Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 2, 1 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Lucy,

"Is there a 'zinnia association'?"

None that I know of. There probably aren't very many amateur zinnia breeders right now to serve as the basis for an association. In addition to the few people here, there are a few more over on iVillage's GardenWeb, and an unknown number of others out there who enjoy growing zinnias and saving seeds from their favorites, but not communicating over the Internet. With the exception of morning glories, most amateur breeders seem to work with perennials.

"I do hope that notebooks of your results will be useful not only to zinnia people, but breeders of annuals."

My notebooks are really only intended as a guide for my own somewhat chaotic activities. They are not scientific to the extent that each hybrid has a record of both the male parent and the female parent. I do keep track of the maternal lines, but many zinnia characteristics seem to be controlled by several genes, so predicting the outcome of a particular cross is still pretty much a hit-or-miss proposition for me. The really methodical work is done in the academic community and by commercial plant breeders.

I am more interested in the recreational aspect of breeding zinnias for fun and entertainment, using a "by guess and by golly" methodology. Zinnia breeding is fun for me, because it is fast. The crosses I made in January have already produced viable seed that I will be planting this week to start my second generation of zinnias this year. When Spring comes I will be setting out zinnia plants that are the children of the zinnias I have pictured here. Incidentally, the echinacea flowered zinnia in this picture appeals to me because of its subtle bicolors and flower form, and I may be seeing what its children's flowers look like indoors even before it comes time to set zinnia plants out this Spring. Zinnia breeding is a fast moving sport.

ZM