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Zinnia
Zinnias are a genus of bright, long-stemmed daisy-family plants, mostly annuals, grown for their long-lasting, colourful blooms. Give them full sun, adequate water, and deadhead them to keep flowers coming.
Zinnia is a genus of plants of the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are notable for their solitary long-stemmed 12-petal flowers that come in a variety of bright colors. The genus name honors 18th-century German scientist Johann Gottfried Zinn.
The genus is native to scrub and dry grassland in an area stretching from the Southwestern United States to South America, with a centre of diversity in Mexico.
Zinnias are easy to grow with potential heavy, brightly colored blooms. Their petals can take different forms as single row with a visible center (single-flowered zinnia), numerous rows with a center that is not visible (double-flowered) and petals that are somewhere in-between with numerous rows but visible centers (semi-double-flowered zinnia). Their flowers can also take several shapes.
Zinnias are an annual plant usually grown in situ from seed. They dislike being transplanted due to having a fragile root system, but can be started indoors 4-6 weeks before planting and moved before their roots fully develop. Much like daisies, zinnias prefer to have full sunlight and adequate water. In the preferred conditions they will grow quickly but are sensitive to frost and therefore will die after the first frost of autumn. Zinnias benefit from deadheading to encourage further blooming.
Zinnias are popular garden flowers because they come in a wide range of flower colors and shapes, and they can withstand hot summer temperatures and are easy to grow from seeds. They bloom all summer long. They are grown in fertile, humus-rich, and well-drained soil, in an area with full sun. They will reseed themselves each year. Over 100 cultivars have been produced since selective breeding started in the 19th century.
Desert zinnia · Narrowleaf zinnia · Elegant zinnia · Mexican Zinnia · Peruvian zinnia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Zinnia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
