Zinnias, the Relentless Bloomer

Oh. My. Gosh. Zinnias. They were the perfect flower for a first time grower like me. They were easy to direct sow, germinated quickly, and flowered continuously in spite of everything. You can read about what we planted here: Zinnias from Seed — Bloomindipity  I had hundreds of blooms from the plants. I would literally harvest every bloom and a week later it looked like I hadn’t cut a thing. Week after week these plants produced and the bees and butterflies loved them too. I believe every time I went out to check or harvest the flowers, there were butterflies dancing among the blooms. It was a joyful space for sure. I did have a significant issue with powdery mildew that I just couldn’t seem to kill, but the plants did not seem to care. They just flowered and flowered. The powdery mildew did take its toll on the bottom leaves and branches of the plants and I’m certain in time mildew it would have taken over the plants entirely, but fortunately, I didn’t have to experience that. 

In 2023, we will be planting zinnias. Partly because I have seeds left over from last year that need to be used and partly because I’m low key in love with them.  To combat the powdery mildew, I will be planting them further apart and changing their location in the cut flower rows to enable better air circulation. Fingers crossed that will take care of the problem or, at least, help.

Zinnias provided buckets full of flowers week after week. These were so easy to grow and tolerated a lot of issues.