Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 4, 0 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Corey,

"Now that I know I can pull them out of a packet, I need new goals, like size, straight stems, mixed colors, flame-pattern colors, whatever."

I enjoy new goals myself, and I look forward to my zinnia gardening next year with anticipation of some of the new things I might get. But there can be satisfaction in minor quality improvements, too. The cumulative effect of merely saving seeds from your favorites can build up to significant progress in a very few generations. And along the way, you become more perceptive of the different traits that zinnias can show you. Zinnias never cease to surprise me.

I now notice the angle of attachment of side branches to the main stem. An acute angle seems to give a stronger joint than a right-angled attachment. And I am developing a preference for longer leaves with sharper points. And there is some variation in the hairs on the stems in the branches.

"I see that we have almost opposite tastes in flower forms: I like compact "balls", and many of your blooms sprawl out over an extended area. I think yours give more latitude for variation!"

Our overall preferences in zinnia flower form are rather opposite. I respect that. In general, I do like for the flowers to spread out with lots of "air" between the petals. I like to be able to "see through" the flower because it is so open in structure.

However, just today I saved seeds from a specimen that was very much like a Cut-and-Come-Again, with a multiplicity of ball-like blooms. Even its hemispherical plant form echoed the spherical theme. And the previous installment of this "It can be fun...Part 3" message thread led off with a very ball-like bloom. Even some of my recent scabiosa flowered breeders have a very compact bloom structure, like the specimen in this picture.

ZM