Hi Pandora,
I have never had a bad experience with Johnny's Selected Seeds. I guess you sort of mixed them all together in the bed. Actually, that is a good looking bed of zinnias. Having the plants be compact like that gives the bed a good shape. I grow some Burpeeana Giant zinnias because they are
supposed to have compact plants, in the 20-inches to 24-inches height range, and be well branched, which many of them are. Many of my hybrids-of-hybrids zinnias involve some Burpeeana "blood". I am also a big fan of Whirligig zinnias as a good ingredient in zinnia cross pollinations.
I encourage you to at least dabble in breeding zinnias. You can do that by saving seeds from your favorite zinnias. And making crosses between zinnias is quite easy. There are some interesting possible crosses that you could make in that zinnia bed.
ZM
