Zinnias were super mega popular in the 1950’s. Their wonderful bright colours must have helped cheer people up before the invention of colour TV and Jammy Dodgers. As is true of many flowers that were fashionable in the 50’s they have recently fallen from favour. Personally I think they’re great…yes perhaps a touch vulgar but then many of the things I enjoy are.
Higgledy Factoid: Generally the Zinnias you will find in domestic gardens are Zinnia Elegans and they get their name from a chappie called Johann Gottfried Zinn.
How to grow Zinnias
The first thing you need to know about growing Zinnias is that they are dead easy to grow….and if you can’t grow them….don’t try again…just give up and take up crochet or aligator wrestling.
Grow them in individual cells in mid spring {they don’t like root disturbance….and who can blame them} or direct sow at the begining of May. Don’t over water. When planting out seedlings make sure that you don’t put the young little gems out before the last of the frosts have slunk away….Zinnias hate the frost. In the Higgledy Garden we tend to space them 30cms apart.
Plant in well drained soil in full sun…think Mexico.
Harvest them 12 weeks later. They should last 10 days in the vase…we condition our stems by dunking them in boiling water. Zinnias are ‘cut and come again’…so fill your boots.
Kind regards
Ben
If you liked this post why not explore the world of the Scabiosa…or Echinacea?
June 6, 2011 @ 7:44 pm
hummm – crochet or aligator wrestling – think I will go with the aligator wrestling, as I have tried them twice and failed, “Envy” is fab – but I only got one to flowering size last year, I blame the rain :)
K
June 7, 2011 @ 7:54 am
I blame the boogie.
B
top 50 annual flowers for cutting | Higgledy Garden
February 18, 2011 @ 10:45 pm
[…] Zinnia […]
February 17, 2011 @ 5:35 pm
My wife grows these as a cut flowers and they do look pretty spectacular, especially en masse. Zinnia elegans ‘Envy’ is a particularly nice variety with lime green flowers and, dare I say it, is more elegant and modern in look than some of the other varieties. It can be a bit harder to germinate but is well worth the care and attention.
February 17, 2011 @ 6:05 pm
‘Envy’ it is then…I’ve bought five different types but missed out ‘Envy’…I shall source some…if it’s good enough for Florist in the Forest then it’s good enough for the Higgledy rabble…
http://floristintheforest.blogspot.com/
February 17, 2011 @ 10:52 pm
I’ll tell the wife that, she’ll be pleased, though don’t blame her (or me for that matter!) if they don’t germinate!!