Plants + Care

Zinnia, the gift that gives and gives

10 Comments

Heaven knows why I resisted growing Zinnia for so long. I think I assumed my garden was too shady, or that I didn’t have enough room.

This year, I had a packet of red-and-white ‘Canada Day’ zinnia seed mix from Renee’s Garden. When it was fairly late, the first week of July, I thought, what the heck. “What the heck” is turning out to be my style of gardening! I had a spare container, so I tossed them in, way too densely planted.

They say, don’t try to transplant zinnia. I transplanted zinnia. They took! Now, for my birthday, I can pick myself a bouquet. Win!

Rules are made to be broken. Happy big birthday to me!

Helen

Helen Battersby is a gardener, a writer, a garden speaker, and a power-walker, not always in that order!

10 comments

  1. What the heck, Happy big birthday, Helen. I have a few rogue zinnias from seeds that survived our mild winter -what a treat!

    1. Good to know about the rogues, Jessica. I wondered if the seeds might be half-hardy. Thanks for the wishes. I’ll never *not* grow zinnias again.

    1. Thanks, Laurin. They’re a happy little flower that really wants to… flower! Next time, I’ll pinch them back early to encourage more flowering tips.

  3. Beauty! I grew Peggy’s Delight last year (from Tammy) – let’s not listen to the “don’t transplant zinnia’s” naysayers as mine did amazingly well.

    Now, this year, the rabbits got to every single one of my seedlings – I think I had 7 varieties or so. Argh! Lesson learned – I’ll be protecting those babies next year (the zinnias, that is – not the rabbits!)

    1. ‘Peggy’s Delight’ looks delightful. I like the shaggy flowers, but is the plant as big as the flowers suggest. Might be too big for me.

      And, oh, those waskally wabbits! You’ll have to put a cage over the seedlings till they reach the safe zone.

    1. I’m thinking that next year will be my container cutting garden. Zinnias last and last in a vase, too.

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