JG, "I can't help but wonder if possibly there isn't some kind of mobile element or virus to cause the color patterns of those, as in the Peppermint stick types--just a different sort of expression! I wondered the same when I saw it in a few of the streaked flowers I got, including July Bonnet this year-- kind of like the color "breaks" you see in the Rembrandt series tulips." I wonder the very same thing. It is troublesome to me that the Rembrandt tulips owe their striped color patterns to a virus infection. I discontinued breeding with the striped and spotted zinnias (Peppermint, Candy Cane, etc) for that very reason. I am not particularly fond of the striped/spotted effect and I would be particularly displeased if it started popping up everywhere in my zinnia patch. The same concern is why I didn't immediately start breeding with the streaked variants that appear in my Whirligigs and Zig Zags. "I notice the Profusions (not really my favorite of the flowers) are pretty mildew-resistant. Too bad they have such a strange chromosome number--not easy or even possible to cross, most likely." I am not at all wild about the appearance of any of the Profusions or other Z. marylandica strains. Their colors fade rather rapidly and they have a rather limited variety of appearances. I suspect you could cross within Z. marylandica, but their unique chromosome situation might interfere seriously with recombinations of traits. Their mildew tolerance has made them very popular with the plant-and-forget gardeners, and Profusions are a big commercial success for that reason. Their commercial profitability will insure new varieties and strains of Z. marylandica for years to come. But I breed zinnias for fun, and the Profusions don't look like much fun to me. "Your leaves look so nice and healthy!" Not so much anymore. My zinnias don't like flirting with frost every night. "I have done nothing to take care of the leaves in the zinnias here, and I know for sure the dense plantings lead to mildew infestation or at least increase its incidence. I guess though that this presents a good opportunity to see which of my plants may have mildew resistance, and before I take them down, I will screen them for that." When you say "zinnias", people immediately think of mildew. Powdery mildew. Would you believe that I haven't had a single case of powdery mildew this year? Still, even in this "end game" season, no mildew. Late last year, I had a single zinnia branch start to show some mildew, and I solved that problem instantly with a pair of scissors. That mildew took a ride to the landfill. Problem solved. There are a lot of mis-perceptions about mildew on zinnias. A lot of zinnias actually have mildew because their gardeners have been told that water promotes mildew on zinnias. The truth is the exact opposite of that. Mildew spores cannot germinate in water, and wetting your zinnia leaves can be an effective mildew preventative. In support of that assertion, notice that in this National Gardening Association Q&A: Powdery Mildew on Zinnias, they say, and I quote: "Powdery mildew is unique among common plant diseases in that it doesn't require a wet leaf surface to spread. It can thus thrive during hot, dry weather, which is why you see it appearing in August. The general advice to inhibit the spread of fungal diseases is to avoid wetting leaf surfaces. In the case of powdery mildew, you can actually inhibit infection with frequent sprays of water. Also, examine plants frequently, removing any affected foliage immediately." The underlining in that quote is mine. Frequent foliar feedings can also be a strong deterrent to mildew. So can sprays. A favorite of mine is GreenCure®, which is an effective control of a long list of plant diseases. GreenCure has several advantages over more toxic fungicides. The only zinnia diseases that have given me any problems are Alternaria Leaf Spot (Alternaria zinniae) and Bacterial Leaf Spot (Xanthomonas campestris pv. zinniae). I have been experimenting with Physan 20 foliar sprays as a preventative for them, with encouraging results. But the Physan 20 is preventative, and not curative. The spots on the leaves in this picture are probably Alternaria, but some could be bacterial. I have noticed that in crowded growing conditions, inside or outside, the lower zinnia leaves that can't get any significant amount of light tend to die off, whether they have a disease or not. I haven't experimented yet to see whether foliar feeding those leaves with a sugar solution and a glycerin adjuvant could bypass their need for photosynthesis or not. I plan to do that next year. The techniques of growing healthy zinnias are in themselves an interesting hobby, with many interesting challenges and things to learn. MM

reslider, Your link doesn't work for me. I always test links in this forum's "Preview Message" before doing a "Submit Message". It would be better if we continued this dialog over in the current part of this message thread, because this part has become long and slow to load. You can "wade through" this message thread by going to the Part 2 link that I gave above, and then continue following the links until you get to the bottom of Part 5, or you can now just skip to It can be fun to bred your own zinnias - Part 5. But, reslider, please let's not continue here. This part is too old and too long. See you over in Part 5. Just click on the underlined Part 5 link I gave above. And, if you have the patience, just read Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4, but please don't post messages in them. Post your next message in Part 5. Incidentally, we probably will be opening up a Part 6 in a day or two, because Part 5 is also getting long and unwieldy. MM

F2? It seems odd that they would predict that the "first generation...might come close (but that) the second (and) on generations will really start to wander" if it's not an F1. If their was already some variation then it might make sense for an F2 hybrid. Otherwise it like a pattern of (same)...(same)...(same)...(same)...(same)...(close)...(very different) What would account for the sudden change? I don't know what it is, but this does seem so odd to me that it has me wondering. I'm just curious.

First you have to make sure that it is the only one of that type to be around. In other words dont plant it to close to other marigolds. Also if it is a hybrid it will not be true to seed. I have stumbled on a website that tells how to pollinate your own flowers. It also tells when and where to collect seeds that will be viable. I hope that helps you. Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Saving