Wes said:Zinnias are a garden staple but I've never played more than saving seed. I favor the cactus variety and these crosses of yours are fantastic! I like what you're doing and in reading your other hybridizing thread it's looking like I might have found a new hobby.
Hi Wes,
I think you will enjoy your zinnia project. By growing zinnias in close association as you plan to do, you may get some free cross-pollination courtesy of the bees. But you can get more dependable results if you "be the bee" and do your own cross pollination. I showed a couple of ways to do that earlier in this message thread. It's really quite easy.
I grew some zinnias indoors this Winter, and this is a picture of a recombinant that has some of the "star-tipped" genes.
Its bloom is approximately spherical. It has some accessible stigmas, so I can cross-pollinate it without the trouble of removing part of the petals to expose the stigmas. And its petals have yellow edging at the ends, as if the petal was just "outlined" in yellow. I hope to grow some seeds from it in my outdoor garden this Spring and Summer.
Don't hesitate to post pictures of your zinnias.
ZM
