Zinnias have to be one of the easiest, least expensive, and most beautiful flowers to grow in the garden. They’re easy to start from seeds, bloom as soon as they can, attract butterflies, make great cut flowers…can you ask for anything more in a flower?
These are zinnias blooming today in my garden
Zinnias are native to the southwestern United States, but you can find them growing wild throughout Central and South America. That’s probably why they do so well in my garden, and why I find them so easy to grow; they’re native annuals.
They’re of the family Asteraceae, or aster, and there are about 20 species found in nature. People have, of course, hybridized them, and that’s where gardeners can really have fun.
I grow dwarf zinnias, as well as the giant cactus-flowering kind that can get several feet tall. I’ve seen candy striped varieties offered in seed catalogs, double flowering ones, and a whole bunch in between.
Zinnias can grow in average soil as soon as it is warm enough to plant the seeds and after all danger of frost is past. They need average moisture but once established, can withstand some drought. They do need full sun, so plant them where they will get plenty of sunlight. I like to cut zinnia bouquets to bring into the house, but beware; I find that tiny spiders love to hide among the flowers, and often the small, white or light green spiders on my kitchen table once they’ve hopped off the zinnias!
If you want to attract butterflies to the garden or are just looking for an easy-to-grow annual, you can’t go wrong with zinnias.
All photos were taken by me, Jeanne Grunert, in my garden today except for the one above. I took that picture, but it was taken last year.
Jeanne Grunert is a certified Virginia Master Gardener and the author of several gardening books. Her garden articles, photographs, and interviews have been featured in The Herb Companion, Virginia Gardener, and Cultivate, the magazine of the National Farm Bureau. She is the founder of The Christian Herbalists group and a popular local lecturer on culinary herbs and herbs for health, raised bed gardening, and horticulture therapy.
[…] for my garden, one bed is usually planted with just zinnias.This year, I plan to use two different colors of marigolds to try my hand at carpet bedding. […]