Nice Zinnias--Have you ever considered putting a barrier at the back of the bed to reduce run off into your flower bed. I would use hammer in edging and leave it up about 2 inches but you could use stones or bricks or patio pavers or even a trench.. Anything that will stop the flow into your flower bed

Thanks! This was actually my first year planting in this location, so I wasn't fully aware of how bad it was. I'll probably do something like that next year.

Ashley,

You got a really clear close-up picture of that zinnia. Good photography. I notice that each petal has two different colors on it. That is kind of unusual for that type of zinnia.

ZM

@zenman...Thank you so much, I was really surprised with how well that picture turned out. I noticed the double color on it as well, I love it! What type of Zinnia are they...the packet I have says Zinnia Lilliput, does that mean the heads are smaller while the stems still grow long? This was my first time from seed, last year I had starters from the store and the heads on them were giant compared to these!

Hi Ashley,

"...the packet I have says Zinnia Lilliput, does that mean the heads are smaller while the stems still grow long?"

Yes, the Lilliput strain has small flower heads about one to two inches in diameter, but as the petals continue to stack on, the depth of the head can actually exceed its diameter. Their plants can be 18 to 24 inches high, depending on their spacing, and they can put out quite a few flowers and make a nice little bush if they are not crowded.

I like larger flowered zinnias, like Burpee's Burpeeana Giants. They can have flowers as large as 6 inches in diameter on well-behaved plants that can form nice hedge-like bushes. I breed zinnias as a hobby, and I have included the Burpeeanas, along with several other commercial strains, in my zinnia "gene pool".

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

That's interesting. I'm gonna give these some more time to fully do their thing, let them all open and see how I feel about them. I have to admit I liked last years better, but a living plant is a living plant so it's all beautiful to me really

Those don't look Lilliput to me! Come join us in the Zinnia breeding thread! There are many more pictures of zinnias there! I may get some Lilliput next year, but I'm going to try for giants too! Zenman has had 7 inch blooms I think! I just grow sunflowers and am happy with tiny zinnias this year!