If you have dreams of growing an organic garden from A-Z, you may
want to start at the end with some easy growing, gorgeous zinnias. With
broad blossoms, bright colors, and next to nothing to worry about
ruining your tending efforts, zinnias are some of the easiest and most
rewarding flowers to grow. Learn how to plant zinnia seeds for the best
return and make a major impact on your garden or landscape this year.
Zinnia Types and Varieties
Considering
height, color, and shape combinations, there are dozens and dozens of
zinnia varieties to choose from. Since it’s so easy to collect seeds
from zinnia plants, I like to stick with heirloom varieties that will
produce reliable replicas year after year. Still, there are lots of
options when deciding which zinnias to plant.
Zinnias come in a range of shape types, including varieties that resemble daisies or dahlias, tight blossoms in beehive shapes, small button blooms, and large floppy blossoms.
As a quick, easy annual, you can tuck zinnias
around other plants or make a full zinnia patch. Mix up height and color
– have fun playing with the many options zinnias provide without having
to cater to pickier plants!
Some fun varieties to check out include:
- ‘Envy’, with bright, chartreuse green blooms
- ‘Carousel’, multicolored and sturdy
- Burpee ‘Rose Giant Cactus’, with a vintage feel and full, pointed petals
- ‘Will Rogers’, with shocking red, large blooms
Zinnias
do best in full sun, so gather your collection of zinnia seeds, choose
your space(s) and get ready to start your spring zinnias!
How to Start Zinnia Seeds
As
a full sun flower that likes warm weather, zinnias need the air and
soil to be warmed to the 70s to germinate and begin to thrive.
Unfortunately, they also dislike being transplanted. That doesn’t mean
you can’t make the most of the growing season, though. You still have a
choice between starting zinnia seeds indoors or sowing seeds directly outdoors.
Sowing zinnias outdoors.
The
easiest way to start zinnias is to plant them directly in their final
beds outdoors. It takes air and soil of more than 70 degrees to
germinate well, so wait until spring is firmly in place before planting
zinnia seeds. Plant them about ¼” right in the ground, spaced as much as
your chosen variety needs, anywhere from a couple of inches to a couple
of feet. Once they sprout, thin them carefully to encourage the
strongest to thrive. Give enough space so that air can flow around the
mature flowers, preventing disease.
Starting zinnia seeds indoors.
If you want a jump on the growing season for some early spring color,
you can get around zinnia’s aversion to transplanting. Start seeds in
potting soil and peat pots about a month before the last frost. Once the
soil is warmed enough for zinnias, you can plant the entire pot in the
ground for an easy transition.
Zinnias like well fed soil, so some compost
worked into the ground early in the season will give the soil an edge
before it’s time to get the zinnia seeds or plants in the ground.
Moisture is important in early weeks, but make sure it doesn’t get
soggy.
Zinnias will last for around two months, so stagger
multiple plantings in the garden in order to keep zinnia flowers in the
garden from spring through fall. Heavy humidity might be your only
obstacle to constant zinnias all summer long.
Growing Beautiful Zinnias
It’s
hard to pinpoint a real challenge to growing zinnias. Resistant to
pests, happy in most soils, and prolific bloomers, zinnias are very
nearly “set it and forget it” plants.
Water and sun will keep your
zinnias blooming full and frequently. Too much water, on the other
hand, will risk one of the only diseases zinnias are susceptible to:
mildew. Keep water to about an inch a week, from all sources. And, as
with most plants, avoid spraying the foliage and flowers as much as
possible, and not at all during the heat of the day.
If you want
full, bushy zinnia plants, pinch the top of the stems off of young
plants. If you want to encourage tall zinnias, stake the largest so they
don’t flop over.
“Harvesting” zinnias as cut flowers will also
encourage full growth, telling the zinnia to keep producing blooms until
some are able to go to seed. Cut the stems above leave or bud nodes and
the stems will keep growing and producing new blooms.
Once a
zinnia plant is done, you can remove it and plant something else in its
place. For heirloom varieties, let one or two go to seed and be sure to collect them for next year. Try to save seeds from zinnia plants that are tucked behind others to avoid having dying zinnias as a focal point.
By Angela England
Organic Gardening Expert
