Up Close and Personal: Zinnia ‘Zahara Double Fire’

Hi James! We did indeed have a great Easter weekend with family. This week is my biggest seed-sowing week—all short zinnias (Zaharas, Profusions) and short marigolds. I was supposed to start today, but it’s going to be rainy and chilly for the rest of the week after today, so I’m going to go out and remove the rest of the leaves from my flowerbeds in a little while instead. Some of my emerging bulbs are buried under a half-foot of leaves and I want to give them some air before they get spindly and start to yellow.

I’ve decided to start Coreopsis ‘Roulette’ outside this year because I’m tight on space in my seed-starting area. My rudbeckias have been giving me some trouble. ‘Sahara’ did okay, but ‘Maya’ was practically a no-show 🙁 , and for some reason ‘Autumn Colors’ did not sprout well either. I’ve re-seeded them several times, but the germination is still horrible. Maybe I got some bad seeds.

My plants stay in their original germinating mix until I stick them in the garden. I’m sure you could probably get better root development by switching to a heavier mix. I make sure the plants are lightly fertilized throughout their stay in the basement, and I also only bottom-water so the roots are encouraged to stretch and not stay at the top of the plug.

I hope you get some warmer, non-snowy weather soon!

I started my Profusion and Zahara zinnias indoors last week and so far so good on germination. Next week I sow my tall zinnias which is the biggest challenge because they are the most susceptible to damping-off disease. I’m trying something new I read in a Ken Druse book. He covers the top of the soil with fine chicken grit which supposedly prevents damping-off. Theoretically the seeds can still push through the grit. I only started them on Monday, so I don’t know yet how that’s going to turn out. Tall zinnias should really be sown directly outdoors, but the squirrels and chipmunks make that challenging. I usually lose at least a half-dozen seedlings to damping-off each year, and some years are worse than others. It doesn’t help that I’m a chronic seedling overwaterer. 🙂

I also started some ‘Roulette’ seeds this week. I didn’t think I’d have room for them, but I must’ve been off on my final seed count.

I’m glad to hear that you’re finally getting rid of your snow. The early bulbs are blooming here (crocus, glory-in-the-snow, some species tulips) but not much else. There are flower buds on the daffodils and tulips, however, so it won’t be long!