Ran across a picture of a zinnia with pink splashed white petals. The picture was labeled Strawberry Cream. Does anyone here know of such a plant? I did a quick search online and did not find any seed source. in advance for any information.

Azgarden said:Ran across a picture of a zinnia with pink splashed white petals. The picture was labeled Strawberry Cream. Does anyone here know of such a plant?

Hi Mary,

Right offhand, I don't know of a commercial variety of zinnia named Strawberry Cream. I have grown some zinnias that might look similar to that, in that they combine pink and white.

But those just some of my "home hybrid" zinnias, and not commercial varieties.

ZM

@ZenMan for the information. Your hybrids are gorgeous!

Azgarden said:Ran across a picture of a zinnia with pink splashed white petals. The picture was labeled Strawberry Cream.

Hello again Mary,

Come to think of it, the name Strawberry Cream doesn't bring up a mental image of a pink and white zinnia. Strawberries are more red, and cream is more, uh cream, than white. So this is one of my zinnias that seems to fit the name Strawberry Cream better.

However, I am not naming my zinnias at this stage of my hobby.

ZM

You are right @ZenMan! Your beautiful zinnia is strawberry colored. Had not thought that the one I saw really was not an accurate representation of its name.
Must be very satisfying to create new zinnia types. You are very talented

That is one of Brenda's Zinnias. It's her own hybrid.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals...
There are speckled zinnia seeds for sale like Candy Cane or Peppermint Stick.

Here is her pinterest page:
https://www.pinterest.co.kr/tr...

@LorettaNJ Do you have a link where her seeds are for sale? I don't see anything on the pinterest page other than photos.

She doesn't sell seeds nor are her creations stable. Like ZenMan, she posts pictures of her crosses in the "It can be fun to breed your own Zinnias" threads throughout the different garden forums.

Thanks Loretta, I see now that I read your post wrong

No problem. It is a beauty! I would grow it too. Zenman, you and Brenda have made some beautiful crosses. I wonder if you will ever try to make one stable?

@LorettaNJ The Pinterest picture was the one I saw. I appreciate the information. Love your avatar picture❤️

You're welcome and thank you! The zinnia in the avatar is Queen Lime with a Blotch which I bought from Select Seeds as Raspberry Limeade. It did come true for me where as Queen Red Lime seems to have a lot of variation.

LorettaNJ said:That is one of Brenda's Zinnias. It's her own hybrid.
There are speckled zinnia seeds for sale like Candy Cane or Peppermint Stick.

Hi Loretta,

I have seen a lot of Brenda's zinnias over at Dave's Garden in the Hybridizers forum and responded to her messages there. Things have been quiet there for several months, probably because this isn't the season for zinnias for most people. I quit growing Candy Cane/Peppermint zinnias after I had some unintended speckles show up as a surprise in a scabious specimen.

I envisioned all of my zinnias becoming "infected" with Peppermint genes and the specks looked like a sort of disease or pox.

Do you know if Brenda is a member here at National Gardening Association?

ZM

I'm not sure. I actually just started posting here because it's so dead over at DA. I guess we should let her know her zinnia is being noticed here.
Your speckled anemone is very nice! I especially like the colorful center but I understand your concern. You two have posted some beauties over the years. I even saved many of them on a pinterest page for fun so I can see the variations better and decide what I like about zinnias. I see Brenda's zinnnia is included.
https://www.pinterest.com/grif...
There is one particular photo of yours that was repinned a few times. I think this one has been repinned more than any of the other zinnia pictures on my zinnia board.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/...
(I sent Brenda a D-Mail and let her know her zinnia was being admired)

Hi Loretta,

I noticed several zinnia photos from Jackie Rosales in your links. Jackie has obtained some extreme uprolled petal zinnias that I very much admire. Perhaps some day I will duplicate them, because I have had some uprolled petals that border on extreme. There is a sidebar on Jackie Rosales in Joseph Tychonievich's book, Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1604693649/
This is another favorite picture of one of my California Giant zinnias.

