Hi Ruth,

" Anyone know the difference between these two? "

The blooms are very similar. There is a 6-inch difference in their plant height.

Illumination is listed at 30 inches high.

Luminosa is listed at 36 inches high.

Neither would be my choice for a pretty pink cutting flower, but that is subjective and just a matter of taste. If you were planning to sell cutflowers commercially, that would be a different matter, because the taste of your intended buyers would come into play.

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

I've never seen a clear pink zinnia -- maybe they exist but I've just never run across them, pink zinnias look muted, drab and dull to my eye.

What *is* a gorgeous clear bright zinnia is "Uproar Rose"; I'd call it a hot pink. Do a board search and you'll find pics I've posted previously. There are beautiful clear pink-toned purples too - "Purple Prince" and "Benary's Giant Purple" come to mind. Can do a board search on those, too.

Thanks for the comments. A clear pink is what I'm looking for. I have grown Uproar Rose, Purple Prince and Benary's Wine and I love all those but was wanting a lighter color pink.

Hi Ruth,

You might want to take a look at the zinnia offerings at Hazzard's Seeds

Scroll down the list to see the Giganticas and the Oklahomas. The Oklahomas and Benary's Giants were bred to be cut flowers, which means better, stronger longer stems. Cactus flowered zinnias can also be used as cut flowers.

Hazzards sells to both commercial growers and home gardeners, and they have one of the larger selections. You can click on an entry to see a little more information. I have ordered White Cactus zinnias from Hazzard's in the past. My "favorite" zinnia color is white, and I like to cross other zinnia colors with white to get various pastel shades.

I had a whole outdoor area populated with those White Cactus zinnias, looking for a few exceptional quality whites. I found a few, but just a few. However, more importantly for me, I found an odd "star petaled" mutation in that planting. That mutation has been the basis for many of my "exotic" zinnia flower forms since then, because I crossed it with many of my tubular petaled zinnias. (They were derived from a previous mutation.) I consider that star-petaled mutation to have been a very lucky find, and more than worth the bother of growing a bunch of somewhat boring white cactus zinnias.

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

You can always but a few different seed packets to see which ones you like. I often do this - I often test colors and growth of annuals in an out-of-the-way place in the garden before deciding to plant in a conspicuous spot. That way if I hate it I just take the flowers out and chalk it up to personal preference and don't grow it again.