Hi Kevin,

I have grown Zinnia peruviana with the idea of crossing them with my "regular" Zinnia violacea (elegans). That interspecific cross is supposed to be possible, but so far I haven't accomplished it. The peruvianas grow easily, in fact they are a little weedy. Mine have self-sown and now come up volunteer in my garden.

The peruviana flowers are small, about three-quarters inch to one inch across. And the florets and stigmas are also quite small, which complicates trying to cross them with violaceas (elegans). The plants grow upright, with very little spread. As a landscaping plant the peruvianas are unspectacular, mainly because their flowers are so small. But I haven't given up on them for zinnia breeding purposes.

ZM

Are the Peruvian's the same as Asztec's?

ladyrose - No these aren't the same. The Aztecs are Zinnia haageana.

ZM - Thanks for the info. I think I'll probably pass on these. I Googled some images of the entire plant (which I should have done to begin with) and they are rather uninspiring. The flowers alone - in a vase - as depicted on many websites do look cute, but that's probably why they photograph them that way. I'm more interested in how they may look in the garden and from the images I found - well- they ain't that great.

Back to the catalogs...

Kevin