No Zinnia breeding for me here- the Heat Zone is perhaps more important than the USDA Zone 8a. I am in AHS Heat Zone 2- summers are cool and dry (Heat zone 1 is for Alaska and the mountains). Zinnias do poorly and do get powdery mildew and other fungal infections- except Profusion Orange, but it does not bloom until mid summer. If I were to breed annuals, I would choose something that does better here, although most annuals take a really long time in the spring to get going, due to the lack of heat. For the garden, it does not matter as the climate is perfect for spring flowering shrubs and perennials. Cosmos are an annual that are trouble free here.
It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 6
Pistil - That is interesting about the cosmos. My standard cosmos begin performing at their best a month or less before frost. Mine seem to like the cooler dry air of fall.
Hi Pistil,
" Cosmos are an annual that are trouble free here. "
Well, then, you could breed Cosmos. There are several flower forms. One has shell-like petals. And I think there is a double flower form. It may be the one that is called "Double Click". There seem to be two "tribes" of cosmos, one that has various yellows and oranges and another that has white, pink, red, and dark red or cerise. Some Cosmos are short and some are incredibly tall. If I were breeding Cosmos I would desperately try to make crosses between the "yellows" tribe and the "pinks" tribe. And, yes, I know "tribe" isn't the correct word, but I am unsure whether different species or possibly different genera might be involved.
How do snapdragons do in your climate?
ZM
The orange and yellow 'tribe' is Cosmos sulphureus, and the pinks are C. bipinnatus, i agree trying hybrid interspecific crosses would be fun, i assume someone at a seed company somewhere has tried this, but you never know.
Snapdragons do well here, in a mild winter they overwinter and become woody shrubs, and I also have volunteers pop up, that have interesting color variations. However, often late summer they get rust or other fungal infections. Not this year, they are still going strong today!
My new favorite snapdragon is A. hispanicum, a perennial from, of course, Spain. I have a variety named 'Gummy' (sic). It is a trailing rock wall plant that is perfectly perennial and perfectly drought tolerant, never gets sick, and blooms for about 8 months straight! Surely I could do something with that!
Hi Pistil,
I would assume some commercial plant breeders have indeed tried to cross Cosmos sulphureus and C. bipinnatus. I am impressed by your knowledge of the situation -- my "tribes" thing was a bit pitiful.
Your knowledge of snapdragon taxonomy is also admirable. Snapdragons have a color range fully as wide and varied as zinnias, and they also have several flower forms and plant habits, so you would have a wide range of choices in deciding which snapdragons to grow and intercross. I have seen commercial cultivars of snapdragons that were quite unusual and attractive.
Our summers here in Kansas are a bit too hot for snapdragons, but we did set out some snaps from plants offered at a nearby garden center, and they did quite well in the Spring and Fall, but "sulled" during the Summer and looked like they might die, but recovered nicely in the Fall. However, they bordered on being an eyesore during our Summer, so I dismissed growing them from seed or trying to breed them.
Since your climate favors Antirrhinum, you might want to entertain the possibility of growing and breeding them. The book Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener, subtitled "How to create unique vegetables & flowers", by Joseph Tychonievich, has a section on Snapdragons starting on page 161, You can find out more about that book at this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Plant-Breeding-Home-Gardener-Vegetables/dp/1604693649/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1443981831&sr=1-1&keywords=Plant+Breeding
Tychonievich has had hands-on experience breeding snapdragons, so there is some very relevant information in the book. Amazon's usually helpful Look Inside feature is atypically unhelpful in revealing anything about the book's snapdragon coverage. To counteract that, I will include a few quotations from the book.
"I started breeding snapdragons a few years ago, and it has been one of the projects that I've most enjoyed in my garden, filling it with tall, vividly colored spires of bloom that look gorgeous in a vase. ... Start exploring this group and you might just fall in love too."
"If you try crosses between the species, the rule of thumb for snapdragons, and all species with self-incompatibililty, is that crosses are almost always more successful if a self-compatible species is used as the female (seed) parent; in other words, you'll usually have more success using Antirrhinum majus as the seed parent and pollinating it with the other species, though I have occasionally been successful using A. molle as the seed parent in crosses with A. majus. In any case, the flowers are large and easy to cross, so I usually do crosses in both directions and see what happens."
