Bet from what I have read so far on zinnias is that they are affected by two funguses.(fungi?) Powdery mildew which phlox are also famous for and leafspot. It starts out as gray or brown spots on the leaves and spreads until all the foliage is ratty with it. Time to pull the plants up.
I overhead water and I'm sure that this is a part of my problem.

@BetNC
If the holes in the top center of the photo and the bottom right are examples of the holes you are talking about that is not leaf spot, to me it reminds me of flea beetle damage I often see on my peppers.

You are correct, Seedfork. the holes in the centerof almost all the foliage of my yellow zinnias looked like someTHING took a big bite only from the center. . the edges weren't touched and there were no "munch" trails either. MWhatever it was, they apparentky didn't like the taste of my Zahara zinnia, as they were untouched!

On the far right of my distant pic, one can see the upright PVC pipe (screwed into the fence pole for support) of my DIY ground-level irrigation system. By having this upright section, I could walk over and stand upright to screw in my water hose and water from below. . . thus avoiding a known problem from watering frm above.

But the gnawed-out centers are totaly unknown to me. How do you stop / prevent flwea beetle damage??

There are all types of things that can be used to control flea beetles, but usually with my peppers they don't actually do that much harm (my eggplants suffer even more from them) but the only thing I actually do most of the time is just put down a heavy mulch over the winter to make it difficult for the larva to come out of the soil and get to the plant in the spring. There are things like nematodes, trap plants, diatomaceous earth , organic sprays and stronger chemical to kill the beetles, but they are very hard to control most of the time no matter what you use. So now I just try to limit their damage and let the plants suffer with holes in their leaves. The big problem with that is that not only do they make the plants look bad, but the beetles also bring along diseases and blights that can even kill the plants.
Not sure that actually is flea beetle damage, so check close and see if you find any little flea like beetles they are pretty had to see, and they will jump away if you get close to them so you have to look very close. I have had problems with grasshoppers and snails of some of my Zinnias also.

The zinnias were last year's summer color for that flower bed. THIS year, I'm starting Red Velour Tidal Wave Petunias to put there in June, as my summer color. It's too late to check those zinnias, but I'll b3e sure to inspect my petunias !!

Because this bed is also my spring bulbs, I can't heavily mulch over winter. . . if I did, I'd hafta remove all mulch in April, which would kinda defeat the winter mulching, wouldn't it????

Well, as with everything else, even with the heavy mulching I might deter the flea beetles and encourage the snails and slugs. My spring bulbs will just have to poke through the best they can, because two of my beds also have bulbs planted in them.

Just pulled my pots from the minifridge, gave them a drink of water. I've been at work for several days and these things have really taken off. Looks like they should have come out of the fridge last week. I'm still on a learning curve!









What will bloom will be as much a surprise to me as it is to y'all. I know muscari, tulips, crocus, hyacinths, daffs. I'll have to wait for blooms to ID variety, it will be an adventure!

Those look great!

They look perfect! It's normal for them to have sprouts like that when they come out of refrigeration.

Thanks guys, I'm fairly excited. I also have a pot that I planted with pink and red tulips and pink muscari for my mom. I just told her I needed one of her pots, I was going to plant sonething in it for her. I'm taking it to her tomorrow, her 90th birthday is this month.

This is the best out of three pots. Sir Winston Churchill daffs in the middle that haven't opened yet but everything else is going gangbusters.


Hollyhock hyacinth, I love this!

Beautiful, Kabby! Love the assortment of colors and plants! Hollyhock is indeed very special

Excellent
You must be really pleased with those lovely results, Kabby!

Very Pretty

My pots are slow this year and I do not know why.

Beautiful Kabby!