Bump

Hi mxk3,

I respect your "bump". Entirely appropriate and effective. And, good question.

I have never grown Gigantea zinnias, so I hesitated to respond. But I have grown zinnia seeds purchased from Hazzard's online seed store, and I respect the accuracy of their descriptions, so based on that, I will respond.

I think the Gigantea strain of zinnias and the Benary's Giant zinnias, based on Hazzard's descriptions, are very comparable (5-inch blooms and 48-inch plants). Based on details of the flower form in the online photos, there is quite a bit of variability for both strains. And flower form is totally a matter of personal taste. Petals can be tightly packed (I don't like that) or loosely arranged (my preference). You can get either of those from Gigantea and somewhat from Benarys. Petal tips can be squarish or very rounded. Based on your own preferences, you can make your own "improvements" to either strain by saving seeds or using pollen from your favorites.

California Giants (or Giants of California) is another strain of zinnias. It is a very old but with comparable dimensions (48-inch tall, 5-inch blooms) but I prefer its bloom form (more open and with rounded petal tips). These are examples of rounder tips.

There are a lot of ways you could improve big zinnias. Like, make them bigger.

ZM

Thanks, Zen. I guess I'll just have to trial it and see how it compares to the Benary's. The color of Benary's is perfect, but the plant habit leaves something to be desired. They never seem to grow nice and bushy and stand upright; rather, they want to lean, and they don't really branch all that much. I don't mind pinching when I'm growing transplants indoors, but once they're outside that's just too much bother for me. I see these lush, bushy zinnias growing here and there and wonder why mine aren't like that, is it the cultivar I'm growing. So I'll give it a try.

Hi mxk3,

" I don't mind pinching when I'm growing transplants indoors, but once they're outside that's just too much bother for me."

A lot of plants depend on intelligent pruning to get good plant habits. Roses are a good example, and so are most trees. Some people actually enjoy "pinching" their plants. I sympathize with your desire to have your zinnias just naturally have good plant habits without extra effort from you. When Burpee first introduced Burpeeana zinnias back in 1961, its 2-foot tall plants were described as having a desirable "mound" plant habit. That superior plant habit may have existed in the initial introduction, but years of field-grown seed production kind of lost it. I don't know, right offhand, of any large zinnias that claim the good plant habit that you desire. California Giants were introduced way back in 1926, they were touted as having extra tall 4-foot tall plants, and they sort of did.

I think zinnia breeders should give more attention to zinnia plant habits. You should be on the lookout for those in your zinnias, and save seeds from your favorites. These were a few of my zinnia plants that had a fairly decent plant form.

I have a personal preference for long pointed leaves and so-called "threesie" zinnias whose plants are on a plan of three instead of the usual plan of two.

ZM