My father and I ADORE zinnias. We grow them every summer and they are possibly my favorite flower, ever. Nothing else provides such saturated, bright color. Every time I go to the garden I feel like I'm some sort of Mexcian cloister garden!

Renne's Granny's Bouquet and the large shaggy California cactus types are big favorites. 'Envy' is cool too, we've grown that one as well. Looking online I'm searching for suggestions of really distinct and interesting varieties to try this year for cut flower production. We're upping up our garden and we really want good producers.

I've currently found 'Isabellina', 'Whirligig' online. Any other suggestions that are really "wow"? We like larger flowers, the smaller ones can be nice but the small pom-poms often have weak necks, not what we're looking for.

What about darker/black zinnias? That's the one thing I've noticed, there are no dark zinnias! A dark zinnia would look beautiful among all the bright latin colors. I had the sunflower 'Chocoate-Cherry' looked great with them in that regard.

p.s. Is it me or is the Candy Cane zinnia seem different than what was out fifteen or so years ago? I'm 21 and I swear the candy cane zinnias are different now than they were when I was four, five and six.

Thoughts? What are your absolute favorite zinnias? Why are there so few varieties out there?

- Max