Here are the old faishoned I have had for two decades now (the usual) Keith love the yellow , Zen the Bee Balm look is a wowser




These are actually a four and a three , angle of camera and all




Plain with pollinator

I'll share seeds when I get some from the flowers.

More zinnias from my garden

Hi Keith,
You have some unusual looking zinnias. That bottom one might have viable green seeds attached to its petals. I have made some crosses with scabious flowered zinnias and now have some results from those crosses. This is an example:

Regular scabiosa flowered zinnias have a single row of guard petals and a more uniform looking center. We had a rain with high winds last night, so I have some cleanup and repair work to do in the garden. More later. I do have some other interesting specimens I want to show. I really get a kick out of breeding zinnias.

ZM

I always enjoy this here

Regular from Giants I have saved for years ,


Candy cane (purchased seed

Hi Jim,

Your regular that you have saved for years have a great landscaping plant. I think it is admirable that you have saved seeds over the years to create what is essentially your very own strain of zinnias. I am beginning to do that as well. I have done a lot of cross pollinating, but sometimes I don't know what caused a particular effect.

That zinnia has a concentration of color toward the petal tips and also somewhat toward the edges of the petals. That is a kind of odd effect, and I have no idea what caused it. But I kind of like it, mainly because it is "different". It also has some white streaks on some of its petals -- also a mystery as to what caused that. You can see the streaks much better in the big picture that appears when you click on the picture. I probably will save seeds from it, to see if that characteristic appears in its progeny.

ZM

ZenMan said:Hi Keith,
You have some unusual looking zinnias. That bottom one might have viable green seeds attached to its petals. I have made some crosses with scabious flowered zinnias and now have some results from those crosses. This is an example:

Regular scabiosa flowered zinnias have a single row of guard petals and a more uniform looking center. We had a rain with high winds last night, so I have some cleanup and repair work to do in the garden. More later. I do have some other interesting specimens I want to show. I really get a kick out of breeding zinnias.

ZM

Your doing great with your breeding! The offer still stands, if you see any you like I'll send you seeds from mine.

Wow Keith! Those are big AND beautiful, especially that first one! I'm rather fond of pink and yellow blends .

Very nice, especially like the first one too

I enjoyed looking at everyone's zinnia plants! Yesterday I picked my zinnias that were blooming and put them in a vase. I love zinnias! It's my favorite annual!

xoxomonisia said:I enjoyed looking at everyone's zinnia plants! Yesterday I picked my zinnias that were blooming and put them in a vase. I love zinnias! It's my favorite annual!

Hi Monika,

Zinnias are my favorite annual, too. That's a nice looking vase of zinnias. You have quite an assortment there. This is a recent view in my zinnia patch and a close-up of one of my big petaled zinnias that develops "frosted" petal ends only a day or two after the petal emerges.

I have quite a bit of culling to do in my zinnia patch. It is my intention to leave only good breeder-quality zinnias so that, at seed-saving time, I won't have to worry that I am saving seeds from a "reject" zinnia that I should have culled. I enjoy breeding zinnias.

ZM

Hi everyone,
Here are a couple of my currently blooming "breeder quality" zinnias.

I like the long narrow petals on those specimens. A couple of my breeding goals are zinnias with extreme uproll on their petals, and "spider flowered" zinnias with long narrow petals. Those two represent some progress toward those goals.

ZM

Hello everyone,
Sort of a progress report. These are a few current breeder zinnias in my garden.


It rained last night and we expect more rain today, so I won't be watering my zinnias for a few days. More later.

ZM

great looking zinnias!!!! i'm starting to collect seeds...its like Christmas every day

Hi Monika,
Since you are collecting seeds, did you read my message on saving zinnia seeds while they are still green? If not, the message was May 7, 2016 12:45 AM CDT

The advantage of saving green seeds is that you get to the seeds before the seed-eating birds do, and you avoid pre-germination of ripe seeds in the flower head during a rainy wet spell. "Green" seeds are water-proof.

Another "progress report" of pictures from my zinnia garden.



Do check out the "green seed" thing if you haven't already. Don't forget to dry them at room temperature for a week or two before "packaging" them.

ZM

Hi ZenMan - Enjoying looking at all of your zinnia creations. Especially like the "spider type" ones you showed on Sept. 9 - the white and the purple/pink one. Pretty sure I could detect a tinge of purple on the predominantly pink blossoms. Please keep on posting - gives me something nice to look at.

Keith - also enjoy your posting of your zinnias also. Really enjoying the ornamental pepper plants grown from the seeds you sent me last year. So far my peppers are green or dark purple - and getting more and more each day. Sure hope our first frost is not too early this year. Waiting to see what colors come next.

Be still my heart they are fabulous ZenMan!!

Hi everyone,

Today may be the last warm day of the season for us. This is the time to pick which zinnias will be the breeders to produce the seeds for the next generation. These are a couple that were selected today.

Although both fall under the general category of "cactus" zinnias, they are actually much different in flower form. It is fun trying to guess what kinds of progeny the chosen zinnias might produce. I am always optimistic that improved forms might appear in the next generation. And quite frequently they do. More later. This is fun.

ZM

Both excellent candidates