Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 5, 1 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Hi Brenda,

I planted a bed of Stokes Whirligig zinnias today. Stokes Whirligigs come from a grower in Tanzania. I suspect labor costs are significantly lower in Tanzania, which allows them to do a better job of "roguing" (removing off-type zinnias from the seed field). That is the third bed of Stokes Whirligigs that I have planted this Spring. I am attaching a picture of my South Garden, which contains the three beds of Whirligigs.

I have added 8 beds to my North Garden, which is by far the larger of my two gardens. A picture of that project is in my second photo.

My Razzle Dazzle strain is under development. I plan to grow several beds of Razzle Dazzles to select the best ones for further development, by intercrossing the best specemens and out-crossing them to large flowered conventional zinnia specimens. One of my projects this year is to start the development of a large-flowered zinnia strain. I am hoping for 7-inch and larger zinnia blooms. I plan to intercross Burpeeana Giants, Benary's Giants, and California Giants (an heirloom zinnia strain). More later.

ZM