Zany for Zinnias

8:25:57 AM EDT

            Flowers For Healing

Last update: June 05, 2007 – 10:16 AM

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1:41:20 AM EDT

       Zany zinnias add color to any garden

Saturday May 12, 2007

 Zinnias are one of the most popular annual plants grown in American gardens.

Zinnias are available in almost every flower color except blue and in heights from 6 to 48 inches with single or double flowers, as well as cactus-type, dahlia-type and button-type flowers. They are easy to grow and are especially good for young or novice gardeners.

Zinnias, native mainly to Mexico, were named in honor of Johann Gottfried Zinn, a professor of botany at Gottingen, Germany. Initially found by the Spanish in Mexico, zinnias were quite unattractive until breeders from Germany, Italy and Holland helped. The new look of zinnias was introduced to gardens in about 1861 and zinnias' real popularity began around 1920 when dahlia-flowered zinnias were introduced.

Like several other popular annuals (such as petunias and geraniums), there has been much breeding and crossbreeding of zinnias to enhance desirable traits such as early and profuse blooming, stockiness and color.

Zinnias are easy to start from seed and they may readily be direct-seeded. Outside, in the garden, allow them six hours of sun a day and fertilize every two to three weeks or apply a slow-release fertilizer at planting time. Water as needed, but avoid watering the leaves (especially Z. elegans) to help deter powdery mildew and alternaria blight. Dead-head regularly or cut flowers for a continuance of bloom throughout the growing season.

Zinnias are great cut flowers, adding zest to any arrangement. To gather the flowers, cut them early in the morning, selecting blooms that haven't fully opened. Tightly closed buds will not open once they are cut. As you cut the stems, place them in a bucket of water. Once inside, recut the stem under water and remove any leaves that would be under water when in the vase.

The zany zinnia is indeed the clown of the gardening world. With all their forms and colors they give life to any garden or flower arrangement.

Garden Plot is written by master gardeners with the Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Broome County. This week's writer is Joe Kille, the leader of the annuals team at Cutler Botanic Garden in the Town of Dickinson. Send comments to features@press connects.com

                 

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Tags: zinnias, summer color, annual flower

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2:51:41 PM EDT

     How to Dry Zinnias    

** I have used this method and it is great, zinnias come out beautiful. I use a standard pyrex-type bread loaf pan.  Liliput and thumbelina are the best varieties for drying**

Did you know you can dry flowers in your microwave oven? You don’t have to wait days or weeks for fresh flowers to dry. With the help of silica gel you can instantly dry many different types of fresh flowers and forever preserve their beauty. After drying a few flowers in your microwave oven you’ll want to dry entire bouquets. Flowers dried in the microwave save a considerable amount of time and money, and drying flowers in the microwave is a hobby that’s fun, rewarding, and very addicting.

If you’d like to keep your flowers well beyond the warm months of summer, consider drying them in your microwave oven. The following instructions explain how to dry flowers in a microwave oven using silica gel.

What is Silica Gel, and Where Can I Buy it?

Have you ever noticed those little packets inside shoe boxes and coat pockets, and the little packets are labeled with the warning “Do Not Eat?” It’s comical to think that someone old enough to know how to read would consider eating the contents, and a child too young to read obviously cannot heed the warning. The content of those little mystery packets is silica gel. Silica gel isn’t gel at all. It’s a granular substance that absorbs moisture. Silica gel is actually the most absorbent product available, and amazingly it can absorb up to 40% of its weight.

You don’t have to save those little packets of silica gel in order to dry your flowers in the microwave oven. You can buy silica gel in most craft stores, and some discount stores that have a craft department sell silica gel. Alternately you can look online in order to obtain the lowest price on silica gel.

What Types of Flowers are Best for Microwave Drying?

Flowers with slender centers, and those that aren’t completely open are the best candidates for microwave drying. Choose fresh flowers such as daffodils, pansies, roses, violets, violas, zinnias, small sunflowers, and carnations. These aren’t the only varieties you can dry in the microwave, but they are some of the best choices.

Carnations should be dried in groups of three, and flowers that are brightly colored will retain much of their color and are therefore the best choices. The leaves should be removed before drying, and the leaves can be dried separately and reattached to the stems if desired.

