'Cherry Profusion' Zinnia from Seed?

Hi Everyone!
I collected ALOT of seeds from the 10 'Cherry Profusion' Zinnia plants I bought at the nursery this spring. Though I have been gardening for years, I am new at collecting seeds and trying to grow them. It says in the plant files under
Seed Collecting N/A: plant does not set seed, flowers are sterile, or plants will not come true from seed. Under
Propagation Methods: It gives you various ways to start from seed. This has always confused me when I look up any flower for this information in the plant files. Is the propagation method only for seeds bought at a store and not collected from plants you grew yourself? I don't care if the seeds grow Zinnia that are not exactly the same.....I just would like to know if they will grow at all???? Am I waisting my time collecting and cleaning and planting?
If anyone could answer the question about the zinnia and/or explain the plant file info to me it would be greatly appreciated!!! To those of you that know all about seed planting this may seem like a silly question, but to a novice like myself when it comes to this area I feel clueless.
Thanks if anyone could please help me!!!!
Happy Holidays to All!!!!
Terri

Picture of some of the Zinnia.....

The seeds I collected from mine grew nicely. Collected more this Fall for next summer. The "Profusion" series Zinnias can't be beat, can they?

Hi Terri, I'll try to explain. Your Zinnia is a hybrid, meaning that it is a variety that has been purposely created by hybridization. Hybridizing is playing like a bee to take pollen from one selected plant, and place it on another of the same genus to produce something different, or better. Irises are hybrids as most plants today are. Hybridization have to be done between 2 plants in the same family that have the same genes/chromosomes..

Considering all the zinnia varieties that are available today from hybridization, you can imagine all the different genes contained in each seed of whatever zinnia variety you are saving seeds from, in this case your 'Cherry Profusion'. This is the reason why the plant does not come true from seeds.

No, you are not wasting your time collecting and sowing those seeds. If I remember correctly, Zinnia seeds germinate easily. You may create something unique in the plant world. Each seed that sprout will produce a plant that is a bit different from another even if the seed was collected from the same flower. Seed sowing method is the same for zinnia seeds taken from purchased plants and seeds you collected.

The N/A in Plant Files means that the information is Not Available. It doesn't matter if the seeds you want to save are from a purchased plant, or seeds you collected. When you collect seeds from your plants (purchased or not) the seeds are referred to as "open or bee pollinated seeds". The plants resulting from those seeds are also hybrids, but you won't know what the flower or plant will look like until it blooms. It may even revert back to a tall zinnia.

The above information works for perennials also. The only difference is that there are perennials that are not hybrids and those will come true from seeds. To propagate a hybrid perennials, only division or cuttings will produce an exact duplicate.

I stopped growing annuals years ago. I grow only perennials. Most are from purchased seeds, unless seeds are unavailable. This past spring, I started many open pollinated seeds from those plant just for fun. Most are hybrids and it will be interesting to see what my creation will look like. I don't want a duplicate of what I already have.

Good luck and have fun with it.

Lilly

Below is a photo of different perennials I started from bee pollinated seeds last spring.

Terri,

Your Cherry Profusion seeds will come true, because all of the commercially available Profusion seeds are open pollinated varieties. They were created from selected hybrid crosses between Z. violacea, which has 24 chromosomes, and Z. angustifolia, which has 22 chromosomes. Those hybrids had 23 chromosomes, and hybrids with an odd-numbered chromosome count are usually sterile.

That problem was solved by doubling the number of chromosomes to 46, by using Colchicine. The result is a true-breeding open pollinated new species of zinnia, named Z. marylandica in honor of the University of Maryland, where much of the preliminary breeding work was done. The term "hybrid" is applied to the Profusions, Zaharas, and Pinwheels (all Zinnia marylandicas) because hybrids were used in their creation, but they themselves are not hybrids. Referring to them as hybrids has caused some unfortunate confusion.

ZM

Thank you very much for all the information that I received back. It always amazes me how much information you can get here at Dave's Garden!!! Now I understand how the plant files work.....Thank you Blooma for that explanation... Yes I do love the 'Profusion' Zinnia, Threegardeners!!! I have only grown the Cherry one, but I think I will try the Orange next year. Any suggestions on any of the others?
Zen_Man & Blooma....Thank you for the info on hybrids and pollinating.....The more I learn about the plant world the more I Love it and want to learn more. Gardening for me is my passion as well as my therapy and what truly makes me happy in this world. I would garden 24/7 if possible. I spend my time reading and searching info during the times when the garden is at rest.....I guess most of us here at Dave's Garden are pretty much the same.....
Everyone Enjoy their Holiday Season!!! Thanks again....Merry Merry
Terri

Terri,
I've been collecting my own profusion seeds for 3 years now.
I started out with wanting just the orange but then the salmon color won me over.
see pic. attached.


The pink also looks especially nive paired with talinum 'kingswood gold' ( also from home collected or self sown seed)
the white profusion looks nice paired with sedum 'frosty morn'
There are pics of the above in my albums

trying to attach one last time

Hi cheerpeople
Thank you for your suggestions. I checked out your albums....OMG your yard and gardens are just stunning!!! Words can not express the Beauty!!! Enjoyed looking at them.
Thank you, Terri

I've grown many zinnias over the years and have recently discovered all the profusion varieties. Most recently, I'm growing the profusion red, profusion orange, profusion cherry bi-color, and profusion red yellow bicolor. Really love the bi-color zinnias because of the variety of colors on one plant.