Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 6, 1 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Hi Brenda,

" I must remember, tomorrow, to take a ruler or tape measure with me to the Wetland Garden where my zinnia are, so I can get a couple of sized pictures. "

One of my biggest disappointments this year was that I didn't have any really big zinnias, and I anticipated that I would. The first two pictures are of my typical "big" zinnias, with plastic rulers providing an accurate measurement. Next year I hope to have some significantly larger specimens to "kick off" my big zinnia project.

The next two pictures show the plants of a couple of my I29 progeny. The fifth picture is a photo of I29 itself, showing its extreme up-rolled petals. I29 had essentially no pollen,so I had to cross it with non-up-rolled specimens to get seeds, with the hope that the extreme up-rolled petals will reappear in the F2 generation (the seeds saved from the F1 specimens, like the two whose photos appear here.)

Another disappointment this year was the problems that weeds presented in my zinnia beds.
I am going to deal with that problem next year by omitting the two central rows of my current four row standardized beds. That will cut in half the number of zinnias that grow in a bed, but it will make the remaining two rows much more accessible to weeding and access for pollinating.

Despite those two major disappointments (no giant zinnias and too many weed problems), I am very optimistic about my zinnia projects next year. And I will be starting my indoor zinnia project soon, which offers a complete change in scenery and a complete change in cultural problems. I won't thave any weeds indoors, and I may make some progress in my large zinnia project. More later.

ZM