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You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Zinnias Now, Zinnias Forever!

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Zinnias Now, Zinnias Forever!

by | 92 Comments

This post is in: 

peruvian daffodils

From “long-time reader and infrequent commenter” Misamericanthrope:

This year’s garden here in Chicago started with a random purchase at a big-box store. Decided to give the Peruvian Daffodils [top pic] a try. The blooms were significantly different than the ones on the box and I was only able to get two blooms out of three bulbs (I will dig the bulbs up and over-winter in the basement for another try next year). They were stunners while they lasted!

Next up for blooming was my Clematis. Put on a good show this year! Unfortunately the cultivar is called “Mr. President”; let’s all hope that that name won’t be as cringe-y next Spring!

As the season progressed, the true stars of the show took over: ZINNIAS! I usually grow some annuals from seed starting in March and chose two varieties of Zinnias and a Laceflower variety (Daucus carota “Dara”). I am now committed to doing Zinnias every year from here on out. Lots of different varieties to choose from.

The first variety of Zinnias that I chose was a mixed packet of the Cactus-type. They afforded some fine subjects for individual portraiture:
cactus zinnias

The other Zinnia variety was a “Queen Red Lime”. They produced blooms in a wider array of forms and color than I was expecting.

queen red lime zinnias

And here is a close-up of one of the Daucus carota blooms:
daucus carota bloom

That selection of annuals was more than enough to produce regular bouquets for myself and friends!

Mixed zinna bouqet

To be continued…

***********

What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  2. 2.

    satby

    Beautiful! I’ve never heard of Peruvian daffodils. And I may have to do zinnias next year for annual fill-in color, because the flat I bought of mixed annuals had mixed results. Which I should have expected.

  4. 4.

    Anne Laurie

    @satby: Just wanted to thank you for the Schreiners sale recc — my irises are leafing out nicely, as are the Spousal Unit’s selection of dwarf iris varieties.

    And the bonus daylily I got as a make-weight actually just bloomed!  It’s not a color I’d have particularly chosen (peach with a broad magenta border), but just seeing it in the yard right now was a thrill…

  5. 5.

    misamericanthrope

    @OzarkHillbilly: Your Zinnia mix sounds outstanding. I am already potting the selection for next year. Looking at the “Meteor Shower” ones and the “Thumbelina” ones. Density was good this year, but I want MORE! :)

    Will try the Peruvian Daffodils again next year. Attempting to grow them in containers might have been the problem; lots of foliage, but few blooms.

  6. 6.

    Mary G

    Zinnias are also one of my favorite things to grow, and are easy to raise from seed. I’ve never heard of Peruvian daffodils either; they’re spectacular.

  10. 10.

    satby

    @Anne Laurie: Glad you’re happy with them! I’ve always had good luck with their sales. Mine are leafing out but the same bonus daylilly isn’t blooming for me ?. I only parked my irises in a growbag square bed intending to move them when I tear out the tomatoes, but now I’m considering moving a few to the hugelkultur bed in front since the bedding annuals were crap this year. That may be today’s project, depending on whether it rains.

  12. 12.

    JR

    I got some saffron crocus bulbs a few weeks ago. Hopefully they’re still good. Going in an inconspicuous place and I’ll find if they come up next fall.

  13. 13.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    Nice! I’ve grown Peruvian daffodils for over 25 years and they do bulk up nicely over time. I’ve never seen ones with green stripes like that though. They overwinter well in the basement for us. I’ll be digging them up in a month or so. Be careful not to break off the big thick roots, they are a significant part of the food storage for the plant.

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Zinnias are among my favourite flowers. They always make me happy.

    Have never even heard of, let alone seen, Peruvian daffs. What an unusual, gorgeous flower!

  16. 16.

    satby

    I’ve been procrastinating on whether to add a few more daffodil and tulip bulbs to my assortment and Colorblends is already sold out of one I wanted ?. So today I’m ordering this double tulip, which came back at least three years at my old house, and probably this daffodil too (not sure until I see if some that I need to move are still viable-looking).

  17. 17.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    Those are some beautiful zinnias! I’ve only ever used them from garden shop flats, but I think next year I’ll try seeds for more/better variety. What I especially love about zinnias is that deer don’t seem to like them at all.

