Here are some pictures.

Please tell me the pointed two leaf seeding in the middle is a Zinnia. lol

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This is what I'm dealing with here. I'm pretty sure most of these are 4 o'clocks because I had some growing nearby last year.
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Here's one for a California giant zinnia:

http://www.millingtonseed.com/flowerseeds/california_giant_zinnia_seeds.htm

OakleyOK,

"Please tell me the pointed two leaf seeding in the middle is a Zinnia."

It is not a zinnia. A tip-off is that, except for the seed leaves, a zinnia leaf doesn't have a visible leaf stem (petiole is the botanical term). Leaf stems are visible on two of the leaves of the seedling in question. The pictures linked by started_with_bean are typical of zinnia seedlings. I'm sorry to say that I don't see any zinnia seedlings in either of your pictures.

ZM

Thanks! I wonder why they haven't come up then? I planted the seeds several weeks ago and have kept them watered.

Oh well, I'll probably go to the garden center and just buy the plants. Because I *WILL* grow Zinnias! lol

I've always planted them, but this is the first time I've planted seeds. No biggie....well, it is really. :(

OakleyOK,

"I wonder why they haven't come up then? I planted the seeds several weeks ago and have kept them watered."

Perhaps the soil temperature was too cool. Zinnias come up in two to four days in warm soil. In cool soil they can take a couple of weeks, but the longer they don't come up, the more likely their seeds will rot.

"I'll probably go to the garden center and just buy the plants."

That will work, and it will give you a head start. I like to start some zinnias indoors under fluorescent lights to get an early start. This is a picture of some of my zinnia seedlings in 3-inch plastic pots.

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When they start to become root bound, I re-pot them into 5-inch pots. If it is "safe", I just set them into the garden in lieu of re-potting them. I'm getting near the time when I am willing to gamble on setting them out.

I imagine your Oklahoma climate is already well beyond the danger of any killing frost. You should be able to re-plant some zinnias in-ground. Here in Kansas I can do succession plantings of zinnias up until the end of July. You might want to consider doing that. Zinnias can bloom in six weeks to eight weeks from seed. I have had indoor zinnias bloom in five weeks.

You can find a lot more zinnia varieties to choose from when you shop for zinnia seeds online. Don't be discouraged that your Benary Giants zinnia seeds didn't come up. As they used to teach us in school, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

ZM

I'm not discouraged, just disappointed that I can't take credit for them. lol.

I'm going by our little garden center today and see if they have any.

The prettiest Zinnia's I've ever grown..and I can't remember the name of them, were the smaller, compact one's with many colors. They were about a foot tall and just flooded with beautiful colors. I was sold ever since!

We have had very cool nights here, even with some warm temps in the day. It was in the 30s last week at night, so the soil temps could be a problem. But my perennials are already blooming!

If you have pictures of Zinnias you've grown in the past I sure would love to see them!

I think that is a sunflower in your top picture. The other sprouts look like morning glories.

Agree with you about 4'o'clocks in the 2nd picture. Love those!

Purple, on the other side of the fence there are a lot of wild sunflowers, so I'll zap them in the flowerbed. We also have a ton of Morning Glories growing close by, so I bet they're in there also.

Okay, I bought a flat of Zinnias this morning. Background and a couple of questions.

Picture below.

We have a small nursery in my small town grown by mentally disabled adults who live there. So sweet and helpful!

BUT...the person in charge of the greenhouse never properly labels any of the plants, so I'm always risking what I buy from them.

These Zinnias are only labeled "Dream Zinnia." I can find pictures of them, but only close-ups.

I have no idea how tall they get, or if they're prolific bloomers, nothing.

The flower heads on these aren't in the best of shape which is okay.

all have new growth down at the bottom, but should I go ahead and snip them back a few inches to encourage bushyness?

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OakleyOK,

"The prettiest Zinnias I've ever grown...were the smaller, compact ones with many colors."

