Zinniascreate a massive burst of color in your garden from summer through the first hard frost of fall. If you want these annuals to reseed, let the last flowers of the season mature fully. Learn more about growing and caring forzinnias.
AboutZinnias
Zinnias are annuals, so they’ll grow for one season to produce flowers and seeds, but the original plant will not come back in subsequent years. Theyhave bright, solitary, daisy-like flowerheads on a single, erect stem, which makes them great for use as a cutting floweror as food for butterflies.
Types ofZinnias
The most popular zinnia species is Zinnia elegans, which has been bred to produce a great number of uniquevarieties.
There are three main kinds of zinnia flowers: single, semidouble, or double. The distinction between these forms comes from the number of rows of petals and whether or not the center of the flower isvisible:
- Single-flowered zinnias have a single row of petals and a visiblecenter.
- Double-flowered zinnias have numerous rows of petals, and their centers are notvisible.
- Semidouble-flowered zinnias are somewhere in-between, with numerous rows of petals but visiblecenters.
In addition to these forms, zinnia flowers come in a number of shapes, including “beehive,” “button,” and “cactus.” The plants also come in different heights: taller varieties are best for the background of a garden bed, while shorter varieties work well along a border. There’s a zinnia for everygarden!
Plant zinnias in an annual or mixed border garden. Smaller zinnias are suitable for edging, windowboxes, or other containers.