Microwave Flower Drying Instructions

To dry a fresh flower in your microwave you’ll need a large microwave safe glass jar or narrow glass container, silica gel, a toothpick, a cup of water, and a freshly cut flower of your choice. To dry more you’ll need additional silica gel and another glass container, or you’ll need to wait until the silica gel you’ve used is completely cool.

Fill the glass container of your choice one-third of the way full with silica gel, remove the leaves, and carefully put the flower into the silica granules, bloom first. Use a toothpick to place the granules between the petals, and continue to add silica gel until the flower and stem are completely covered.

Place a cup of water in your microwave near the back corner of the unit or near the edge of the revolving tray, and place the glass jar with the silica gel and flower in the center. The average drying time in a 700-watt microwave oven is about two minutes. Since microwave ovens vary, experiment with various types of flowers and heating times. Take notes regarding how long various types take to dry in your microwave oven.

After removing the jar containing the silica gel and flower from the microwave, you must let it stand to complete the drying process. Most flowers must stand in the silica gel for ten minutes before removing, and sunflowers must remain in the gel for about eighteen hours with the jar covered by a plastic bag. It’s obviously better to leave the flower in the silica for a longer period of time than removing it too soon.

To remove the flower from the jar, carefully pour the granules into another container, and carefully remove the dried flower. Carefully remove any silica gel trapped between the petals. As stated before, don’t reuse the silica gel until it’s completely cool.

The flowers may require assistance in standing, and they can be supported with florist wire. Also, if you’ve dried the leaves separately as instructed above, the leaves can be attached with florist tape, florist wire, or super glue.

                     

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/46280/dry_flowers_in_the_microwave_with_silica.html

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4:22:22 AM EDT

    How to Grow Zinnias  

Introduction

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9:46:37 AM EDT             Zinnia Roundup

Because new zinnias regularly replace older ones, we used only current catalogs to compile this list. The largest group, the garden zinnias, are listed first. They are grouped by height and ranked from shortest to tallest. Other kinds of zinnias follow, alphabetically by species name, and are similarly listed by height.

Prices vary widely, so check several catalogs. For instance, seeds of the new Profusion series cost about 6 cents each in one catalog and nearly twice as much in another.

Also note the difference between a mix and a formula mix. A mix contains a mixture of seeds in random proportions; a formula mix is designed to produce a nearly equal number of each color.

Garden Zinnias ( Z. elegans )      

Low-growing (less than 20 inches tall)

• 'Thumbelina Mix': 6-10 in. Semi- to fully double flowers, 1 to 1-1/2 in., lavender, orange, pink, scarlet, white, and yellow. AAS 1963.
• 'Dreamland': 9-12 in. Double flowers, 3-4 in., coral, ivory, pink, rose, scarlet, and yellow.
• Lollipop series:10 in. Double flowers, 2-1/2 in., in red only, or a mix of cream, gold, orange, pink, red, rose, and yellow.
• Peter Pan series: 10-12 in. Double flowers, 3-1/2 to 5 in. AAS winners include 'Pink Peter Pan' and 'Plum Peter Pan' in 1971, 'Scarlet Peter Pan' in 1973, 'Orange Peter Pan' in 1974, 'Cream Peter Pan' in 1978, 'Gold Peter Pan' in 1979, and 'Flame Peter Pan' in 1980.
• Dasher series: 10-12 in. Double and semidouble flowers, 3 to 3-1/2 in., cherry, orange, pink, and scarlet. 'Scarlet Dasher' won a 1982 Fleuroselect Bronze medal and 1984 Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit. A mix is also available.
• Small World series: 12-14 in. Beehive-shaped flowers, 2-1/2 in., deep cherry and pink. 'Deep Cherry Small World' was a 1982 AAS winner.
• 'Candy Cane Mix': 17 in. Double flowers, 4 in., white with bright pink, rose, and cherry stripes; some gold blooms flecked orange-scarlet.
• 'Lilliput Mix': 18 in. Double flowers, 1-1/2 to 2 in., gold, orange, purple, rose, scarlet, white, and yellow. Also sold as 'Unexcelled Lilliput Mix.'

