keeper (in terms of growing them every year) for years to come.

I like California Poppy's and Buckwheat (not sure if annual or not though). Both grow very heavily in my area

longk said:
Mild pink shading is a feature of the blooms but not usually as pronounced as yours. As already said it could be down to cool conditions.

Mine have been in bloom for a few weeks now................
Lathyrus sativus var. azureus by longk48, on Flickr

However, I can beat you in the weirdness stakes - some of my seed have reverted (?) to pure white blooms...........
Lathyrus sativus by longk48, on Flickr

Thank you. That is helpful.

At least if it is cold damage there's nothing I could've done differently to prevent it so I feel a little bit better about that.

And I really enjoy your white blooms! They look so clean and pure.

It doesn't completely compare, but it reminds me a little bit of my garden pea (vegetable) blooms, which are also open right now:

Today there's a much better example--no cold damage (assuming that's what it was)!



They're the bluest flowers I've ever grown. They're purer blue than the bluest of morning glories or cornflowers. I'm so glad they were recommended in this very thread!