Be patient. In optimum conditions, it can take over 70 days for these particular zinnias to bloom.

I also posted a reply in the "Any cut flowers I can still harvest in the fall..." thread. I think this is normal. I am in zone 6 which is probably warmer than Chicago. I planted mine on May 24th. I can see buds now but no flowers yet.

Well, that is encouraging. Did you also do the giant benarys? How tall are your plants? I've got a pretty good range and I staggered the planting. Hoping they did'nt get too too tall and they havent.
When did yours bud? Its really cool here till the middle of next week when it is supposed to return to the normal hot humid Chicago July. I think zinnia like the heat so maybe they'll get a little growth spurt then. I'm dying for some color!!!!

Kforrest, I don't have giant benarys, but I planted Giant Cactus, Lilliput, Thumberlina, Candy Cane, State Fair, Dahlia-Flower Mix, Burpee's Whirligig, Giant Double, and Burpeeana Giants Mix.

They started to bud in the beginning of last week after we had a week of hot weather. Once they started, the buds grow fast. I expect to see some flowers this week. :-)

Hope you will get some soon.

Guess what? Watering this morning I did actually see ONE little bud forming on the largest plant.....so I'm guessing more are on the way!

Hopefully the mid week warm up we are supposed to have will kick things into gear.

You sure planted quite the varity! Are you hoping for cut flowers or just a beautiful colorful garden?

Let us know how your flowers are doing in a few weeks ok?

Kforrest, I am growing quite the variety because I am interested in hybridizing them.

You can take a look at the thread "It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 11," usually near the top of the page. You will see lots of interesting crosses there. Who knows, you might get interested too, even if it means having open pollination but collecting seeds from the mother plants that you like.

Kforrest......zinnias were the very first flowers that i grew .....a small round patch of them of mixed colors that were so pretty! At least 40 years later, I still plant them along with many other varieties of flowers every spring.i,ve never once had a problem with them not blooming........and if they can take the heat here in ks., they can anywhere....enjoy your summer blooms!

carol

Still waiting on some color! Small buds on the pink luminosa and the benary white zinnias. The others are still foilage only. Where is the warm summer weather?

Just found my first 2 japanese beetles way up here on my 3rd floor balcony. They have left my roses alone so far but love the marigolds I have in a railing planter and have snacked a bit on the zinnia foilage.

The Japanese Beetles are doing the same to my zinnia leaves; but the plants are big now, so I don't pay much attention to them.

I have some flowers already. They are not fully opened yet, but these first three are from "Lilliput Mix:"

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And this last one is from "Thumbelina:"
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Well, looks like my zinnia are finally going to begin to bloom. The deep red Giant Benary are leading the way followed by the GB White and then the Pink Luminosa.

Everything from the 1st planting end of May have large buds and those planted a few weeks later have small buds.

I did throw in a few more several weeks after that and they havent budded up yet so hopefully I'll have nice staggered blooming.

How are things going for other gardeners in the Chicago area? Really cool summer and my plants all seem a little slower than usual.

Here's a question......I grew the giant benary zinnia from seed on my balcony.
After waiting all summer they finally began to bloom and the flowers Im getting are REALLY small. Pretty, but only about 1-2 inches in diameter.

Anybody know why this would happen?

I'm new to growing zinnias and this is what it looks like so far. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it, if anything. All the photos I see of them look shorter and thicker. Why is my plant so tall and thin? Thanks for any thoughts!

Ooh!! Ok, thank you so much! I just moved it outside (pictured) yesterday since it was so beautiful, otherwise it was indoors near a west-facing window. I'll leave it outside and see if that helps it thicken out a bit. Thanks again for the advice!!