In the 1990s I liked to sprout and plant the Peter Pan zinnias, and my favorite color was Peter Pan Plum. But eventually the series and the color disappeared. I haven’t been able to find a short purple or lavender zinnia since. In fact it’s been so long since Peter Pan Plum has been off the market, that I don’t even have a digital photograph of it—it predated digital cameras!
I love the Dreamland and Magellan series and have been growing them for years, but they don’t have a lavender or purple flower available to sprout from seed.
This year I tried the Zesty Mix zinnias. I usually don’t sprout mixes because like Charlie Brown with his “I got a rock” experience while trick-or-treating, when I sprout mixes I often end up with mostly white flowers—not my favorite.
But I took a gamble with the Zesty Mix, and boy was I excited when not only did I not get a single white flower, but three of my plants came up in a lovely shade of royal purple!
Zesty zinnias are slightly taller than Magellans or Dreamlands—they grow 18-24″ tall.
They sprout with flowers in fuchsia, pink, purple, scarlet and white.
I probably won’t ever be able to purchase the purple color separately which would be my preference (control freak that I am), but I would be happy to continue growing the Zesty Mix and hope I see more of those lovely purple blooms.