    I’ve been meaning to try Daucus carota because I so love Queen Ann’s lace and it’s a way of getting the look without introducing an invasive species into the garden. Your pretty flowers have convinced me. I’m going to put the names of the seeds on my calendar for January so I don’t forget to order seeds! Very pretty.

  18. 18.

    Geminid

    Re zinnia and crocuses: my friend Joan’s zinnias continue to proliferate through their seeds. Larkspur and calendula the same. Her yellow autumn crocuses spread below ground, and she transplants the extra bulbs to other parts of her gardens. (Not my garden, but I help out some.)

  21. 21.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    @satby: Oooh that tulip is so pretty! I’m sorry it’s sold out. ;-(  The double daff is a nice consolation though. I have some nice fluffy white and pale yellow ones that started out as a dozen bulbs that  I’ve divided and redivided over the years. Now they fill 2 borders and are part of a 5′ wide, 40′ drift near the fence line. It’s one of the things I love about daffodils: they keep working for you for years! Hellebores are the same.

  22. 22.

    Nelle

    Certain flowers are “Mom” flowers, in that they were the ones she most loved and watched over.  Irises in the spring…she had an orchestra of varieties.  Fragrant and gorgeous.  For hot Kansas summers, there were zinnias and gallardia.  So these (plus a clear cardinal’s song) let me know I’m in presence of her spirit.

    One of the regrets of moving so often is leaving behind gardens.  At the last place, I had a huge bed of zinnias where I could see them when working at the kitchen sink.  I was surprised to see hummingbirds  there regularly.  At another place I had thirty peonies.  There aren’t flower beds at this house.  Yet.  I haven’t been strong enough to dig the myself and am hoping to find someone to dig enough soon so I can get in bulbs before freeze up.

  23. 23.

    debbie

    Zinnias were everywhere when I was a kid, mostly for bouquets for homes and for teachers. I didn’t start seeing them again until a few years ago. I make a point of walking by yards with big clumps of their sunny little faces and bright shiny colors.

    One backyard has a whole bed of what look like zinnias, except that they’re somewhere around six feet tall. Are there varieties that grow that tall?

    P.S, That Peruvian daffodil is something else!

  26. 26.

    oldgold

    I planted zinnias in the new butterfly wing of West of Eden.  To date the zinnias and newly installed mud hole have not attracted any fluttering flowery flies of butter.  Rather, Biblical swarms  of sod webworm moths zig-zag zanily though the zinnias and slurp at the mud hole, while their crawling young dine on my blue grass.

    Well, at least my trained slugs are continuing to chew on the kale.

  27. 27.

    MagdaInBlack

    Boy after skimming the over night what-if thread, I really needed flowers. I love zinnias, such bright Seuss colored little faces on them. =-)

  29. 29.

    Gvg

    Geo seeds for large packs of seeds. I got a pack of Oklahoma zinnias and Benary’s giants 1 pack was a 1000 and the other was 500. About $5 each. I think they are mainly for growers but sell to public. I did find that the ones scattered on the ground did better than the ones I started in pack. Evidently zinnias like direct sow.

  30. 30.

    zhena gogolia

    I’m hearing Michael Cohen’s book is good. I haven’t even started Mary Trump’s yet. Just finished Daniel Deronda last night, so I guess it’s time to return from Victorian England to the present day. Blech.

  32. 32.

    HinTN

    Zinnias, YES! They and Mexican Sunflower are the only new sprouts the deer don’t mow down here in the deer park. I’m not dead heading them, which allows seed for the swarms of goldfinches. I love late summer!

    Beautiful pictures. Thank you for this!

  33. 33.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Thank you for next year’s inspiration! I’ve never planted zinnias and I’ve now put them on my wish list for seed purchases. Alas, can’t do tulips as the critters eat them, but irises and daffodils apparently aren’t tasty, so we add a few more every year.

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Looks like Mustang Sally is gonna take New Orleans for a ride. Looking at the track I don’t think it will be too bad but maybe that is just me with false hopes.

  35. 35.

    MomSense

    Those zinnias are a wonder.  I’m definitely going to have to plant some next year.
    We are getting cold temperatures at night now which is great for sleeping but not so great for flowers.

