Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 5, 2 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Hi Brenda,

Yes, #5 was a very special zinnia. I don't remember now whether it was directly from a Whirligig packet, or was the result of a cross between Whirligigs and cactus flowered zinnias. I particularly liked its daisy-like flower form, as well as the unusual petal coloration. I plan to devote my entire South garden to Whirligigs next year. That should finish off that quarter pound of Whirligig seed I bought from Stokes Seeds a few years ago. Interestingly, Stokes got those seeds from a grower in Tanzania.

Your "off the beaten path" zinnia is unique. I like that flower form, but unlike the commercial dahlia flowered zinnias, it really looks like a dahlia. You should definitely save as many seeds from that specimen as you can.

The attached pictures were of scabiosa-based zinnias that had extra full flower forms. One of my on-going objectives is to find a scabiosa flowered zinnia that actually does not have any guard petals at all. Just the full center. Someone here on this forum reported having had one a few years ago, so I know that such a zinnia can exist. I'll be on the lookout for one this Winter and next Spring, and when I find it, I will make a lot of crosses involving it.

ZM