I don't even know where to begin because the PJIC-itis set in so bad this year that I am STILL trying to pot stuff up. LOL With all of the stuff out there, I would say my biggest success was trying a goldflame honeysuckle for the first time, and not only having it bloom all summer with each segment of new growth (there is a bloom out there right now), but having it actually ATTRACT a hummingbird. And we're talking about up on the 18th floor. I haven't seen the hummer in weeks though and I was never quick enough to get the camera out to get a pic of it, but for that week or so when it apparently found my spot was just unbelieveable. I still haven't recovered and have all sorts of plans for next year for any hummers who are interested. I have already grown natural attractants for years out there (weigelas, etc), mainly because I liked those plants. But the honeysuckle hit pay dirt!! Here's what the blooms look like: The parts of the vine that had grown to the ceiling and bloomed are what the hummer apparently spotted from who knows where. LOL The other pat on the back success was getting my Sarah Bernhardt peony bought last year, to bloom this year in a container. Of course, as we container gardeners are often told - it's "impossible" and other nonsense. But my little plant (that had 3 buds last year that never opened while still in the original pot) sprouted this spring and produced 5 big blooms after living in its new home: A closeup of the first flower: I didn't have a peony hoop when I needed it. LOL But I have one now for next year. As for disasters, I would say bugs and powdery mildew. Usually I get swamped by aphids but was ready for them early on with some ladybugs that one of my sisters ordered and gave some to me. But aside from not seeing any early aphids this year (nor did I see ants this year - even on my peonies), it was the whiteflies on my tomato plants (first time in my life) and the spider mites on them and on my beautyberry (been there done that with mites but this year was the worst I've ever seen), and of late, mealey bugs - on one hoya and on a gardenia (ARRRGGGG!!). Yeah, I would say the bugs were disasterous this year. Interesting that the spiders were more numerous and I have 2 biggies at each end of the balcony who have spun enormous webs between shrubs and the balcony ceiling and they are cleaning up on the "food gathering" (literally...lol). And with the PM - gosh, the poor honeysuckle, my peony, and crape myrtle bore the brunt by late summer. The whole peony is now frosty white and the honeysuckle had pretty much defoliated, but is putting out new leaves continually and with those new vinelettes come a flower! I sprayed all sorts of different PM remedies on all of them but just couldn't keep up with it because of the bizarre weather this year. I mean, the temps were very mild as opposed to frying as they can usually get, but the humidity and lack of breezes every once in awhile just made it perfect for PM. Well, back to planning in what to pot the recent acquisitions and figuring out where to put them. LOL

GZ4, "I didn't know that I could get bigger and bigger zinnias just by saving the seeds of my bigger flowers. How does that work?" Zinnia flower size, shape, and form is determined by a number of different genes. Zinnias are primarily insect pollinated, and pollen gathering insects travel from flower to flower gathering pollen. In that process they accidentally pollinate many zinnia stigmas. Since they gather pollen from many different zinnias, sometimes they self pollinate a zinnia and sometimes they cross pollinate the zinnia with pollen from zinnia blooms that they just came from. As a result, open pollinated zinnia seeds actually contain some hybrids as well as some selfs. And some of those hybrids may involve zinnias that themselves are already hybrids by the same random pollen exchanges. Many times those bee pollinated hybrids are between similar parents. Similar, but different. So a packet of red dahlia flowered seeds will produce a variety of red dahlia flowered zinnias. So called pure varieties or strains are not actually pure. If you look closely you will see small or not-so-small differences between the individual plants and flowers. Your seed packet may have given you dozens of different varieties of red dahlia flowered zinnias, some of which are actually crosses between two different red dahlia flowered zinnias. By saving seeds only from the larger zinnias, you are choosing to grow only seeds from the larger red flowered varieties and discarding the smaller red dahlia flowered varieties. Seed saved from larger specimens will also vary in size (and other characteristics), but their average size will be somewhat larger and you may find still larger specimens. Each time a new seed is formed, a re-shuffling of genes occurs, and you may get a different combination from any that you have ever seen before, and some of those "shuffles" may give you your biggest zinnia yet. "I love the look of GIANT dahlia flowers--where should I start and what should I do to breed those?" Start with some commercial dahlia flowered zinnias that appeal to you. When they bloom out, study them to see which ones are your favorites. I usually cull out zinnias that I don't like to make more room for those that I do like. Then, recognizing that the specimens that you have selected may actually be hybrids between similar but different parents, you are free to self them with the expectation that their progeny will continue to vary, but will have changed some in the direction that you want them to go. Or you may to choose to cross-pollinate some of your favorites to "shake them up" some. Each seed you save will be a different recombination from the genes of its two parents. Remember, zinnias are composites, so each petal is actually a different "flower", with genes that are at least a little different from the petals next to it. "I was told that it's pointless to save the seeds of hybrids, but if their flowers are big and they are only crossed with other dahlia types, it sounds like maybe I should. " You should. Don't tell rose breeders not to save seeds from hybrids. Rose breeders cross hybrids with hybrids with hybrids, and then cross them again so that very complex ancestries build up. No reason you shouldn't do the same with zinnias. And if some non-dahlia flowered zinnia has a trait that you would like in your dahlia flowered, then by all means cross it in and then select out the combination of traits that you are going for. Prehistoric zinnias had all kinds of different forms that we haven't seen yet. By recombinations of recombinations, we can bring combinations of those unseen traits to the forefront. I personally am not a fan of the dahlia flowered zinnia flowerform. It tends to hide interesting bicolor and tricolored petals because the petals are stacked so close together. This dahlia flowered bloom partially conceals an interesting two-tone color scheme. This zinnia bloom does not conceal its petals with thickly overlapping petals. I refer to this zinnia flowerform as "Aster flowered". Various insects, such as aphids, leafhoppers, thrips and such, can "hide" in those closely packed zinnia flowerforms. So my personal preference is for "open" zinnia flowerforms. But that is just my subjective preference, and you are free to have your own. By saving seeds from your favorites, your personal seedstock will come to resemble your preferences. "I guess the other thing I could do is just grow giant dinner plate dahlias instead of trying to coax zinnias into a larger size. :-) Haven't explored that option yet." Maybe you should. Breeding your own dahlias is definitely something that you can do. I prefer zinnias because they grow faster, and you don't have to wait so long to see the results of your crosses or personal selections. ZM