Medium height (20 to 30 inches tall)   

• 'Whirligig': 20 in. Semidouble bicolored flowers, 4-1/2 in., in bands or a mix of lavender, orange, red, white, and yellow on each flower; some solids. Also sold as 'Whirligig Improved Mix'.
• Border Beauty series: 22 in. Double dahlia-type flowers, 3-1/2 in., rose, scarlet, yellow, and peach with cream, as well as 'Border Beauty Mix'.
• Splendor series: 22 in. Double flowers with ruffled petals, 4-5 in., orange, pink, scarlet, and yellow (the scarlet is a 1990 AAS winner). Also available as a mix.
• Ruffles series: 24-36 in. Ball-shaped double flowers with ruffled petals, 2-1/2 in. AAS winners include 'Scarlet Ruffles' in 1974, 'Yellow Ruffles' and 'Cherry Ruffles' in 1978.
• 'Candy Stripe': 24 in. Double flowers, 4 in., are white splashed with rose, pink, and red.
• 'Sunbow Mix': 24-30 in. Double flowers, 1-1/2 to 2 in., orange, pink, purple, rose, scarlet, white, and golden yellow.
• Sun series: 24-30 in. Double flowers, 5 in., cherry, red, and silver, as well as 'Sunshine Mix'.
• 'Cut and Come Again Mix': 24-30 in. Double flowers, 2-1/2 in., pink, bright red, salmon, white, and yellow.
• 'Envy': 24-30 in. Single and double flowers, 2-1/2 to 3 in., in a unique green color.
• 'Cactus Flowered Mix': 24-36 in. Double and semidouble cactus flowers, 2-1/2 to 4 in.
• 'Giant-Flowered Mix': 30 in. Dahlia-like double flowers, 5 in., mix of colors.
• 'Burpee's Big Tetra Mix': 30 in. Dahlia-like double flowers, 6 in., orange, pink, scarlet, white, and yellow.

Tall (over 30 inches tall)        

• 'Yoga': 30-36 in. Double and semidouble dahlia-like flowers, 3-4 in., burgundy, coral, crimson, lilac, orange-red, rose, salmon-rose, white, and yellow.
• 'State Fair': 30-36 in. Dahlia-like double flowers, 4-5 in., shades of orange, pink, purple, red, and yellow.
• Oklahoma series: 30-40 in. Double and semidouble flowers, 1-2 in., orange, pink, red, red-orange, and white. 'Oklahoma Mix', a formula mix, is new this year.
• 'Dahlia Flowered Mix': 36 in. Double dahlia-like flowers, 4-5 in., in a wide range of colors.
• 'Bright Jewel Mix': 36 in. Double-semidouble cactuslike flowers, 4-5 in., bright and dark orange, lilac, red, white, and yellow.
• 'Big Red Hybrid': 36 in. Double flowers, 5-6 in., dark red.
• Blue Point series: 40-50 in. Double flowers, 5-6 in. wide, apricot rose, lilac, orange, bright pink, dark pink, purple, dark red, dark red with pink, white, and bright yellow; also 'Blue Point Formula Mix'. Voted 1999 Cut Flower of the Year by the American Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers for mildew tolerance and long vase life. Also sold as 'Giant Dahlia Blue Points', 'Benary's Giants', and 'Park's Picks'.

Other Zinnias

Z. acerosa (Z. pumila)                   

• 'Summer Pinafore': 36-40 in. Single, semidouble, and double flowers, 2-3 in., in mix of apricot, bright canary, cream, magenta, orange, pink, rose, scarlet, and pale yellow.

Z. angustifolia

• 'Crystal White': 4-5 in. Single daisylike flowers, 1 in., white with golden centers. AAS 1997.
• 'Classic': 12 in. Single daisylike flowers, 1-1/2 in., orange. Thought to be the same zinnia grown by the Aztecs.
• Star series: 14-16 in. Star-shaped single flowers, 1 in. wide, in gold, orange, and white, and as 'Starbright Mix'.

Z. haageana (Z. mexicana)    

• 'Old Mexico': 18 in. Single flowers, 2 in., have overlapping copper petals tipped with gold. AAS 1962. Excellent cut flower.
• 'Persian Carpet': 18-28 in. Double and semidouble flowers, 2 in., mostly bicolored in chocolate, cream, gold, mahogany, purple, and red. AAS 1952.

Z. peruviana (Z. pauciflora)

• Bonita series: 24 in. Single flowers, 1 to 1-1/2 in., brick red, golden yellow, and as a mix.
• 'Red Peruvian': 24 in. Single daisy flowers, 1 in., brick red.
• 'Yellow Peruvian': 24 in. Single daisylike flowers with overlapping petals, 1 in., gold-ocher. Mildew resistant, excellent for cutting.