"... As usual, embrace diversity in your populations. Snaps can also be propagated by cuttings if you have a cool greenhouse or a very sunny window where you can overwinter them, or if you are working with species and varieties that are perennial in your climate."
"All the European species except Antirrhinum majus are self-incompatible, so you can make crosses with them without even having to emasculate, though if you do so, you will need to exclude insect pollinators somehow if you have the right types of bees in your garden."
"All the European species will hybridize, and the possibilities here are fascinating and varied."
"Another grouop of Antirrhinum species native to the West Coast of the United States are so different from their European counterparts that some taxonomists place them in their own genus, Sairocarpus. As far as I know, all attempts to cross them with the European species have failed, but no one has explored the potential to breed within these West Coast species. There may be some interesting projects there for the adventurous breeder, if you can track these species down--none are commonly cultivated."
In the space of just 4 pages, Tychonievich packs in a lot of relevant snapdragon information. If you are interested in a home garden breeding project of almost any kind, Tychonievich's book is a good starting point.
ZM
(not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)
ZM- I have added this book to my list of books to buy used, for my winter reading. I am a bookaholic, and although I use the library for novels and cookbooks and such, this kind of non-fiction is just not available, so I still go to half-price books, and use the internet. I don't think I could tolerate living in California or Hawaii where gardening is year-round-I need the down time in the winter for my reading and planning!
I went around the yard yesterday and saved seeds from lots of things, including three different cosmos plants- a dark intense pink but with small flowers, a tall light pink with tubular petals, and a semi-double white. All open pollinated, of course.I also have seed packets from last year that I never planted...
I also found some seeds on my A. hispanicum, which is still in full bloom. None of my current regular snaps is anything special, so I will let nature do it's thing again with them. They pop up all over the place, and some of them I leave in place.
Hi Pistil,
" None of my current regular snaps is anything special... "
By "current regular snaps" do you mean Antirrhinum majus? I have found that careful inspection of my zinnias can sometimes reveal something rather special, if just a difference that is a bit subtle. The attached photo shows a zinnia that had many three-armed stigmas, instead of the normal Y-shaped two-armed stigmas. I did use some pollen from it, and I still see three-armed stigmas among my breeders from time to time.
Good luck on finding a bargain-priced used copy of Tychonievich's book. I am usually too impatient to wait for used copies to show up, although several of my books were bought used. Shopping for used books is a "buyer beware" activity, because some booksellers have no qualms against pricing used books higher than the original new price.
ZM
While eating lunch, I just looked on Barnes and Nobles-they are my on-line and brick-and-morter go-to bookseller. I really like it that they have both stores and a website. The on-line store partners with about a zillion used bookstores who list their stock. I found out:
1-the book is about 15$ new, can be had for 6$ used, but then you must pay postage so not much savings.
2-Published by Timber Press, my favorite publisher. Timber Press has massive sales on-line in the winter, so I could get it cheaper, but at 15$ it's not a big deal.
3- Joseph Tychonievich is the breeder at Arrowhead Alpines, one of my favorite winter pastimes is drooling over the online catalog there. This is his first book.
4- Nobody has yet added this book (published in 2013) to our own DG Garden Bookworm database yet. Maybe Zen_Man could do the honors?
I will pay full price for a new copy the next time I put in an order (free shipping if I order 3 new books). I am sure this was a labor of love, and the author is getting little enough money for it anyway. I suspect I will refer to the book a lot in the future, so a new one should be long-lasting. Another book I bought that I refer to a lot is "Creative Propagation". Also a paperback, I have actually bought some used copies as the original edition is out-of-print and I like the big chart, that is not in the second edition.
Hi Brenda,
An update on my zinnia breeding project. I discovered that I could remove the petals on the Wooly zinnias to expose viable stigmas arising from internal anther bundles. That means I can also use the Woollies as females, so that they can participate fully as breeder zinnias. The first photo shows a Woolly with exposed stigmas.
