I planted a lot of zinnias this year, hopefully I'll have a border like that, with some other stuff thrown in for variety.

I haven't sown my zinnias yet this year. I've always grown rows as a bulk seed drop with good luck even though it always says to thin them on the packets with a "survival of the fittest" mindset. This method doesn't facilitate thinning very easily.

Last year I painstakingly dropped individual seeds about an inch apart and although it made a nice, full display cutting drastically changed the overall appearance for a few days. I think I'll go back to my older method again.

One great use for the tall varieties is to plant a row at the front of the veggie garden to hide the peak season weeds from most visitors!

I never have had the thinning method work .I am not a big seed starting gardener but the past has led me to believe I loose some when thinning.

Jo Ann, did you plant them. I usually sow the seeds direct in the garden in May. I did not do it this year. I especially like to plant them close to the Peony bushes because when they are not in bloom the Zinnas grow up into the bush and it looks like the Peony is still blooming.

I did plant a few in side in April.Long and lanky just as usual. I took transplants outside and within a week squirrils had pulled them up. I have one Redman Cactus blooming. Its a stunner but I had hoped for at least six.
I direct sowed seeds at the end of May. There is a small clump showing but no where near ready to bloom. In another garden I direct sowed and these are starting to bloom.
Plan B is for plants in 2015. We have a snooty garden center a few miles from here, maybe they will have some unusual zinnias.
This garden center doesnt mark plants down so even now I would pay full price for overgrown plants.

That is bad JoAnne. I would not give them the full price for annuals this late in the season. My local nursery had annuals marked down to 50% off after Memorial Day. Picked up some begonias because I do keep them over the winter and I brought one pink/white sweet potato vine because I keep them over the winter too.

I even had Zinnas self sowing. I got the peony mix from Burpee a few years ago and they came back from self sow in August every year for about 2 yrs in a row. I would have a nice showing of flowers in the Fall which was a good time.

I had trouble last year because something kept biting the buds off so I never saw flowers. I did not plant any this year.

I wonder if the bud biters were squirrels.

Here is a bed of Zinnias that I took pictures of yesterday. The gardener collects seed each fall and sows them in early spring. He has been doing it for years.........

Paul, those are my dream beds. I plan to collect but have a " seed,dark cloud " over my head.I will probably buy some plants in May to have blooms earlier.
I asked another gardener how many plants she would recommend for a 3 foot square area. What would you recomend for the tall zinnia varieties. I have some Benerys just starting to bloom.

These pix are what struck me and made me crazy to plant zinns.
THIS IS NOT MY HOUSE.

I love zinnias, too -- there are so many different kinds, so many different colors, easy to grow from seed, make a great cut flower; I think if I could only grow one kind of flowers zinnias would have to be it. I planted some "Thumbelina" zinnias along with a short variety of marigold in the flower boxes I hang off our deck railing this year; other than the fact that it seemed like they took a lot longer to start flowering than I expected, I'm really happy with them there. For years I put petunias in those flower boxes and drove myself crazy trying to keep them dead-headed... and they would still get scraggly looking by August. The hummingbirds are loving the zins, too!

Sandy, I will check out Thumbelinas. They might be a good addition to containers next year.

I saw these zinnias yesterday.........I'll add some pictures here and will also start another zinnia thread as I have lots of pictures. I was very impressed......

Those are beautiful, Paul ! Where were they ?

And what kind do you think they are?!

Oh my, they are gorgeous! The small singles look like the Zahara series but I don't know for sure.

Next year I get to grow zinnias for me and not for cutting bouquets so I can plant some short ones. This is inspiring!!!

I typed a response to this some time ago, previewed it , and must not have sent it. The short single and semi-single ones are the Zaharas series. I took more pictures today which I need to down-load from my camera. I am going to go back in the next couple of days and find out the names of the other cultivars.

I have grown the Zaharas and love them in pots as well as the border.
I bought border plants of another small flowered variety,
Angustafolia,
The flowers are smaller than Zaharas, these are doing great and I cant wait to add more next year.
I bought a mix.

Redmans Cactus, quite possibly the best zinnia out there. Well at least here in my spot.






Envy

Think I'm going to have to give the Zahara's another chance. I wasn't too impressed with the ones I tried a couple of years ago, but it was just one variety, Starlight Rose. Maybe some mixed ones would be a better choice.

I REALLY like the Benary's giant zinnias, even though they're kind of huge. Beautiful blooms.