It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 6

Good morning! First off, I'd like to say I have thoroughly enjoyed following this forum. It's VERY informative and inspiring. Although its late in the season, I planted a few more zinnias outside, just to see what would happen. I'm new at this, so I'm a rookie, but I thought I'd share my first interesting bloom. (pic#1) It has heart shaped petals, and looks as though it will continue throughout. I have one that has tubular petals on the first set (pic#2), but so far has shown no signs of continuing in the layers (pic#3). I have attached that photo as well. I hope my pics show up correctly. Thank y'all for this wonderful forum! Have a good one.

Let's try that again :P

Hi Lindseed,

I think I just responded to your message over in GardenWeb. Situation awareness is very important, and I hope we can get a better understanding of your zinnia problem. Do you have any of that pH paper that you can use to measure the pH of your soil? It should be available at a local garden center.

Many years ago I lived in Fort Worth, and there the caliche soil tended to run on the alkaline side, so "fixing" the soil was necessary and I used a lot of compost and some ammonium sulfate to get a slightly acid soil pH of about 6.5. (It started out well over 7 in the alkaline range.)

ZM

I cannot seem to get enough of those beautiful zinnia. The other night I stayed long enough in the garden to see just how many of the night flying moths were flying about - and it sure wowed me. It is a wonder I have any tomatoes as most of them were from the tomato horn worm. My fourth planting for the year are just about to get into full force with blooms. The others I have planted - I think I need to take the hedger to the centers to make me a path to get through. Here are the ones I need to hedge in the 1st photo. I hedged their centers before and it works well. I thought I should share some of this years crop from my 4th planting in the Wetland Garden. I think most of these are the result of the rose type zinnia I used last year to try and hybridize with. Yes as ZM says, "It can be fun to hybridize your own zinnias."

I can't either, Brenda, they are beautiful!

Hi Brenda, Loretta, Lindseed, and all,

Well, Time flies. I am saving zinnia seeds now, and doing some Fall cleanup. Our hot Summer Kansas weather has been replaced with cool Fall weather. These are a few of my recent "breeder" class zinnias. More later.

ZM

ZM - Interesting tubular zinnias there. As ALWAYS!

Me too ZM, I'm zinnia seed saving. Every trip to the zinnia gardens and I come back with even more zinnia seed. Cannot resist. I have some people coming today to pick. Last week I gave a garden club tour. Not looking forward to frost though given the cool weather and the time of year - it is soon to come. I have a few of the tall pastel cosmo near my zinnias and it always amazes me how they just come alive and burst into beautiful bloom when the weather cools.

I'll be sure and check back ZM to see what kind of amazing specimens your have.

Hi Brenda,

That's odd -- just now I had to hit the F5 key to make any of the photos show on this page. Oh well -- maybe my Firefox browser was "acting up". I understand a totally new version of Firefox is coming out in November. I think the current "wisdom" is that Chrome is better than Firefox, but that in November Firefox Quantum will "catch up".

Still saving seeds and removing old zinnia plants. These are a few photos from the Summer that I may not have shown before.

ZM

ZM, It looks like your really have a steady supply of fluted zinnia. What next?

ZM - Looks like you have plenty of pollinators too. That's a bonus when in the zinnia bed - I like it when it's a buzzzzzz. Your zinnias are OUTSTANDING as always. Here are my BEST for the year.

I'm collecting all the good white seed heads I come across in my beds. Also collecting yellow/orange, red, pink/purple, cactus, specialty, and Liliput. Obviously my collection of seed is really growing to the extent I will have more than what I started with in 2017. I think I must have had a half bushel of seed from last year and every bit of it went into the ground. If I didn't space mine so close together, no telling how many more favorites I could have.

Some of these below I probably previously posted - but these are 2017 favorites.

It amazes me the people that do NOT know how to save zinnia seed.

Keep having fun with zinnias. I've not started taking my plants out yet. Guess I'll wait for the last BEAUTY.

Hi Loretta,

Good question. I'll be starting my indoor zinnia project soon. I will probably use it to make the somewhat difficult crosses between Razzle Dazzles and other zinnias. I have already made a few such crosses, and they did lead to some interesting results, including petals that were partially tubular and having "fingers" on the ends of the petals. That is somewhat like the Razzle Dazzle bloom, but yet completely different. I have some other projects in mind, and zinnias are always capable of coming up with their own "surprises". I want to have some really interesting zinnia seeds available for my outdoor plantings next Spring.

ZM

Beautiful, Brenda! I love them all!
ZM, all interesting but that last one really stands out.

Hello everyone,

Well, we have had our killing freeze and my indoor zinnia project has begun. These pictures are actually from several days ago.

ZM

ZM - Killing freeze inevitable - I lost my finale of zinnias to a wind storm this year. The storm pretty well forced them to the ground. What did try to bloom after the wind storm had crooked necks. At least it was close to seasons end. Good luck on your indoor zinnia project - it looks like you are well under way. I could not help but notice the 19-10-17 and the 22-10-17. I'm guessing those are dates for your future generations of zinnia? You have came a long way with your zinnias and I'm glad I could tag along and see your successes and hear your feedback.

Thanks ZM

I've so enjoyed this thread though I've never posted.

Hello Brenda,

Yes, those are the dates the seed was inserted in the growing mix. I use the military day-month-year format for dates.