My first "break through" breeder zinnia was the tubular mutant. I have since had the star-tipped mutant to work with, which resulted in the exotic modification of tubular zinnias, the Razzle Dazzles, and now the Woollies. But I think the "regular" tubulars still have potential, and the remaining four photos show some of my favorite current tubular and exotic zinnias.
More later. I am busy with the outdoor zinnia endgame and the upcoming transition to indoor zinnia growing.
ZM
ZM - Those are some FINE zinnia. I'm partial to photo #2 & #4. I seriously wondered if the tubulars were serious hummingbird food. Apparently they are per your finding of the viable stigmas.
I'm in my zinnia almost daily and sometimes multiple times a day. My disappointment this year was when my best and largest planting of zinnia were devastated by water at least four times. Speaking of water - I have NOTHING to complain about (Charleston). Anyhow, I don't have as many as I would have had under normal circumstances; but I have managed to enjoy what is there. I have nothing to seriously brag on this year - I'll see how it goes next year. I'll expect better as I have some special seed saved.
Keep up the good work. Keep posting your pictures. . . . .
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
Hello again, Brenda,
I am busily growing zinnias indoors as a continuation of my zinnia breeding activities. It looks like I won't have any zinnias in bloom for Christmas. Last year I did, but this year I got really busy with some late season outdoor breeding that went through the month of October. I had some in-garden specimens that were hybrids involving the I29 breeder (pictures above), and I wanted to pollinate them to harvest as many seeds from them as possible. All of the pictures below are F1 progeny of I29, and I am growing their F2 progeny indoors, along with a few more F1 progeny of I29. I am making a significant effort to recover the extreme uproll flower form via recombinations in the F2 generation.
I will report on my indoor zinnia breeding from time to time. Today and tomorrow were relatively mild days, so I did spend some time cleaning up my outdoor garden. More later.
ZM
This message was edited Dec 4, 2015 8:43 PM
Hi ZM
That I42 (picture #2) is very pretty. The others as well, but that one catches my eye the most.
Yes, today was a swell day here. I even fished at 52 degrees and caught a wonderful mess of crappie. I also found time to cover some leaves with plastic (leaves that I had applied to one of the main gardens earlier).
As for indoor plants for the season I have about a dozen amaryllis that I am trying to get into bloom by Tuesday for a local event where we need center pieces. Most of the amaryllis are showing color, but these are in bloom today.
ZM - Have you noticed that if you select a picture (pictures) to send, then preview a second time, you loose the picture. Well here is the amaryllis I was talking about.
Hi Brenda,
" Have you noticed that if you select a picture (pictures) to send, then preview a second time, you loose the picture? "
Yes, I noticed that alarmingly during my last post. I think that is a fairly recent bug in the forum software. Somebody should probably tell Terry about that.
These are some of my current zinnia seedlings. I think some of them should be re-potted.
ZM
Hi again, Brenda,
And, yes, not only do you not see the picture again, but it doesn't post. I'll try that seedling picture again, and only do a single preview this time.
ZM
Oh, another thing, Brenda.
When I loaded all five pictures and previewed them, and made a little text change, and the pictures were gone, I panicked and hit the Browser back arrow key to go back to a page that had the pictures and then did a Send and got the pictures. I am pretty sure that this losing your pictures on a second preview is a relatively new bug, because I am always seeing something in my text that I want to change, and I would have noticed the loss of pictures months and years ago, if it were happening then.
ZM
ZM,
I guess if we see post after post from the same person we will know they are having problems with the previewing in this system.
Your seedlings sure look healthy. You must be providing them with everything they could possibly need and more.
Hi Brenda,
" Your seedlings sure look healthy. You must be providing them with everything they could possibly need and more. "
At the present time I have been feeding them with a fairly dilute solution of Orchid Plus and Bloom Booster, both soluble nutrients for orchid growers. My zinnias are my orchids.
The pictures are of a late Fall bloom that combined characteristics of the exotic tubular zinnias and the Razzle Dazzles. It may be an F1 hybrid between the two. The second picture is for a bit closer view of the petal structure. The overall bloom reminded me a bit of a Bachelor's Button (Centaura cyanus). More later.