  41. 41.

    satby

    @Nelle: One of the regrets of moving so often is leaving behind gardens.

    Oh yes! I had assumed my Michigan house would be my final house and put so much effort and money into landscaping it. Not only do I miss all the flowers and shrubs I planted, but I made the mistake of looking at it last year on Google Earth, and the current owners had removed a row of lilacs to put in a vegetable garden over the graves of several of my pets, cut down a sugar maple sapling to put in a pool far from the house in a low spot that gets waterlogged with every rain, and fenced the yard and cut down the old wild apples that the deer came to feed on every fall. They ruined it all.

  43. 43.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: I know right? I was only up to around $70, because they were out of two I really wanted. But unlike last years surprises, with that company what you see is exactly what you get ?.

    Not that the ones I got last year from (cough, a Breck’s sister co.) weren’t perfectly lovely, but they weren’t an “orange [color] garden”. Unless you added the red tulips and yellow daffodils together.

  44. 44.

    MomSense

    Last night we had a small gathering with some of our kayak group. We met outside each bringing our own nibbles and drinks.  Normally we all kayak together just about every weekend and then get together to cook food and drink wine.  Because of Covid and great white sharks (fuck 2020) it’s been a bad summer for our little group. It was good to see some of our group and to commiserate.

    Anyway, several years ago we gained a couple from New York.  He is a carpenter and has done some work for all of us.  He did some repairs to my deck and then put up some brackets on the back of my garage to hold the kayaks.  He has done this for all of us as it turns out.  He used old fire hose from FDNY that was used on 9-11 as the saddles that the kayaks rest on.  He told me that if I ever move he will come over and take down the racks and install them at my new place or keep them if I won’t be using them because the fire hose was given to him by a childhood friend who was an FDNY firefighter who was also a kayaker.  His friend died years later from 9-11 related illness so J uses the fire hose to make kayak racks in his honor.  I really hope we can all kayak together next summer maybe do something special for J’s friend.

  47. 47.

    Nelle

    @satby: I know the pain.  One new owner cut down all the west side trees that were carefully nurtured to give shade in the brutal afternoon Kansas summers.  Then they took out the nurtured slow growing gingko.  That hurt.  In too old to get another one going here, so I enjoy one at a neighbor’s.

    Some sort of lesson in letting go in this but I don’t want to learn it.

  50. 50.

    satby

    @Nelle: letting go… yes. I learn that one over and over.

    But those assholes might as well have just stayed in their nearly treeless Naperville subdivision.

    Ok, I might be a bit bitter still.

  53. 53.

    mrmoshpotato

    @satby:

    But those assholes might as well have just stayed in their nearly treeless Naperville subdivision.

    Ok, I might be a bit bitter still.

    Detecting a hint of bitterness. ?

  59. 59.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: I learned a long time ago to not hang onto the things I build. Once I let go of them they belong to the future. I once built a coffee table for some friends as a thankyou for a favor. He always said it was his favorite “piece of art.” It was a nice piece, one of those times where I hit all the notes perfectly.

    Years later their teen aged black lab got into the room with it and used the legs as chew toys. Broke his heart. His wife begged me to “fix it” but there was no fixing it that wouldn’t have made it something else, something that wouldn’t have been quite right, something out of balance.

    So I said I couldn’t and they should just use it as was and laugh about it. Last I saw it it was hiding in a corner of the basement.

  61. 61.

    MagdaInBlack

    @satby:

    Ya don’t. I did that too, with the 6 acres I sold when my husband passed. They cut down the gorgeous purple ash that shaded the kitchen in the morning, my redbud I nurtured from a sprout, the raspberry bed, all my raised beds…..its not a good thing to check on your old loves

    Eta: thought we were going to be there forever too, so, lotsa work/love put in

    Also too, the f-n dirt bike track thru what was the orchard. ugh.

  64. 64.

    jayjaybear

    Zinnias pluck a very nostalgic heartstring for me. The very first gardening I ever did as a (roughly) 8-year-old was scattering some zinnia seeds. Those flowers are almost indestructible. We had a summer of awesome color and form, and every time I see those round-edged leaves coming up, my brain gets warm fuzzies.