In the leaves, plants produce a carbohydrate called glucose (a sugar molecule) which is transported to other parts of the plant for energy. This carbohydrate is produced by photosynthesis. The vascular system of plants consist of two parallel "arteries" the xylem and phloem. In the xylem, water and dissolved nutrients are moved upwards (from the roots). This is a one-directional movement powered by a pumping action. The evaporation of water in the leaves creates a vacuum which helps pull water (and dissolved fertilizer nutrients) up the vascular pathways. In the pholem, which is responsible for transporting glucose (sugars), the direction is not limited to one direction. The movement is from sugar producing tissues (sugar sources) to sugar consuming tissues (sugar sinks). Sugar sinks are consuming entities, such as fruit, flowers, roots, etc whereas sources are tissues which produce the glucose, or which is responsible for breaking starch down into glucose. The transport inside the phloem is done by another force called hydrostatic pressure. In the phloem by the leaves water is mixed with high concentrations of glucose (sweet water) creating relatively high pressure (tugor). In the roots, the sugar is removed/consumed which causes water concentration in the phloem to drop. The result is that you have a high pressure at the production site and a low pressure at the consumption site. I.e. you have set up the requirements for a pump to work. The flow will be from high sugar concentration (low water concentration) to low sugar concentration (high water concentration). The reason this takes place is that water though osmosis will either flow into the tube or out of the tube to match the sugar flow (rules of diffusion). Therefore, to answer your question: By pruning off relatively large parts of the plant you are removing tissue which would otherwise be used to produce sugars (photosyntehsis potential), but sugars do not by rule move 'upstem'. Quite on the contrary. Most sugar is produced 'high on the plant' (in the leaves) and is often transported to the roots, although quite a bit also end up in flowers and thus, yes, some sugar does move 'up-stem'. But you are not preventing this movement from taking place just because you prune high or low. These two issues are not connected. If you want to know what happens when you prune a plant, take a look at the below article. Here is a link that might be useful: Cutting and Pinching - article

There is a thread on the perennials forum where somebody posted a study showing that the Lilliput Zinnias attracted the most butterflies. I will have to give them a try, although I don't care for the fully double pom-pom type flowers. Anyway, every year I grow a swath of the tall cultivars of Zinnia elegans like Cut & Come again, State Fair, California Giants, and Scarlet Flame. They are largely single and semi-double flowers, which supposedly the butterflies prefer because the they have a cone in the middle to hang onto, and easy access to the nectar tubes. But I have heard people say they like the Magellan and Benary Giants too. Very easy to direct sow once the soil warms up and they grow fast. I grow them in a slightly different spot each year, to prevent mildew and fungus. The bees and hummers also love them! See the thread below for some of my pics and others. Here is a link that might be useful: Butterflies on.... Zinnias