Interspecific crosses

• Pinwheel series: 12 in. Single daisylike flowers, 3-1/2 in., gold, orange, pink on white, red, rose, white, and 'Pinwheel Mix'. Noted for mildew resistance.
• Profusion series: 12-18 in. Semidouble flowers, 2 to 2-1/2 in., cherry and orange. AAS Gold Medal 1999.

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2:53:08 PM EDT

Zinnias offer profusion of summer color

By Norman Winter
McClatchy-Tribune News Service    

March 3, 2007

The Profusion zinnias will continue to be hot in 2007. I had the oddest feeling when I visited Sakata Seed in California last April. We were in the middle of a program promoting the truly outstanding Profusion Fire and Profusion Apricot zinnias as award winners.

There I was on the West Coast looking at the newest or improved version of none other than Profusion Apricot, which is now called Profusion Deep Apricot. Even though we were promoting it back home, I was delighted to see it had already been improved.

Gardeners will like it even better than the original Profusion Apricot. It is a rich apricot color that will sizzle in the summer garden.

There are other new Profusion zinnias that will hit the market this spring. One is Profusion Coral Pink. It looks just as its name suggests, possibly with more emphasis on the pink than the coral. There also is a new Profusion Double Cherry. It has the cherry red of the original but is double petaled.                

Profusion Knee High zinnias may generate the real excitement. Available in red and white, these zinnias looked so good that the Ball Seed Co. bought the seeds and rights from Sakata.

As the name suggests, Profusion Knee High zinnias are indeed several inches taller than the typical Profusion zinnias that reach 15 inches. In other words, they are knee high or closer to 20 inches.

The flowers are the same size as Profusions, but with this taller habit, they develop a more open look -- similar to the narrow-leaf zinnias (Zinnia angustifolia) like Star Orange or Classic White, and are sometimes called Mexican zinnia.

This slightly open, airy look works well in the cottage garden and will allow them to partner wonderfully with salvias, gomphrenas and verbenas. They also excel with ornamental grasses such as Hameln dwarf fountain or Purple Fountain.

The Profusion zinnias are really disease resistant, making them fun to grow. In fact, this is one of the reasons Profusion Orange, Profusion Cherry and Profusion White have been selected as all American Selections Gold Medal Winners.

To grow yours, select a site in full sun with fertile, well-drained soil because they cannot survive wet feet. Prepare the planting area by tilling in 3 to 4 inches of organic matter along with a slow-release, 12-6-6 fertilizer.

Incorporate 2 pounds of the fertilizer per 100 square feet of planting area. Plant nursery-grown transplants at the same depth they are growing in the container, spacing 10 to 12 inches apart. Apply a layer of mulch after planting. Give them a little snip any time you don't like the shape of any of the Profusion zinnias.

Feed with a light application of fertilizer one month after transplanting and every four to six weeks throughout the growing season. Obviously, most of the country is not ready for zinnia planting, but it is fun to plan and think about what we can do in the landscape when spring arrives.

McClatchy Tribune News         

Tags: zinnias, profusion zinnias

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8:20:35 AM EST

Zinnias: Champions of summer

 Grow these favorites, old and new, for dazzling beds and bouquets

* If there were a summer Olympics for garden flowers, zinnias would surely merge as gold medalists. These dazzling blooms have already won enough accolades to make fans everywhere sit up and take notice. In 1999, a dahlia-flowered zinnia series called Benary's Giants was selected as cut flower of the year by the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. The All-America Selections (AAS) committee awarded another zinnia--the Profusion series--a gold medal for its faultless behavior as a bedding plant. And the National Garden Bureau is celebrating 2000 as the year of the zinnia.

It couldn't happen to nicer plants. Sunset's garden staff have always thought zinnias were tops, and we rarely let a year go by without planting a few varieties in our test gardens in Menlo Park, California. We adore zinnias' carnival-bright colors, starchy stems, and the way you can plop a bunch in a container for a great living bouquet. We admire their easy disposition--seeds germinate in a snap, and plants thrive on heat, don't require tons of water or fertilizer, and rarely need staking. The bedding varieties bloom their hearts out. Zinnias aren't plants you have to fuss with--you can just enjoy them. Isn't that what summer is all about?

