Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 6, 4 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Hi Brenda,

" I seriously wondered if the tubulars were serious hummingbird food. Apparently they are per your finding of the viable stigmas. "

Actually, the nectar is in the pollen florets (the fuzzy yellow starfish). I don't think there is any nectar associated with the stigmas (the Y-shaped tendrils at the base of each petal). I don't know for sure whether the Woollies have available nectar, but all the rest of my zinnias do produce conventional pollen florets, providing nectar for butterflies, skippers, bumblebees, honeybees, carpenter bees, several smaller bees, hummingbirds, and some day-flying moths. I think there are some very small ants that also feed on zinnia nectar. Many of the colored florets in the center of scabiosa flowered zinnias also contain available nectar.

About a week ago all of our hummingbirds apparently migrated south. I am leaving the hummingbird feeders up for the use of any hummingbirds that are migrating through. Oddly, occasional a butterfly will feed at the hummingbird feeders.

I am attaching a picture of one of my more conventional "aster flowered" zinnias. It is one of several progeny of the indoor grown I29 (the 3 photos to the right), which had extreme uprolled petals and essentially no pollen florets. That forced me to cross I29 with non-uprolled specimens. The hope is that the progeny of these "F1 hybrids" will produce some uprolled specimens to continue the development of that flower form.

ZM