A couple of popular compact zinnia strains are Dreamland and Magellan. Both strains are also available in separate colors. There are several other strains of compact zinnias, and a few are open pollinated for less expensive seeds.

I used to hybridize my own compact hybrids by crossing Thumbelina with taller bigger zinnias, but I quit doing that for several reasons, the main one being that, now that I am older, I don't like stooping over or kneeling to cross-pollinate them. I will be growing some White Gem Zinnias this year to intercross with other white zinnias in a hobby project aimed at getting better white zinnias. The Gem strain is 18 inches tall.

"If you have pictures of Zinnias you've grown in the past I sure would love to see them!"

I have taken quite a few pictures of my zinnias over the last few years, because back in 2005 I started a hobby of breeding my own zinnias by cross-pollination and selection. This is a picture of one of my hybrid zinnias from last year.

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I called that one my "Pink Shaggy Dog" and saved seeds from it, and some of those are seedlings now waiting to be set out. Because most of my zinnias are now hybrids of hybrids with very complex ancestries, their offspring are quite variable, but I am hoping that at least a few of the Pink Shaggy Dog progeny will be good and worthy of further breeding. I also like two-color and three-color zinnias, such as this white-tipped picotee effect.

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I would like to get effects like that in larger flowers with longer petals, so I make crosses with that goal in mind. There are a lot of pictures of my zinnias, and other people's zinnias as well, over in the It can be fun to breed your own zinnias message strings. I enjoy growing zinnias and working with them. I am a zinnia hobbyist.

ZM
(not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

Thank you so much for the pictures and information! I think I saw the topic you linked, and I may have even replied. I'll check it out later.

Do you know anything about my "Dream" Zinnias? We're having 50mph winds today so I won't be putting them in the ground yet. Very healthy plants though.

Oh, should I cut them back and if so, how much?

ZM, do you think my Z's are actually Dreamland instead of Dream?

I love the little garden center but why oh why can't they take the time to label them properly?

OakleyOK,

"...should I cut them back and if so, how much?"

The blooms tell you what color the plant is, but if you don't need to know that, carefully cut off just the flower and very little stem. For best results, zinnias should be deadheaded, and those blooms look a bit "be-draggled" now, so think of it as preemptive deadheading.

"...do you think my Z's are actually Dreamland instead of Dream? "

Dream could be short for Dreamland, but Dreamlands are expensive F1 seeds, so Dream could mean seeds that were saved from Dreamland to cut costs. In either case, I would treat them as if they were Dreamlands.

Don't forget that you have the opportunity to plant more zinnia seeds in-ground for the next several months to obtain a succession of zinnias.

ZM

I did find some Dream Zinnia online, unfortunately there was no description of the plant. Not Dreamland, but Dream.

I know to deadhead, but what I was asking is should I prune them down so they'll be bushy?

Although they have a lot of leaves to them, it looks like each plant has only one stalk (if my lingo is correct), with some new growth coming from the bottom.

I'm going to keep the flowers on them until I get them in the ground so I'll know how I want to arrange them, color wize.

And dang it got cold today! lol I may hold off a day or so.

OakleyOK,

"...should I prune them down so they'll be bushy?"

Don't prune them down. Just pinch out the very tips. The goal is not to remove any leaves of any size. When you see a tiny flower bud appear at the end of a branch, and you are willing to wait for more branches instead, try to pinch out just that bud. You will probably get a few very tiny leaves with the pinch, but leave as much leaf structure as you can.

The compact zinnias are naturally pretty bushy, so leave each of them some space to spread into. I would say that each Dreamland plant should have a circle with at least 12 inches of radius in all directions to itself. Maybe a little less or a little more.

"I'm going to keep the flowers on them until I get them in the ground so I'll know how I want to arrange them, color wize."

Good idea.

"And dang it got cold today! lol I may hold off a day or so."

