"Any comments on Purple Prince?" It's a nice open pollinated dahlia flowered zinnia, a rather old strain. Actually, it isn't too different in color from Uproar Rose. To me, Uproar Rose is a medium purple color, and I wouldn't have named it "rose". I just don't think Uproar Rose is rose colored. I am not a fan of the classic dahlia flowered zinnia flower form, because I don't like it that the petals all lay on top of each other. That creates tight spaces where aphids can lurk and you wouldn't see them. Overlapping petals are also a disadvantage for zinnias that have two or more colors on each petal, because you don't get a very good view of the "underneath" petals, like in this specimen. That zinnia could have looked spectacular in a more open flower form, but the dahlia flowered petal arrangement hides the effect to a large degree. A few decades ago there was a strain of zinnias called "Crown of Gold" that had a unique bicolor effect. The base of each petal was a golden yellow, while the outer part of the petal was any of the many zinnia colors. But Crown of Gold was dahlia flowered, and effectively hid its remarkable coloration and the strain was discontinued. If I had access to Crown of Gold today, I would change its flower form to a very open form that would display the golden bicolor for a dramatic effect. "$4-5 a pkt is a pittance when I think in terms of the joy the Uproar Rose bring" I am glad you feel that way, because the quality of zinnias available in the marketplace today has been hurt by a popular preference for low seed packet prices. But price can be a limitation, even for people who are willing to pay for quality. For example, Parks sells a packet of Uproar Rose for $3.95, but the packet contains only 15 seeds. That is about 26 cents per seed. If you were wanting to make a large landscape planting of Uproar Rose, the seed cost could quickly become prohibitive. ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

Christie, Benary's Giants do, indeed, have "some of those yellow things". They are called pollen florets. The stigmas are the thin yellow "forks" at the base of each petal that receive the pollen to fertilize the seed that the petal is attached to. "It's kind of hard to find tall single colors that aren't double. I want butterflies!" Well, the Zowie that you mentioned in the other thread isn't exactly single, but it puts out a lot of pollen, so it might be to your taste. However, all zinnias put out some pollen florets, which contain the nectar that attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. So, if you have a lot of zinnias, you will have a lot of all three. If you actually want zinnias that aren't double, there are some strains of Whirligigs that have "run out" in open field culture, and have a lot of single bi-colored and tri-colored flowers. They look sort of like daisies, and can be quite pretty. One strain of Whirligigs that you might like is available as the Whirligigs from Parks. Based on your preferences, I think that you would totally enjoy growing a lot of them. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I much prefer double zinnias, and I have culled a lot of single zinnias that appeared in my zinnia patch. Some of them looked so pretty that it actually hurt me to do it. But I am trying to stick to my breeding objectives. Incidentally, not all zinnia florets are the fuzzy yellow "starfish" pollen florets that you usually associate with zinnias. The florets of scabiosa flowered zinnias have petal colors, and yet they also contain nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds. They can "smell" it and go for it. This is an example of a zinnia that contains the "scabious" florets. I have enjoyed crossing scabiosa flowered zinnias with "regular" zinnias to get some interesting results. The "scabi" florets have one important advantage over the normal fuzzy yellow florets, in that the fuzzy yellow florets die and shrivel after a couple of days, while the scabious florets remain as a permanent part of the flower, enabling the flower to build an impressive center of them. My hope is to breed scabious zinnias with much larger florets. I have made some progress in that direction. I don't know if I have a favorite color of zinnia, but I am going to be growing a lot more white zinnias next year. They look good in the evening, and they make nice crosses with other colors. ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned)

I am looking for the colours Pink, Golden Yellow and Orange in Benary's Giants Zinnias. I have not yet gotten my HAVE list up on my member page so let me know what you are looking for and I might just have it. Marianne

Hi Bea, Email on it's way to you as soon as I post here. Checked your want list, and I can fill lots of it for you. Fran