ZM
Amazing - That one definitely reminded me of a Batchelor's Button from just glancing at the picture. When I checked the bloom out up close, not so much. I can see why you call them your orchids.
Hi Brenda,
Time flies when you are having fun. I should have answered you long before this. It looks like we probably will not have a white Christmas. So far, no significant snow, but we have had several inches of rain in the last few weeks. My indoor zinnias are coming right along, despite a somewhat delayed indoor start. I had some interesting outdoor zinnias that got a lot of my attention (watering, fertilizing, cross pollinating) in October, and that is usually when I am starting my indoor garden.
I see this forum has the "new look" that the site techs are installing. I wish that they had enlarged the pictures while they were reworking the site. A lot of forums now respond with full screen pictures when you click on a smaller picture. It would be nice if we could embed small pictures that opened a larger version in a new page. You could simply close that new page after looking at the picture.
It looks like I might be able to do some zinnia cross pollination on Christmas day. I will follow up on this message tomorrow.
ZM
This message was edited Dec 17, 2015 1:20 AM
Hi Brenda,
In my previous message I mentioned that I wished they had increased the size of the pictures displayed here. I am going to try to display a larger picture by including a link in this message.
https://zenzone.smugmug.com/photos/i-38mjfSS/0/O/i-38mjfSS.jpg
In order to see the hyperlinked picture at its full size, first click on the link and when the picture appears, click your F11 key to conceal your browser's header material. That lets the full sized picture appear. When you are finished viewing the full screen picture, click your F11 key again to restore your browser's header material so that you can close the big picture. I know this seems like a few extra steps, but some pictures are worth viewing at their maximum size, and right now here in Dave's Garden this is the only way I know to do it.
That zinnia was one of my indoor zinnias this Spring. It had a somewhat "informal" look, as compared to commercial zinnias. I also included the Dave's Garden version of the same picture, but it may have disappeared because I edited this message. That was a bug here that may still exist. If so, hopefully DG personnel will fix the bug. More later.
ZM
This message was edited Dec 17, 2015 1:10 PM
Hooray! Apparently the bug was fixed. I'll be on the watch to see if a recurrence of it appears. Just for kicks, I am going to include a link to another large picture, this time with no DG version of it included, so don't be alarmed that no DG version shows.
https://zenzone.smugmug.com/photos/i-LpkGfZG/0/O/i-LpkGfZG.jpg
That was also an indoor Spring hybrid, possibly a cross between a Razzle Dazzle and a cactus type. I like its informal look and subtle two-toned effect. More later.
ZM
Well, the forum is very strict about what HTML we can insert. We can underline, bold, and italicize, and that is about the limit of it. But being able to insert live links does enable large full-screen photos, and that alone does please and enthuse me. Large photos do allow much more detail to be shown. I want to take advantage of that to show some detail about zinnia seeds.
My hybrids of hybrids zinnias have some fairly powerful genetics. That shows up in this photo comparing seeds from my breeder I30 with a couple of "giant" commercial varieties.
https://zenzone.smugmug.com/1000-Wides/i-5FK8WWw/0/O/DSC0374-1000.jpg
The seeds are lying on graph paper that is graduated in tenths of an inch, so you can judge their actual size fairly accurately. The hybrid-hybrid I30 seeds are significantly bigger than either the commercial Benary's Giant seeds or the Burpeeana Giant varieties. This picture shows a closer view of the I30 seeds sample.
https://zenzone.smugmug.com/1000-Wides/i-Xb64ZDv/0/O/DSC0372c-1000.jpg
And an even closer view shows the unusual edge detail of the hybrid-hybrid I30 seeds.
https://zenzone.smugmug.com/1000-Wides/i-sc2M7qH/0/O/DSC0372x-1000.jpg
I like "mean" looking zinnia seeds. If you have an excess of zinnia seeds, either because you over-bought them or you saved seeds and got a lot more than you have room for, an interesting thing to do is go through your zinnia seeds picking out the ones that "interest" you the most. Just picking out the largest seeds could give your an advantage in flower and plant size. More later. Don'f forget the F11 key.
