All About Zinnnias

Zinnias have a rich history to match their rich colors

Zinnias are native to Mexico and Central America. The Aztecs originally called them “plants that are hard on the eyes” because of their colorful flowers. Zinnia is named after Johann Gottfried Zinn, a German botany professor who discovered these plants and brought them back to Europe in the 1700s. The original plants have expanded in flower colors and plant shapes and sizes, due to their popularity with breeders. You can now buy Zinnia seeds or plants that range from 6 inches tall to almost 4 feet tall. There are varieties with single or double petaled flowers in almost all the colors of the rainbow.

Zinnias are great beginning gardener flowers. The seeds are large enough to place individually in holes and germinate quickly in warm soils with plants that grow fast to the flowering stage. Once flowering, even if you don't deadhead the spent blooms, zinnias, especially newer hybrids, will continue to produce more flower until frost.

When choosing to grow Zinnias, start with your purpose for this colorful flower

Many zinnia make great choices for the cutting garden. Dahlia-Flowered Zinnias sport large blooms and reach heights of 30-40" tall, while the Cut and Come Again Mix showcases a rainbow of colors on slightly shorter plants. Another great choice is the colorful, pom-pom shaped blooms of the Lilliput Mix, growing to 18-24" tall. The popular 'Persian Carpet' mix features multi-colored, 1 to 2 inch diameter flowers on 2 foot tall plants.

Likewise, there are many choices of single-colored species that can wow in the garden. For bold reds, look to the classic, 30-40" tall 'Cherry Queen' or the slightly shorter 'Will Roger' or the big, double blooms of 'Super Yoga', which grow on bushy plants. Purple fans will love 'Purple Prince', while 'Luminosa' and 'Illumination' both produce charming shades of pink. Yellows, whites, oranges and even green fill out the selection! For speckled and striped blooms, look to 'Peppermint Stick', with its enormous dahlia-like flowers.

When working your zinnias into the flower garden, remember that zinnias flower mid to late in the season. They can be used to brighten up a flower garden that might be looking a little tired that time of year. They also make nice companions for a number of different flowers. Some good companions for zinnias, include ornamental grass, as well as Black Eyed Susans, Four O’Clocks, and Cosmos. Broadcast zinnia seeds over the perennial garden to add color to beds as you wait for plants to mature and fill in space on their own.