jimard8 said:...A few from California giants I always grow , or try to ,
The Benary's Giant Got a large Ball Head Bloom at just about four feet , grown in a growers pot , in compost mostly , then ,, It got to heavy and fell over...
Hi Jim,
That growers pot with compost may not have been the best place for it. Growing zinnias in the ground is better, if that is something that is available to you. Benary's Giants are a much more recent development than the California Giants, and I am a little mystified why the Benary's Giants aren't better than they appear to be. The cut-flower trade relies on them because, at 4 feet, they should be a foot taller and have a long, strong stem. Benary's is a reputable German seed company, so I suspect the Benary's Giant seed growers must be dropping the ball somehow.
When they first appeared nearly a hundred years ago, the California Giants were a mutant giant plant that got the zinnia breeders of the time very excited. They spent the next decade or two getting a complete color range in that plant form.
jimard8 said:Some of the dwarfs won't stay dwarf...
I don't grow dwarf zinnias any more, because I am a "senior citizen" and I don't like to stoop or kneel to work with them. However, I would think that the dwarf varieties would stay dwarf, unless they didn't have enough light and were stretching and becoming spindly because of that.
This is a "classic" current indoor California Giant bloom, just like the seed packet picture.
Now, I am wondering what to cross it with. I think maybe one of my "Razzle Dazzle" blooms.
I can hardly wait to see what that cross is going to look like.
ZM