It got cool here, too. We must be sharing the same weather systems. Yesterday our wind was gusting to near 50mph from the south. I have put some zinnia plants out on our deck to "harden off" to get used to outdoor conditions. Now I have to be concerned about wind damage, as well as potential sunburn. I am enthused, though, about the transition from indoor growing to outdoor growing.

ZM

I'll probably plant these about 9 or 10" apart because I really don't think they are the large variety, Dreamland.

I've grown Zinnias for the past two years and now that I think about it I've never pruned them before.

Yeah, we had those 50mph winds yesterday too. It was just creepy all day! lol.

My new favorite plant I put in planters and in the ground are Torenia, Wishbone Flower. They're shade lovers and just gorgeous!

So I'm looking forward to seeing my Zinnias and Torenia's in full bloom come June.

OakleyOK,

"So I'm looking forward to seeing my Zinnias and Torenia's in full bloom come June."

Please post some pictures of them when you can.

ZM

It appears I already have problems with my newly planted Zinnias. Sigh...

White spots. Could this be powerdery mildew? If so, what do I do?

Here's some info: Temps got close to freezing the other night but it didn't even frost.

Back and forth temps wih warm and chilly weather.

No fertilizing yet.

Here's the pictures, and yes, I will be deadheading this week. :)

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OakleyOK,

I don't think the white leaf edges are Powdery Mildew. I suspect a nutrient problem, but I have never seen that condition before, except in books. Two trace element deficiencies can cause white leaf edges in zinnias, Copper and Manganese. Feed them with a liquid fertilizer that contains a complete trace element formula, including both Copper and Manganese.

ZM

Thanks, ZM. I just bought last week a new container of Miracle Grow that has both copper and manganese. Because the plants are babies I didn't give them a full dose, about 2/3 though. I mix my own in a gallon jug instead of using the sprayer.

OakleyOK,

"Because the plants are babies I didn't give them a full dose, about 2/3 though. I mix my own in a gallon jug instead of using the sprayer."

Good idea. I feed my outdoor zinnias mostly Miracle Gro Tomato Food formula because it is complete with trace elements, contains extra Magnesium, and I have it on hand for my tomatoes, too.

ZM

We decided last summer to stick with Miracle Grow on everything instead of spending so much money on specific formulas.

I used only Rose food for my Roses until I ran out and used Miracle Grow instead and had happy results with it.

Mid-90's yesterday and today in OK. Are you also getting this heat spell?

OakleyOK,

It's 82 here right now, mostly sunny, and expected to hit 85 this afternoon, with higher than normal humidity. A strong thunderstorm is expected this evening, with a low of 67. So it's a little cooler here. I suspect that we are well over a hundred miles north of you, so less heat can be expected here. It's windy here (as usual) so I will wait for the wind to die down this evening to plant a row of zinnia seeds. Right now the wind would blow the zinnia seeds right out of my little seed-planting stick's seed bowl.

I think there is a special Rose formula of Miracle-Gro. A good many years ago I used a product called RapidGro. It was my introduction to foliar feeding, and I have been a fan of foliar feeding ever since. I haven't seen RapidGro on the store shelves in quite some time.

I don't use Miracle-Gro on my indoor zinnias because they are in a sterile growing medium (Premier ProMix BX) which doesn't contain the microorganisms necessary to break urea down into nitrates or ammonium ions. There is the possiblity that long-term use of urea-containing nutrients in sterile media could cause a phytotoxic buildup of urea in the growing medium. Many plants can absorb urea through their leaves, but apparently not through their roots. I need to do some experiments to determine if that applies to zinnias. I know that hydroponic growers are careful to avoid urea. For indoor use I use the urea-free water-soluble products such as Better-Gro.

If I find myself temporarily out of Miracle-Gro for outdoor use, I will substitute some Better-Gro, but I try to avoid doing that because Better-Gro costs more than Miracle-Gro.

ZM