ZM
ZM,
Nice looking multi color cactus zinnia. And the info about the seed variances is most interesting. In the pictures of your saved zinnia seed above - your "mean" looking zinnia seed reminds me of feathers.
I like your suggestion on checking out my saved seed and perhaps I should pick out some of the largest ones as you have suggested. Perhaps I will find time in 2016 to scope some of them out.
Always interesting!
I'm seeing advertising (ads) when looking at the posts here on Dave's Garden, not exactly something I enjoy seeing. How about you?
Wow, great ZMan. I always thought your pics were fabulous, now they're fabulously amazing! So much good info to help me hybridize too, it's very appreciated knowledge.
What camera do you use?
Here's another trick, if you click on the Daves Garden image you uploaded, then right click and select view image, it gives you an appreciable size.
Brenda at the top menu bar select Preferences
On the left hand menu list select Ad Settings
Deselect or select ad options from there.
Hi Brenda,
" I'm seeing advertising (ads) when looking at the posts here on Dave's Garden, not exactly something I enjoy seeing. How about you? "
I am also seeing ads (a Mtn Dew #DoTheDew ad immediately on the right of my screen right now. The ads are a minor annoyance to me, so I am not going to lose any sleep over them. However, as paying members we should be able to turn them off, and right now the mere fact that we can't means that ad control (or lack thereof) is one of the bugs waiting tor the DG techs to fix.
I did follow Robin's suggestion to go into Preferences > Add Settings where I found that Advertisements were already not checked, and I did Submit that just in case I needed to, and I am still seeing advertisements -- so it is an ongoing bug in the site software. I did have Top Watchdog Ads checked and Featured Companies checked, and I left them that way when I hit Submit because they seemed infrequent and possibly beneficial. But, Brenda, as you implied, the ads we are seeing are a malfunction in the site. Which, I assume, will eventually get fixed.
" I like your suggestion on checking out my saved seed and perhaps I should pick out some of the largest ones as you have suggested. "
Inspecting zinnia seeds seed-by-seed sounds rather tedious, but I kind of enjoy it. I package my zinnia seeds as just the seeds (not petals, chaff, etc) and the process of picking the seeds out of the chaff is a tedious repetitive endeavor, but when I have some idle time I like to sort seeds and daydream. Another Zen-like aspect of the zinnia hobby. I have some bulk Burpeeana Giant seeds that I will definitely go through picking out big seeds, or interesting shaped ones.
Last month I found a few very odd looking zinnia seeds that I designated as "alligator seeds" and I have a few "alligator seedlings" growing now. I would take a picture of a few alligator seeds, but I planted all of them. They are relatively long and thin with very rippled side edges. They have a "dangerous" weapon-like look. I don't know why, but the name "alligator" came to mind when I spotted the first one.
Apparently zinnia seed features are genetic. I have seen several distinct kinds of zinnia seeds that don't occur in the commercial zinnia varieties. I should name them and make note of them in my journal. The commercial zinnia seeds go through sorting machines that remove chaff, stem particles, petal pieces, and such, but because they are machines, they don't respond well to unusual zinnia seeds. The machines probably destroy or reject some interesting mutant zinnia seeds, including extra large or extra long ones. We can do a much better job with zinnia seeds than the machines can do. More later.
ZM
Hi Robin,
" I always thought your pics were fabulous, now they're fabulously amazing! "
I'm glad that you like them.
" What camera do you use? "
I use a Nikon D3200. lt is an older entry level DSLR. It takes 6016 x 4000 pixel pictures, in JPEG or raw (NEF). I use the raw NEF files, because they don't use lossy JPEG compression, and they have a lot more picture information. I do most of my processing on the raw files, and convert them to TIF files for final processing, like cropping and downsizing. And, as a final step, I convert to a JPEG file format for posting on the Internet.
" Here's another trick, if you click on the Daves Garden image you uploaded, then right click and select view image, it gives you an appreciable size. "
Wow! Double wow! That is so freaking good. I am embarrassed that I didn't discover that myself, and so grateful that you called our attention to that. There are some interesting details to that technique that deserve further exploration. I am going to upload some test images of different sizes as the basis for subsequent discussion. More later.
