Anyone grow "Sungod" zinnia
Comments (7)
zen_man
4 months agolast modified: 4 months agoHello again, mxk3,
" I like the look of cactus zinnias. "
So do I. I have included cactus zinnias in my amateur zinnia breeding program, and the cactus "look" can show up in many ways in my hybrids of hybrids.
Don't forget, you can see larger versions of the photos here in Houzz by simply clicking on them, and you can dismiss the larger view by clicking on the "X" in the upper right-hand corner. Another "trick" is to click the F11 key to hide the Browser Address Space to make a little more room for the expanded photo and click F11 again to restore the Browser address names.
There can be many variations of the cactus or quilled zinnia flower form, including some variations of the individual petal shapes. We can get into that later.
ZM
mxk3 z5b_MI thanked zen_manRelated Discussions
Are Dahlia as easy to grow/sustain as Zinnia plants
Comments (16)If I had to choose, I'd plant zinnia. No question. Now, dahlias are gorgeous flowers but they require dead-heading to produce well, and even then flower production can be iffy IME. I've had dahlias produce a fair amount of blooms and other times very few. I've started dahlias from tubers in the past, and one year it took until end of July or so to see any flowers, even though I did pot up the tubers a few weeks before planting out and kept warm under my light cart. One advantage dahlia have over zinnias is more attractive foliage IMO - if grown well, they are lovely, bushy plants with healthy deep-green foliage that is attractive in its own right (note I've only grown the shorter cultivars, so my experience is based upon the growth habit of the shorter varieties). OTOH, zinnias bloom their stinkin' heads off and don't require much in the way of tending - though I prefer to deadhead, if I don't get around to it, the zinnias bloom beautifully anyway. In a word - they are joyous :0)...See MoreAnyone have red or white zinnias?
Comments (3)I'm sorry to hear the lizalily. Mine are just about ready but not in time for this 4th of July wedding. I will have to do daisies, white Campion and Callas. I had my husband build me row tunnels, otherwise I would not even try to grow zinnias on the coast....See MoreHas anyone grown Red Spider Zinnias?
Comments (5)Hey Ang, I too bought a packet of McKenzie seeds this year and will be sowing them indoors soon and transplanting outdoors around June 1st. Sharon...See MoreWhy won't my Zinnia grow straight/upright?
Comments (20)Hello Dale, I am not sure why this message string got flagged as updated, since your August 2, 2017 message is the last one, but since your message is the last one in the string, you are "due" for an answering comment. This comment from you and my response are copied from a message above. " And there's still the problem with the other plants. I only posted the photo of the one. " Well, there were three plants in your photo, but we could get a good view of only the one. And the photo was on its side somehow. Obviously you can't take or post any more pictures from your 2017 zinnia patch, but I copied this excerpt from your original picture, which did show this additional zinnia in the background. Click on this small inline photo to see the larger version. This zinnia also had its main stem terminated at the arrow, forcing side branches from that node. All side branches have to start out rather horizontally, and they naturally curve upward as they grow. Your zinnias may not have been mowed over by a lawn mower, but something terminated their main stems, and they responded normally to that damaging event. The curved stems you see in your picture above are normal growth in response to removal of the main growing point. We may never know what removed those growing points. ZM...See Moremxk3 z5b_MI
4 months agozen_man
4 months agolast modified: 4 months agoHi mxk3
You might want to get started in diploid cactus zinnias, and save the tetraploid cactus zinnias for experiments with zinnia tri-ploidy. All of my non-recent cactus zinnia plantings have used Burpee's Burpeeaana strain. It has plants that are a bit less tall but better branched. I usually pick the longer more narrow seeds from my saved zinnia seedheads, with the idea that there is some correlation between zinnia seed shape and the resulting zinnia bloom. You can on somewhat infrequent occasions find an "interesting" zinnia seed that just might produce something in the plant phase.
Those "horns" on the zinnia seed are unusual. But I am optimistic about long narrow zinnia seeds, especially those that are a bit "fat". I am also optimistic about tubular zinnia petals, especially those with closed ends.
I think the closed-end tubular petals have potential in hybridization. All tubular petals require some special attention regarding pollinization for seed fertilization.
That last photo has a lot of long-fertilized seeds, hence the absence of visible stigmas.
ZM
mxk3 z5b_MI thanked zen_manzen_man
4 months agolast modified: 4 months agoHi Mxk3,
There are desirable plant features worth breeding for.
Long narrow leaves "look better".
ZM
mxk3 z5b_MI thanked zen_manzen_man
4 months agolast modified: 4 months agoHi Dee,
Most of my cactus flowered zinnias are selections from Burpee's Burpeeana strain or hybrids between them. Minor variations can change the "look" a lot.
Happy New Year !!!
ZM
diggerdee zone 6 CT