Hi all --
One thing I've wanted and can't seem to find is some sort of large flowering, deeply saturated purplish zinnia seeds. I see them at the farmer's market, so I know they exist, but no one seems to know the strain or variety or how I can acquire them.
I am hoping for the jumbo flowers on long stems.
Does anybody want to trde some seeds? OR can ya just tell me of any mixes you know that have them? I am not opposed to planting 30 zinnias to find the color I want.
Thanks,
Suzy
Wanted: Giant Plum, Burgundy, Purple or Magenta Zinnias
Hi Illoquin - I am looking for zinnia seeds also. I will keep you posted about what I find. When you saw them at the farmer's market were they in a multi-colored bouquet of Zinnias?
I will continue to research - I had given up on growing them due to mildew problems.
I remember my neighbor grew them when I was a kid - they seemed taller with larger blossoms, compared to what is typical fare today.
Take care !
Yes in multi colored bouquets. I also had a Mother Earth friend who had them growing along side her driveway -- she told me repeatedly to take the seeds (were from a 5c sale priced no-name seed packet). I didn't believe she wouldn't sow them herself, y'know? She does so much from scratch, I just thought she'd want those seeds...but she never saved them.
If I don't get an answer here, I think the Heirloom garden forum.
What kinds of zinnias did you want? Mine haven't even bloomed this year, but I know from the description that purple/plum/magenta isn't one of the colors.
Suzy
OK - I just did a bit of research & found the giant Zinnias that I remember from wayyyyy back: 3-4 feet tall with 4-5" flowers.
Sites are listed below, but I need to tell you that I can't plant any now because I live near Seattle: our summer will be over in about 3 weeks! But I will be planting these next year & share with you if you don't mind waiting.
In the meantime - the websites:
seedman.com - the Benary's are real nice, but keep scrolling down to the giant purple - it's PURPLE!rareseeds.com
2Bseeds.com
Gurneys
Burpees
Parks
Most of them have the larger types, and some are offering seeds at a discount (end of season???)
I had not been able to locate the larger flowered Z's locally, so online seems to be the best place for me. The purple are gorgeous, and so are the dahlia-flowered type. I use a lot of purple, so that is on my list. I'll grow any color though - I'll just separate them into different areas, so there's no clashing problems. Again - if you have to wait until next spring like me, keep me posted! OK?
OMG! It's the Benary Giant Purple for sure! That's the one from the Farmer's market! My friend just had a cheap pack of seed from the hardware store or something. It was more maroon or plum. I've had Park's Picks before and they look like hell from powdery mildew to such an extent -- and on such big plants -- that my garden really looked bad. I ended up pulling them before they really got going, which is not like me at all! LOL! However, I'm not sure about Seattle -- your weather is so different than Indiana I don't want to necessarily discourage you.
Thank you for looking this up! I'm really embarrassed because I could have googled it myself, but the way people at the Farmer's market reacted when I asked, I just thought it was some heirloom no-name, no account flower, and not a named variety.
25 seeds for a couple dollars isn't bad, and normally I'd just place an order, but in this case, I will take you up on your offer becuase I'm pretty sure I won't want anything else from the seed companies that sell the Benary Purple and the shipping and freight is what can kill ya. I'll split the order with you in a way that makes us both happy in Spring 2007, and if you get more colors, 2Bseeds has free shipping on all orders over $30.00. Hopefully they'll keep that policy until after we order. LOL!
Okay, now that that's settled, I can go to bed happy!
Thanks again,
Suzy
I will have giant purple zinnia seeds when they are ripe. I bought my friend a Burpee mixture of green and purple (no green in the "mix" figures" as we decided to swap garden "colors" this year. The zinnias are fabulous giant purple. Lovely. I also have a small zinnia "purple semi-dwarf" which I will have seeds of.
However, I planted these late, so I'd have nice plants into October/November so I won't be seeing seed until late sept. at the earliest...
GGG
Yes!!! Why don't we touch base when they get ripe? Come right back to the seed trading forum and do a search for "giant plum" and you'll find this same thread, even if it is pages and pages from the top. I will have more to trade then, too, because I also got a late start this year (good thing, though with all the rain we had!)
Purple and green sounds wonderful, BTW -- too bad there weren't any greens.
Thanks for the response!
Suzy
I will be buying Zinnia seed next year - I grow flowers for cutting, and like to have lots of varieties. But I don't want to plant hundreds of 1 type. So, if you want, I will just send a list of what I buy, and you can tell me which ones you want. I have purchased Benary seeds before w/o problems. I will be trying some of the others, too. I'm not a huge fan of Parks - I included their info so you could have an idea of what is available out there.
I thought the purple would be some fancy heirloom type also, mainly because my neighbor grew them when I was a kid. So I am delighted to see the different colors available in the taller Zinnias. It's so nice to have the ability to research / buy these things & grow them too.
I will keep in touch - Katye
Katye, That's wonderful, yes! I would like a few of each, too, for peronal cutting garden, not to sell or anything. Maybe we can get a co op going of just tall big zinnias for cutting.
Thanks for the response!
Suzy