Last year, when we decided to plant many varieties at the test garden, everyone lobbied for a favorite. Garden editor Kathleen Brenzel pushed for 'Persian Carpet', an old-fashioned type with a sweet country-garden look that's becoming popular again. Senior editor Dick Bushnell made a pitch for Star White, a bedding plant with a rugged disposition and a dainty appearance that goes with everything. Senior writer Lauren Swezey made a strong case for Zinnia peruviana, a subtle flower that is almost as pretty dried as fresh--and can be dried right on the plant. Sunset's test garden coordinator, Bud Stuckey, is a fan of the Splendor series, whose large, beautifully formed flowers come in scarlet, pink, orange, and yellow. I love the range of colors and mix of singles and doubles in the Yoga series, and I have filled vases with these zinnias for several summers running.

We grew them all, plus a few others, with design help from Shirley Kerins, a Pasadena-based landscape architect with a well-honed sense of color. (Kerins's plan for our all-zinnia border appears on page 78.) Our experiment didn't change any opinions; we just added new loves to our lists. Following is our (semi-objective) report.

Zinnia elegans: A cut-flower favorite

When you think of zinnias, these are the flowers you picture. Though this group includes dwarf bedding plants, we concentrated on the star blooms for summer bouquets--long-stemmed, large-flowered types. These annuals love heat and aren't particularly demanding, but they are prone to powdery mildew, especially late in the season. Adequate spacing and no overhead watering or late-afternoon irrigations help gardeners get several months of good bloom before these plants become unsightly. Spraying with sulfur will delay the inevitable, as does stripping off affected leaves, which is much easier.

But the best preventive is planting disease-resistant varieties. Benary's Giants are probably the most disease-resistant Z. elegans on the market. These beauties have extra-long stems, very large (5-in.) flowers, jewel-bright colors, and long vase life. They are more costly than generic zinnias but are well worth the price.

Among the unresistant kinds, Splendor is a gorgeous series--fully double flowers with fully, slightly squared petals and a pretty crown of gold stars at the center. The Yoga series isn't as fancy, but it comes in singles and doubles, and in a wide color range that includes lilac, salmon, coral, and burgundy.

Other zinnia favorites include 'Envy', a chartreuse-flowered zinnia that has always been popular with floral designers (lime makes every other color sing), and 'Candy Cane' and 'Candy Stripe', which bear white flowers splashed with pink, rose, or red, or orange flowers with gold flecks; both varieties are good mixers in bouquets.

Other zinnias for cutting

Zinnia baageana is quite different from Z. elegans. The plant has narrower leaves, is more compact (1 1/2 ft. tall), and has relatively small flowers (1 to 2 in. diameter). But it's a fantastic cut flower in its own casual, wildflower-looking way. 'Old Mexico' is a double-flowered type that bears mahogany blooms tipped with gold. (It won an AAS award in 1962.) 'Persian Carpet' (an AAS winner in '52) is similar, but its flowers also include orange and deep red shades with more variations in pattern. Mildew is not a problem for Z. baageana or any of the plants that follow.

Z. peruviana bears tiny flowers (1 1/2 in. diameter) in subtle colors (brick red or soft gold), but it's surprisingly effective in the garden or in a vase. Z. peruviana (also called the Bonita series or Z. pauciflora) beautifully complements yarrow, coneflower, salvia, and other casual flowers in bouquets. At the same time, it looks great solo. No need to get out silica crystals or even hang the stems for drying the buttonlike blooms; the flowers dry in the vase or on the plant.

Spreading zinnias

Zinnia angustifolia (like the Star series) and interspecies crosses with Z. angustifolia in their parentage (such as the award-winning Profusion series) have stems that are too short for cutting; they range from 12 to 18 inches in length. But they're superb in beds and borders: They flower quickly, pump out blooms until frost, and are nearly maintenance-free. They're wonderful in beds and borders. They're also great edgers for a traditional mixed border or to give a cutting border a finished appearance, and they thrive in containers.

Planting

From nursery starts. Zinnias come in sixpacks, jumbo-packs, and 4-inch pots, depending on variety and local growers' practices. Tip pots on their sides to gently remove the tender transplants; with sixpacks, use your thumb to push rootballs up from the bottom. Dig a planting hole larger than the plant's rootball. Set the plant in the hole, making sure the top of the rootball is even with the surrounding soil surface. Firm soil around roots and water well.

