Zinnias are one of the absolute best flowers to grow. I’ve become obsessed with them in the edible garden. So, in this article, I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about growing Zinnias.
Zinnias Varietie
Zinnia are a beautiful flower that has so many different varieties. There are 20 species of Zinnia, over a hundred cultivars or varieties. But it’s native to Mexico, the Southwestern U.S., and South America. So you can kind of get a sense of how it’s cared for just by that, but it comes in all different shapes, colors, and sizes. There’s these tall ones, Zinnia elegans, that’s the tall species. Then there’s Zinnia angustifolia, which is a little bit more bushy and spreading. Interestingly enough, Zinnias in floriography or the language of flowers and how they connect to emotions or feelings are associated with friendship, specifically thoughts of an absent person.
The Actual Flower
When you take a look at a Zinnia flower up close, you’re actually seeing many different flowers. In fact, the central ring is where the fertile flowers are. And then around the outside are these petal-shaped flowers that are infertile. So what you think is a single flower is actually made up of many different flowers.
Different Flower Type
There are three main head types on Zinnia. You have the single head, which is just one row of petals and a very, very visible center. So this is a Zinnia and it’s very beautiful.But then there is sort of a greenhead Zinnia, which is much more full. This is a double-headed Zinnia. You can barely see the interior center, but it is more full. It’s more lush. In my opinion, it’s a little bit more beautiful.
The only thing to consider is that the single-head Zinnia is really easy for a pollinator to get on your butterflies and such. They can just land, and access the flowers. But in double-headed Zinnia, it’s been bred in such a way that the nectar is not really available to the pollinator. So while it looks beautiful, I would encourage you to plant either some single heads or semi-double heads. You will still see the interior flower, but there’s a little more fullness. Double-headed Zinnia are beautiful, but I wouldn’t make them your full Zinnia planting unless you don’t really want any pollinators.
How to Care Zinnias
To care for Zinnia so you get beautiful blooms all season long, you just need to match it to where it evolved. So Southwestern US, Mexico means a good amount of sun, and rich, well-draining soil. It can handle drought, but, I don’t think you should really give it drought just because it can handle it.
It’s going to want a little more moisture. It’ll especially produce more flowers. If you do give it that, you just have to make sure not to water too much because then you’ll get some mildew and some fungal disease and such. But care-wise, that’s really it.
Pruning or Harvesting
We do need to talk about pruning. It is a plant that heavily benefits from pruning. Of course, you can just harvest the flowers. So, How do you know when it’s appropriate to harvest a Zinnia flower? Well, you can use the shake test. Grab the stem and give it a wiggle.
And if it’s much more sturdy, much more rigid. Then, give that a cut, it’s going to last a lot longer in a vase or any sort of preparation. And if you want to keep producing more Zinnias, what you can do is prune it or harvest it at a specific juncture. It’s much like pruning a basil or some of these other herbs that have a similar growing pattern.
You cut off the stem. You let more offshoots grow more flowers. This way it will keep branching going. So whether you’re deadheading it on a spent flower or you’re harvesting for the cut flower, you want to make sure you’re pruning in the appropriate space to maximize your production.
Saving Zinnias Seed
So how do you make sure that you have some more Zinnia seeds to save for next year? Well, this is kind of a fun thing to do. It’s actually really easy. So what you want to do is have a flower. What you want to do if you’re saving a Zinnia seed is let the flower dry completely on the plant. It’s going to look not so great. If it’s dried completely on the plant, then you can snip it off.
And then what you’ll do is you’ll come around the bottom and just pluck those petals out. And at the very base of that petal, you’ll see a sort of serpent’s tail or arrowhead type of look. That’s the seed. So what you want to do is just peel that little bit of petal off and you’re left with these individual seeds. You can leave these out to dry for two or three days or even longer. And then you can store those in a cool, dry, and dark place and grow them next year.
Now, the thing I’ll say is a lot of our favorite Zinnias are hybrid Zinnias, meaning that they’ve been crossed from two parents and they’re not a stable cross. What that means is if you save that seed, you’re actually not guaranteed to get this same beautiful Zinnia or if this is a hybrid, this same beautiful Zinnia next year, you’ll get something. It just won’t look the exact same. If you want to guarantee that the Zinnia seed you save comes out the same way, you’re going to have to save it from an heirloom or an open-pollinated seed.
Conclusion
So work Zinnia into your garden, I swear. It’s one of the easiest flowers to grow and has such incredible variety. And until next time, good luck in the garden, and keep on growing.
