Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Natures Beauty, 1 by konkreteblond

konkreteblond wrote:
Marilyn, my beds are clay/subsoil with amended topsoil. Some of the topsoil came in bags and some from a local place and we hauled it. Some of the bags had topsoil and a little bit of sand, which I loved. Some didn't so it was thicker. Some of the topsoil also came from a place that mixed builder's sand (I think) and compost into it.

I do have a ton of compost mixed in tho. It's not always on top because it breaks down but I've definitely spent a bunch of money and time putting it out. I have used a compost from Lowe's as mulch for several years because it wasn't fine compost or big sticks. In the fall tho I sometimes put down a layer of hardwood.

This year Lowe's carried different stuff so I used the new Texas Native Compost and Texas Native Hardwood mulch in some areas. I love this stuff!

Anyways, my zinnias have grown in all and some of the above and never missed a beat. I started with one package of seeds I threw out and they just reseeded. The profusion ones reseed too and usually grow taller the next year, which I like.

The larger zinnias tend to get powdery mildew and lose their bottom leaves. It's not a pretty sight but I'm trying to prevent it ahead of time this year and might even thin some out this year too.

This is pic from a few weeks ago. I've got more tall zinnias on the right and one less dead cornflower in the center.