You have my sympathies on the wind storm. We are no strangers to winds here in Kansas. Many of my zinnias have a typical L-shaped main stem, resulting from the young plant being flattened by wind and then the growing point returning to vertical. Some of my choicer breeders enjoy the luxury of my zinnia cages.

ZM

hello i overfeeded my plants for first time..how bad will be? if i start flashing from the next watering should they be oke?

Hello Bob,

We would need to know more details about how you overfed your plants, what your plants are, what they are growing in, etc. Also, what kind of water are you using and what kind of fertilizer are you using?

I am attaching a picture of some of my current indoor zinnias. They are in 5-inch square pots in Pro-Mix HP, and watered with dilute Better Gro.

ZM

Hello everyone,

I continue with my indoor zinnia project. Am attaching pictures of a few of my current specimens. I am now planting my second indoor generation, using green seeds from the first indoor generation. More later.

ZM

Wonderful.

My zinnias aren't all shades of pink. I just noticed that last bunch of photos kinda was. That last one in this group is a mutant type that I refer to as a "woolly".

ZM

It's never winter at your house! All beautiful photos. I really like that first orange one.

Hi everyone,

This specimen has a new flower form, so I am crossing it with several other "breeders" and also selfing it. Its progeny will be represented in my second generation zinnias, which are already "in progress".

ZM

I know you are saving it for the quills but I like the bright center.

Hi Loretta,

Maybe I should already know this, but by any chance are you also LorettaNJ over at the National Gardening Association? If so, thanks for all the Thumbs Ups.

Things are kind of slow here on Dave's Garden. I am continuing working with those narrow petaled zinnias, as well as others. I have several of its progeny blooming indoors now. The green seed technique makes it feasible to get quick turnaround on a second generation.

ZM

Yup, that's me. I forget why I don't have the dash anymore. I think it is from when Dave did an account rollover from cubits or here.
You are welcome for the thumbs up. I found the system weird at first but actually it is a nice way to acknowledge the lurkers.
The coloring on the yellow and orange flowers are particularly nice.

Hi Loretta,

I thought it was you. I also have some indoor zinnia breeders that aren't based on the "narrow tubes" feature. More later.

ZM

Those are all blooming now? They are all interesting, especially the third one. What size are the flowers generally?

Hi Loretta,

Yes, those are all current specimens. Some have been "torn up" since the photo was made, to expose the stigmas inside tubes. That third one is something new -- a non-scabious scabious. It has the larger guard petals at the edge, but instead of a central crest of modified pollen-florets, it has a central area of modified petals. It is a kind of faux scabious bloom.

Indoor zinnia blooms run significantly smaller than outdoor blooms. The indoor blooms are typically 3 to 3.5 inches. They are in 3.25-inch square seedling pots, which limits their root volume to not a whole lot more than their bloom volume. That is a severe limitation. I do need to do a lot of re-potting, but I am kind of swamped with third generation cross-pollinating and seed saving and planting. It won't be too much longer before I start transplanting these outdoors. I planted some Sugar Snap peas outdoors yesterday. More later.

ZM

Hello everyone,

Well, it got down into the 30's last night and we have a killing frost predicted for this weekend, so I am mainly just saving zinnia seeds now. I will be re-starting my indoor zinnia project in a few days. This is probably the period of the least interest in zinnia gardening for most people, so I am not expecting any significant activity here until next Spring. These are some recent photos of my "home hybridized" zinnias.

ZM

Hello all,

We had our first killing freeze early on the morning of October 16th. I am attaching a few photos of "frosty" zinnia blooms. More later. I started my usual indoor zinnia project a few days after that.

ZM

Hello everyone,

We have had several snows and the ground is white with several inches of snow right now. It seems a bit unfair to have a Winter Weather Advisory, which we had a couple of days ago, especially since it isn't even Winter yet. But my Indoor Zinnia Project is in progress now. Am attaching three photos taken a few weeks ago.

More to come. I will be working in my basement garden today.

ZM

Hello everyone,

I have several indoor zinnias in bloom, some that are being cross pollinated, as well as some more seedlings coming along. I am really enjoying indoor zinnia gardening in the Winter. More later.

ZM

That's a nice variety. You must be having fun!

Hi Loretta,

Fancy meeting you here. Yes, I am having fun. And, as you know, I am over at the National Gardening Association, as well. I was glad you showed up there, because I was considering dropping my subscription here. I wonder if Brenda is still around here.

However, I recently subscribed here for another year, even though I am not optimistic about how things are going here. And I am still at GardenWeb, after a fashion. My Indoor Zinnia project does keep me busy, and on these gloomy Winter days, that is a good thing. More later. Where has this year gone?

ZM

I do check in once in a while. There is a couple of threads that keeps me looking with some members posting that haven't moved on but mostly, it has been more than quiet.

Hi Loretta,

You may have already seen these Origami Zinnia photos of mine over at the National Gardening Association in the Annual forum there, but I thought I would post them here as well. I named the specimen "Origami" based on the relatively sharp folds and creases in its petals. More later. I am busy planting a new generation of indoor zinnias.

Namaste. And Happy New Year !

ZM

I did. I like this one. I like the form and the color. Happy Belated New Year!

Hi Loretta, and anyone else reading this,

I am transitioning from my indoor zinnia project to outdoor zinnia gardening. These are a few of my current home hybrid zinnia specimens. I continue to enjoy the zinnia hobby.

ZM

Yes, I still peak in here at DG's. You have some nice results so far this year, even a nice scabiosa type. They are all interesting. That last one is impressive. The florists would love you to stabilize that one.