ZM
Haha, tis good to impress...you know what that feels like. Don't be embarrassed cause you didn't know that one, I picked it up working in graphics. Thanks for your camera information, I'm sure how you manipulate the image makes a big difference.
Hi Robin,
" I'm sure how you manipulate the image makes a big difference. "
I like to think it does. My entry level Nikon does have limitations, compared to a later model and/or a higher priced model. For convenience I like to work hand-held, so in order to get the faster shutter speeds necessary to support that, I set the ISO of my camera higher. High ISO means more noise, so I deal with that in my RAW image processing. DxO Labs' DxO Optics Pro software does an incredible job on noise removal while preserving fine detail. It is my "go to" tool for my NEF raw files.
I also depend on a good macro lens for close focusing closeups. The majority of my pictures are taken with the Nikon AF-S DX Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G macro lens. (Nikon refers to macro lenses as "micro"). It also functions quite well as a medium wide angle lens for landscape shots.
http://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/camera-lenses/af-s-dx-micro-nikkor-40mm-f%252f2.8g.html
It does not have image stabilization (Nikon refers to that as VR "vibration reduction" ), but the faster shutter speeds that I use compensate for that, even hand-held. More recently I invested in a more expensive longer focal length Nikon Micro lens that does have Vibration Reduction. Its longer focal length make it less handy for my indoor gardening (its focal length is medium telephoto), but for extreme closeups it is great. The short macro was my affordable entry into macro lenses, and it remains very useful. Both lenses have pleasing bokeh.
Your View Image technique also responds well to the F11 key, which gives the image view full access to the screen, if the image is big enough to use it. The little light lavender "daisy flowered" zinnia on the left end of the image sequence above is an example of an image that is not big enough to benefit from View Image. It is 550 x 440 pixels. The standard width for DG image display is 708 pixels wide. Uploaded images that are larger than 708 pixels wide are down-sampled by DG for display at 708 pixels, but stored in DG at their larger uploaded size (at least for reasonable sizes), so they benefit from View Image. Fortunately most of my uploaded images were in the 900-to-1000-pixel-wide range, and they do benefit immensely from your View Image. I did upload some 708-pixel-wide images, so they won't benefit.
But most of my DG images will benefit dramatically from your View Image tip, so thanks again, very much. And use the F11 key on them if it pleases you. More later.
ZM
ZM- Love the orange flower. This is such an interesting thread. Thanks for the seed photos, thanks for the tip about F11, I never knew that.
Mipii- thanks for the tip, I had been right-clicking on images, then clicking on "view image" but first left-clicking THEN right clicking THEN right-clicking works so much better! This will be particularly good when I try to look at pictures in the Plant ID forum.
Also, another tip for y'all- Holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the key with the = and + signs will enlarge everything on the screen. You can do this repeatedly and it will keep growing! Doing the same with the - and _ key will reduce the size.I don't know if this works on Apple computers. I find it very handy.
I ended up turning off all the ads, but would be happy to turn on the "Top 5" ads if they ever get this working again.
Yes the F11 does please me more, that's a great trick to use with the screen shot function. I knew you'd try it almost immediately. The DG format is coded to resize images for visual display conformity on the site. It also resizes to thumbnails that can't be viewed in the original uploaded size. I truly appreciated that aspect and forethought of the designers and coders. Things are subject to change though as they fine tune the site.
I also really appreciate the new function of the floating "BACK TO TOP" link, that's really convenient.
I've wanted an SLR camera for a long time but there's always something I seem to need more. Thanks so much for the info...it's priceless. It actually means I can use an entry level camera and get beautiful results if I work hard enough, lol. That sure is some Christmas hope right there. That hope will have me feeling good for a long time.
Do you photograph other blooms you grow or do you just focus on Zinnia's? I'm often snapping shots in my garden, I've got to preserve that eye candy. Your body of work is catalog supreme and coffee table book worthy!
Thanks for the inspiration ZM!
Hi Robin,
" I also really appreciate the new function of the floating "BACK TO TOP" link, that's really convenient. "
Actually, I hadn't noticed that link until you mentioned it. It is handy. I am also very appreciative of the "Skip to new" link that appears at the top of the message string.
