What do Dr. Deno's books say about zinnias?

Hi All,

I'm planning to purchase Dr. Norman C. Deno's Seed Germination Theory and Practice book and the First Supplement and the Second Supplement, but in the meantime, I wonder if anyone who already has the book(s) could tell me what he says about zinnias.

I have seen some wildly different information on zinnia germination from various sources. In particular, I am wondering what the optimal germination temperature is and how many days you may expect for germination at that temperature. I've seen reported germination times of one day or less. I'm wondering what germination temperature would be best for some old seed.

MM

Well, I don't have that book, but zinnias are fairly easy just to sow in place. I put them where I wanted them to grow, covered the seeds lightly, kept them moist/damp by watering every day. Several days later, there they were. How old are the seeds?

Karen

Karen,

"How old are the seeds?"

Thank you for your interest. Some of my old zinnia seeds were saved and bottled in the 1970's, so they are very old. They were saved from some crosses that I made at the time. They probably contain genetic material from the now extinct Crown of Gold strain, which had a base of golden yellow on each petal, with the outer part of the petal being various colors in the zinnia color palette. They also contained genetic material from the now extinct "Fantasy" series of zinnias.

Among other things, I was attempting to combine the interesting color patterns of the Crown of Golds with the remarkable petal form of the Fantasy's. I am an off-and-on amateur zinnia breeder. Circumstances of work and lack of gardening space when renting have necessitated a multi-decade hiatus in my hobby, but now that I am retired I have taken it up again.

It's very regrettable that so many good zinnias, like the Crown of Golds, Fantasy's, Black Ruby, Howard's Crested, and the list goes on, have passed into extinction. It's ironic, because the Fantasy's won at least two All America Selections awards, and none of the informal zinnia flower forms of today, including the cactus flowered, the chrysanthemum flowered, and the so-called fantasy flowered, have the remarkable flower form of the authentic Fantasy strain.

Incidentally, I have subsequently purchased Dr. Deno's original book and the two supplements, and I am now doing a few germination experiments on my own before attempting to "revive" the old seeds. I don't actually expect that any of them will germinate, but I feel that I should give it an honest try.

In the meantime, I have recently made some progress toward new flower forms, including marigold flowered zinnias, echinacea flowered zinnias, and sunflower flowered zinnias. To me, it's a fascinating hobby. Maybe, if I grow enough zinnias, the Crown-of-Gold mutation will reappear.

MM

Wow! How absolutely fascinating! I know I don't have the patience to hybridize flowers like that -- but those of you who do deserve a great, big round of applause.

It's a shame that those varieties have been lost -- probably caused by the seed companies pushing their latest and greatest so they can charge big prices for the new stuff. Way too often the oldest varieties are still the best. There is much interest today in bringing back the old ones.

I hope you have good luck getting at least some of them to germinate. I would sure like to hear how you progress and see photos of them. Since you know how best to store the seeds, I would think there is still a good possibility some will be viable. As you say, maybe some of what you are trying to create will show up in other crosses. I looked up Dr. Deno on the internet. What an interesting man. I had not heard of him, so I learned something.

Can you post pics of your new ones? I'd love to see them. Zinnias are such a happy flower. They always make me smile.

Karen

Karen,

Actually, I don't think I have ever posted a picture here on Dave's Garden. I will post some pictures of my new specimens over in the Annuals forum in a day or two. In the meantime, for practice, I will try posting a picture of one of my cactus flowered zinnias that shows some of the characteristics of the Fantasy flowered strain. The Fantasy flowered zinnias had more tightly down-rolled petals and they curved around more, but this zinnia shows some of the "airy" effects of an open petal structure.

MM

MM,

That is so beautiful. I love the color, too. It posted just fine.

When you want to post more than one in the same thread, here is how to do it: Start your thread and post the first photo, then at the top where it says "do you want to return to the thread you just posted on" or something like that, click on that, and post the next photo just like you did the first one. You can keep doing that until you have them all in there.

I'm looking forward to seeing the photos. I'll keep an eye out on that forum.

Karen