From seed. Sow seeds directly in the ground in an area with full sun. Average soil is acceptable, but if you add compost and all-purpose fertilizer to the soil before sowing, you'll get lusher crops, especially from Z elegans. Sow seeds 2 to 3 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart or as recommended on seed packets. Barely cover seeds with soil; they need light to germinate. Keep soil moist until seeds germinate, in 5 to 10 days. Then thin seedlings according to packet instructions, usually 10 to 12 inches apart.

Care

* Protect seedlings from slugs and snails until they're older and tougher.

* Water young plants frequently-- always at ground level to avoid wetting foliage--until they reach several inches tall. Then water less often but more deeply, approximately 1 inch of water per week.

* To encourage strong growth and flowering, feed lightly with a general fertilizer once a month.

Where to find zinnias

You'll find many varieties of zinnias at your local nursery

Sunset

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11:28:12 PM EST

                 Mexican Zinnias    

Zinnia haageana
Common Names: Mexican zinnia, narrow-leaved zinnia, orange zinnia
Family: Asteraceae/Compositae

Description
Mexican zinnia is an upright, bushy annual that is similar to common zinnia (Z. elegans). However, the leaves are smaller, only 2-3 in (5.1-7.6 cm) long. They are also narrower (almost linear) unlike the lance-shaped, 3-5 in (7.6-12.7 cm) long leaves of common zinnia. Mexican zinnia gets about 2 ft (0.6 m) tall with a spread of about 1 ft (0.3 m). The wild form has bright orange ray flowers on heads about 1.5 in (3.8 cm) across. Like the better known zinnia, Mexican zinnia has many cultivars to brighten up summer flower beds. 'Old Mexico' is a tried and true old-timer with a bushy habit and flowerheads in yellow, red and mahogany. 'Chippendale' has ray flowers that are bright red with yellow tips. 'Star White' has white rays and golden yellow discs. 'Persian Carpet' is dwarf, to 14 in (35.6 cm) tall, with double flowerheads in a wide combination of bi-colors including gold, maroon, purple, brown, cream and pink. 'Orange Star' is only 10 in (25.4 cm) tall and bushy with orange flowerheads; it makes a good annual groundcover.

Location
Mexican zinnia is native to Mexico.

Culture
Light: Full sun.
Moisture: Mexican zinnia is quite tolerant of heat and drought. The 'Persian Carpet' series cultivars are perhaps the most drought and heat tolerant.
Hardiness: Mexican zinnia is a warm season annual that is very tolerant of long, hot summers. It cannot tolerate frost.
Propagation: Sow seeds where the plants are to be grown in spring after the last frost, or set out 6-8 week-old seedlings. Zinnias are sensitive to root disturbance, so be especially careful when transplanting.

Usage
Zinnias are traditional in annual flower beds and borders. Use the dwarf varieties in containers and window planters. Some of the short, bushy cultivars make nice summer groundcovers. Grow the taller varieties in borders and beds and for cut flowers. Pinch young stems back to encourage branching unless growing for long-stemmed cut flowers. Deadhead spent flowers frequently to prolong flowering. Zinnias will produce larger (but fewer) flowers if you remove side shoots.

Features
Zinnias are among the few bedding plants that will continue to perform throughout long, hot southern summers, all the way up to the first frost. Mexican zinnia is even more tolerant of heat, dry weather and winds than is the common zinnia.

The name, Zinnia angustifolia has been misapplied to Z. haageana in the horticultural trade, but the former is in fact a distinct species from Central America that is smaller, to 15 in (38.1 cm) high, and has smaller narrower leaves to 2 in (5.1 cm) long. Narrow-leaved zinnia, as it is called, has ray flowers that are orange with a yellow stripe down the middle.

floridata                                                

 

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5:33:39 PM EST

New Landscape Plant Feature: Profusion Zinnias

                           

Profusion series of zinnias are rapidly gaining popularity among home gardeners and landscape professionals. These zinnias can be considered a landscape zinnia. They are hybrids between old cut flower-type zinnias and the Mexican or narrowleaf zinnias. Flower and foliage are smaller than the old cut flower-type zinnias but larger than the narrowleaf zinnias. They are also a great improvement over the Dreamland and Peter Pan zinnias, which have been the primary zinnias used the last 10 years for landscape plantings.

