Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 4, 1 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Caitlin,

Breeding zinnias is not at all complicated. At the base of each zinnia petal, there is a yellow forked "tendril", which is the stigma for that petal. You simply apply the pollen to the stigma. In about three weeks there will be a viable seed attached to that petal. The yellow stigmas show up particularly well against the purple petals in this picture. As you can see, the stigmas are readily accessible, with no "surgery" required. You can pollinate or cross-pollinate a lot of zinnia seeds in only a few minutes.

ZM