Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 3, 1 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Hi all,

I had mentioned previously that I was growing some Aztec Sunsets in an attempt to cross them with some of my "regular" zinnias. I noticed that one of them was growing very short and I suspected that it had received an overdose of plant growth regulator. I have since learned (by reading the seed catalogs a little more carefully) that Aztec Sunset isn't just an improved Persian Carpet with somewhat larger flowers, but that it is has a short plant habit as well. From that I can only conclude that my other taller Aztec Sunsets were off-type. In my next planting of Aztec Sunsets, I will probably be roguing out the taller and semi-trailing plants. Here is a picture of my "on-type" Aztec Sunset. I pollinated it with a lot of my Z. violacea breeders but, as far as I know right now, none of those crosses "took".

ZM