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

Zen_Man wrote:
Corey,

"Between a late, cold spring and a very cool summer, my zinnias were late and stunted this year. "

Our weather here was also not the best year for zinnias. We had a cool Spring and a dry Summer and Fall, none of which was to the liking of my zinnias. My zinnias were more than a foot taller last year.

The climate in your area (Everett, Washington) is not well suited for garden zinnias (Z. elegans, Z. marylandica, and Z. angustifolia), which are basically hot weather plants. Your average high temperatures for June, July, August, and September are 68, 73, 74, and 69 respectively. Your mild climate is excellent for many things, but it is far from ideal for zinnias. If they have enough water, zinnias actually thrive in hot weather.

However, if you are saving seeds from your better zinnias, you are in effect breeding zinnia strains that are better adapted to your growing conditions. I started my zinnia hobby seriously in Maine back in 2005, and my zinnias adapted to Maine's weather. (Zinnias are native to Mexico.) I even had "volunteer" zinnias that self-seeded and came up in the Spring after overwintering in ground that was frozen rock solid and sub zero for extended periods. I was amazed that they could survive that. When we moved to Kansas back in the Winter of 2008 I brought some strains of zinnia seeds that were seriously confused by the abrupt change in climate.

I don't know if the climate "shock" had anything to do with it, but it wasn't until I grew my Maine strains here in Kansas that I noticed the "toothy" petal ends, like in the accompanying picture. I had over a dozen "toothy" specimens this year, so I inter-crossed them and I plan to grow a small garden of them next year, hoping to be able to select further improved examples of this flower form.

ZM