Profusion zinnias are available in five colors. Profusion White, Orange and Cherry have been around a few years; Profusion Fire and Profusion Apricot were introduced in 2004. White, orange and cherry are all All-America Selection winners. Profusion White and Profusion Orange were recognized as outstanding plants for Louisiana under the old Louisiana Select program for their superior landscape performance. The orange flowers of Profusion Orange start out very bright and gradually fade with age. The bright white flowers of Profusion White fade to creamy white. The reddish flowers of Profusion Cherry fade to an off color red and pink. Profusion Fire and Profusion Apricot have the most colorful flowers in the series. Fire has reddish-orange flowers and Apricot has light orange to peach flowers. Flower color holds up well on these two varieties. In our LSU AgCenter bedding plant trials, Profusion Orange, Profusion Fire and Profusion Apricot have been the better performers.

Ideal planting dates in the spring for zinnias would be early April in south Louisiana and mid April in central and north Louisiana. You can continue to plant zinnias later in the year; they make a nice late summer planting for plentiful fall flowers. A full sun location is best. Old flowers can be pinched off to encourage more continual bloom, but Profusion zinnias stay in flower much better and longer than other zinnias.

Powdery mildew and leaf spot diseases (caused by fungus and bacteria) are sometimes a problem on zinnias but are less prone to damage the Profusion type. Zinnias will perform best in drier years. Also, it is important to note that a well- drained bed is preferred, and irrigation does not need to be often. Zinnias are remarkably drought tolerant.

     

New Profusion zinnias arrive this spring

Fri, Jan. 26, 2007

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10:23:48 AM EST

Children Enjoy Growing Zinnias

Contact: Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture

August 1996              

Children enjoy many of the same pleasures as adults, whether it be baking, woodworking, or gardening. A main thing to remember, however, is that a child needs to start with a project that will provide both enjoyment and success to maintain a continued interest in the project. As such, zinnias make perfect learning tools -- the seed of zinnias are large, they germinate quickly (with most of the seed germinating), the plants don't require a lot of care outdoors, and they will bloom prolifically from mid-summer until the frost kills them in the fall. Seed can be started indoor four to six weeks before the last expected frost, and seedlings transplanted into the garden. An easier method is to sow the seed directly into the garden where they are going to grow.

Encourage children to take care of their own small garden or their own portion of a larger garden. For younger children, you may wish to select a mix of zinnia seed so they can enjoy many bright colors. Your young gardener can sow a small mass planting, so that when the flowers bloom, the garden will be a splash of color. Older children may enjoy planning a garden design with two or more colors of zinnia. If so, explain that simple designs are more pleasing in small areas than very complex designs.

Help children prepare the soil in the bed. Add organic matter or slow release fertilizer if needed, then moisten and level the soil. Have the children draw lines in the soil to mark the planting rows or design. Plant two or three zinnia seeds 1\4 to 1\2 inch deep in holes spaced 4 to 6 inches apart, depending on the type of zinnia. If the soil is warm and moist, the seeds will germinate in three to four days. When the seeds are sown in rows, it is easier to identify the zinnia seedlings from weed seedlings.

When zinnia seedlings have two pairs of true leaves, they need to be thinned by pinching off all but the most vigorous seedling at ground level. Leave about 4 to 6 inches between low growers, 8 to 10 inches between intermediates, and 10 to 15 inches between large giants.

Zinnia maintenance is very basic, just water, weed, and watch them bloom. Removing the weeds ensures that the zinnias are getting all the moisture and nutrients the soil has to offer, and it helps to keep the garden design attractive. Zinnias do not require a lot of water, but they should be irrigated during dry weather to keep them blooming at their best. Trickle irrigation is best as sprinklers tend to increase the chances of disease. Deep, infrequent watering (soil is wet to a depth of 5 to 6 inches) gets water to the plant roots where it is most needed better than frequent, shallow waterings.

Zinnias are perfect for picking -- this helps to keep them blooming and it's great to give Mom or a friend several huge flowers right from "my own garden" -- so keep scissors or garden shears handy! Growing plants, such as zinnias, can help children learn how to garden and enjoy beautifying their outdoor environment. When they have a hand in starting "life" by germinating seeds and nurturing "life" as they take care of the plants, children develop skills that they will use all their lives. The success of a garden of zinnias in full bloom will be a source of pride and will encourage your young gardeners to tackle more projects in the future.

(Excerpted from the "Year of the Zinnia" factsheet provided by the National Garden Bureau, Downers Grove, IL 60515 .)

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