  65. 65.

    jayjaybear

    @MomSense: Because Joe Lieberman is a Republican in all but name. He proved this when he did his vanity campaign after losing the Dem nomination in CT.

  66. 66.

    debbie

    @MomSense:

    great white sharks (fuck 2020)

    Good god. This is news to me, but that would in fact be the absolute metaphor for this year.

    As for kayaking, can you all paddle single file instead of side by side for the social distancing?

  69. 69.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    I don’t think Lieberman matters, but it still pisses me off.  Trump has only gotten away with his destructive actions because of GOP members of Congress, especially the so-called moderates like Susan Collins.  In January she declared he had learned his lesson from Impeachment and then he went on to commit mass murder.

  70. 70.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: I’m surprised there is not a Gideon ad like that up?  Quote from Collins.  Quote from Trump tape by Woodward saying Covid is deadly.  Quote from Trump just a couple days later saying Covid like flu.  What lesson did he learn?

  71. 71.

    debbie

    @Immanentize:

    Does anyone know if there’s a safe distance if you’re walking behind a runner or if a runner huffs and puffs toward you? I’m beginning to think my strategy of holding my breath for a bit may not be so great.

  72. 72.

    MomSense

    @debbie:

    The advice on how to keep safe from the great white sharks was to avoid areas with seals and schools of fish.  For swimmers it was ankle depth water.   In other words, you can’t kayak or swim this summer.

  78. 78.

    MomSense

    @debbie:

    River kayaking terrifies me maybe more than sharks.  The currents can be really dangerous.  Lake kayaking is fun but I only do that with a sea kayak if we are practicing wet exits.  I should learn to roll but I panic if I’m under water too long.

  79. 79.

    Beth

    @satby:
    Fuck the fucking people who don’t love trees.

    I feel this in my bones. Had to leave my house of 30 years, and at least the family that moved in left our front yard in which we installed a drip system with native California plants. However, every time I return to Google Earth, I yell, “What happened to the damn trees!” about the back yard. Not sure what they are doing, but it’s their life. I remember swinging in my hammock among the Monterrey pines, watching kinglets hop around while an owl napped for the day, and etc. Their life is different, it seems.

  81. 81.

    Beth

    @zhena gogolia: If you can hang on to interest for a few months to get things established, native plants can be wonderful. If you find what grows in your area and plant that, then you will have a very low maintainance garden that is happy. OTOH, you’re not going to be winning prizes at the county fair, just have a nice landscape, which for this lazy gardener was enough!

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    Oh my god, that Peruvian Daffodil is utterly gorgeous!  Can someone in zone 5 grow those (asking for a friend who is a Girl and likes Water) if I, I mean, she, dug them up in the fall and planted them again in the spring?  Like dahlias?

    edit: I read the post again, and I see that you live in Chicago, so it looks like these can be grown in my zone. yay!

    they are on sale half-price right now three bulbs for 8.49, for delivery in the spring. From a place that refunds your money, or replaces, if you don’t get blooms the first year.

    https://www.americanmeadows.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=peruvian

  83. 83.

    zhena gogolia

    @jayjaybear:

    And by the way he beat the Dem candidate, Ned Lamont, who is now one of the greatest governors Connecticut has had in my time here (44 years).

  85. 85.

    scribbler

    In my “later life” I have really come to appreciate trees, to the point where I feel genuine pain when trees in my neighborhood are taken down.  Is that a positive development?  I’m not sure.  A neighbor of ours is probably going to remove a perfectly healthy tree just because it annoys him how many birds roost in it.  That makes me so sad.

  89. 89.

    satby

    @Immanentize: I’ve always found the

    Deteriorata more on point. Especially this verse:

    Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls,
    Would scarcely get your feet wet.
    Fall not in love therefore; it will stick to your face.
    Carefully surrender the things of youth: birds, clean air,
    tuna, Taiwan

  92. 92.

    Richard

    I love zinnias. They do best from seed, in the garden. I got lazy and started buying those nursery 6pac starts but they don’t do well, at all.
    Plant them as soon as you can after last frost. I over sow them because cutworms, flea beetles and other hazards. I love zinnias. They are beautiful and make great hello gifts for friends and neighbors. They last a long time as a cut flower. There are lots of varieties to try. I love zinnias.

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