It was late in the day and the Sun was low in the West, giving a side-lit effect. I am using California Giants to get bigger plants into my home-hybrid zinnias.

ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

That is a pretty shot! Of course I have to add that one! Unless you don't want me to. I do notice I can't see your zinnias anymore on the old threads. If you want me to delete them, I will but I enjoy looking at the collection of them and the variety. Plus the threads were many and long over the years, making them hard to find or remember.
I have Jackie also on there and I guess anyone who added to those threads. I don't think I added many this year. A lot of the zinnia seed packs are discouraging when you grow them out. This keeps up my standards.

LorettaNJ said:That is a pretty shot! Of course I have to add that one! Unless you don't want me to. I do notice I can't see your zinnias anymore on the old threads.

Hi Loretta,

I don't mind if you add the shot. Not seeing my old zinnia photos is purely the doing of Photobucket. Originally Photobucket showed the pictures for free. So I, and a lot of other people, uploaded our pictures to Photobucket for hosting. That went on for years. Then a few years ago their greed overcame them and they jacked up the price a bunch to show the photos. So basically they are holding the photos for ransom. I wouldn't be surprised if a class action lawsuit gets filed against Photobucket. Photobucket has done a lot of harm, and they continue to do harm.

I went to SmugMug for reasonable photo hosting, and that worked fine for a few years, but when Houzz took over GardenWeb, Houzz downloaded externally hosted photos for internal hosting at GardenWeb/Houzz. As far as I know, the National Gardening Association has always hosted their photos. Internal hosting is the only safe way, because you never know when an external source is going to become unusable.

Today I have been planting second generation seeds from this zinnia bloom, which has the style of a Bachelor's Button or Cornflower.

I like that new zinnia flowerform, and plan to grow them outside in the Spring as well.

ZM

Very pretty! How big was the flower? It reminds me of gomphrena 'Fireworks' which I should be starting soon. You remind me that I have an account with photobucket that I stopped using. I have been paying for it all these years because I used it to host. I might as well take it down I suppose.

But Mary, if you really like that white with pink splash color, you could find it available as a dahlia or rose?
http://www.alamy.com/stock-pho...

Beautiful dahlia. Thanks, Loretta. I do like the look of that color combination.
Honestly, looking at all of the pictures of the different colors of zinnia, I've seen so many I like. Did not realize there were so many. Have not actually grown any since my childhood MANY years ago when it seems like there were only a few colors. I'm in the desert and it seems we are probably past the last frost date, so would it be safe to sow zinnia seed in the ground? I did order some seed like your avatar.
Any tips on growing zinnia from you or ZM would be appreciated.

Azgarden said:I'm in the desert and it seems we are probably past the last frost date, so would it be safe to sow zinnia seed in the ground? ...Any tips on growing zinnia from you or ZM would be appreciated.

Hi Mary,

I have never grown zinnias under desert conditions. They might do well. You must have an incredibly long growing season. Are you subject to water rationing?

To get zinnias to come up quickly, cover them 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, and sprinkle the seedbed at least once a day until they emerge. Zinnias can emerge in 2 to 6 days if conditions are good. And they can bloom in as few as 6 weeks. A pollinated zinnia seed can develop to a growable form in as few as 3 weeks after it is pollinated. Planting zinnia seeds in the green stage can speed up the whole process.

Here in Kansas I can get two generations of zinnias outdoors, and you might be able to do even better than that and get three generations this year. I can get four generations a year, but two of those generations are in my indoor zinnia project. My second indoor generation is in the seedling stage now.

I am not suggesting that you start a break-neck zinnia breeding project, (you could if you wanted to) but if you should happen to spot a zinnia that you really like, you could hand pollinate it to get a heavy seed yield and grow some of those seeds to maturity this year. I suggest you include the Whirligig variety in your zinnia selections, because it has a lot of two-color blooms, and a few three-color blooms. Whirligigs have inter-species ancestry, which makes them extra interesting to grow.

Like I said, I have no experience growing zinnias in Arizona, but it could be an interesting experiment to give them a try.

ZM