" Do you photograph other blooms you grow or do you just focus on Zinnia's? I'm often snapping shots in my garden, I've got to preserve that eye candy. "
I mainly just focus on my zinnias. I should diversify my subjects more. But zinnias are pretty much the only flowers I grow. There is a small Moss Rose (Portulaca) bed by the front steps. We raise guineas, and this is a picture of young guineas resting (roosting) in a lightweight portable "house" we had for them.
https://zenzone.smugmug.com/1000-Wides/i-qzRgQL9/0/O/DSC0292-1000.jpg
This is some nearly full grown guineas patrolling a newly prepared seedbed.
https://zenzone.smugmug.com/1000-Wides/i-hR7ZFv2/0/O/DSC0046-1000.jpg
The guineas are very beneficial in the garden, and they eat a lot of insect pests, large and small. Guineas can do something very few birds, other than hummingbirds, can do. Guineas can fly straight up when they want to. For example, when a guinea wants to get on the roof of the hen house, it will walk up to within a foot of the wall, and fly straight up to get on the roof. During the Summer they like to roost in our trees, and they use that flying straight up move to access a limb above the limb they are on. We live in a rural area, and the guineas keep our tick population under control. Before we had our guineas, ticks were a serious problem.
This is a small portable chair that I use when weeding a zinnia bed.
https://zenzone.smugmug.com/1000-Wides/i-dPKbDDF/0/O/DSC0806-1000.jpg
I do as much gardening as I can from a seated position. That includes planting the seeds. I get plenty of exercise hoeing and running my tiller. And walking around carrying zinnia pollen from one part of the garden to another. I am currently enjoying my indoor zinnia gardening. I should take some pictures. Today was mostly washing pots and re-potting. Tomorrow I will be planting some more zinnia seeds. And maybe take a few pics.
ZM
That's funny ZM-I have one exactly like yours- from an elderly relative no longer with us. I thought the Shower Chair would be great in the garden-water does not trouble it, it hoses off.
ZM - Thought you would get a kick out the fact that we - too, enjoy raising guinea. Though sometimes we don't have the best of luck. If our guinea didn't roost in a building where we close them up each night, we could not raise any. Too many predators (bobcats and owls) for roosting in trees around here.
I got a kick out of it Brenda, that's another thing you and ZM have in common. I love the Guinea fowl, do they scratch up a newly planted seed bed?
I use what's called a Garden Buddy, its essentially a plastic wagon with a sit-on lid. I'd be using a chair for sure if I had that much garden!
Hi Brenda,
On this cold Winter night, with the temperature flirting with the teens, a bunch of our guineas are roosting in a tree tonight, as they were last night. Great horned owls are common in this rural area, and they may very well feast on a guinea in the near future. Guineas are visible in the background in the first picture. The second picture shows a pair of guineas fairly close up. Neither of those two guinea pictures was taken recently. Today many of our guineas were out "foraging" in the snow. It is remarkable that they don't freeze to death when roosting in the trees in this sub-freezing weather. Some of our guineas do roost in the hen house. More later.
ZM
Hi Robin,
" I love the Guinea fowl, do they scratch up a newly planted seed bed? "
No, guineas do not scratch to eat like chickens do. However, like chickens, they will dust in a favorite spot from time to time. If that spot happens to be in the middle of a seed bed, they can do some damage. But they do minimal damage, and they do eat a lot of garden insects.
ZM
I love the Guinea fowl, do they scratch up a newly planted seed bed?
Guinea are not the scratchers that chickens are. They don't dig up my flower beds like chickens. They are great buggers. Ours like to hang out with the ducks around the edge of the pond. Then of course they go out foraging on their own. They can fly a good long distance if need be.
ZM - I'm enjoying your photos of your guinea. Wish I could tell the difference in the male and female guinea. Their general appearance is that they both look alike - to me. I have also had the red bantam cocham chickens with the feathers on their feet and they are not scratchers like most other chickens. I guess the feathers on their feet eliminates a lot of the scratching issues.
Happy NEW YEAR seems to be in order - Have a great one!
Happy New Year, everyone.
