critterologist said:Stumbled onto this thread -- what fun! I love zinnias but have only gotten whatever crosses the bees provided in my mix of saved seeds. I save seeds chaff and all and sow thickly -- works for me, and the chaff helps me see where I've sprinkled.
Hi Jill,
I know of other zinnia growers who grow
a lot of zinnias, and who use that very technique, even for zinnias that they are breeding. It is very appropriate for growing large numbers of zinnias, with no waste of effort. I am more "clinical" in my approach to zinnias, and I save zinnia seeds individually, and I plant them individually in straight rows, with labels on each row.
critterologist said:Have you tried your initial experimental cross again? Those pom-pom centered blooms are really special!
I have, and I have gotten some interesting results, although none identical to my original crosses. This one has some lavender barely showing at base of its big guard petals.
This one got bicolored petals from some Whirlygig "blood".
This one probably did not get any Whirlygig genes.
But this one did.
I really like some of the effects you can get crossing scabious type zinnias with other zinnias. Like all the zinnias above, this one has a prominent contrasting center. But not all zinnias have that.
Some of the crosses remind me a bit of echinaceas
And it is even possible to get a zinnia that looks like a waterlily.
I think there is a lot of untapped potential in various recombinations involving scabious genes. There are some new commercial varieties of scabious zinnias, and I will be growing some of them this Summer. It's always good to involve "some new blood".
ZM
