Hi WoodNative,

The most common zinnia species is Z.violacea, previously called Z. elegans. I won't attempt to list them all here, because the list would number in the hundreds. My hobbyist zinnia breeding has been almost exclusively in that species.

Now days, the Profusions and Zaharas are popular, because of their high resistance to Powdery Mildew. They are actually a member of an artificial new species of zinnia, Z. marylandica, named in honor of the University of Maryland, where much of the groundwork research leading to the creation of the species was done. It was derived from Z. violacea (24 chromosomes) and Z. angustifolia (22 chromosomes). The cross had 23 chromosomes, which was infertile because 23 is an odd number, but that problem was solved by doubling the chromosome number with Colchicine to 46 chromosomes.

Actually, the first commercial Z. marylandica cultivar (Rose Pinwheel) was introduced by W. Atlee Burpee Company in 1987, and Burpee has added several additional Pinwheel colors since then, giving them a fairly complete color range. But in the decades since then, Burpee has become much less dominant in zinnia development. The Japanese company, Sakata, developed the Profusions, and I believe Ball is the developer of the Zaharas. So Pinwheels, Profusions, and Zaharas are all Z. marylandica.

Oddly, there are no F1 hybrid Marylandicas in the marketplace. With 46 chromosome, they are a kind of genetic mish-mash, so cross pollinating them could be quite interesting, but you could also run into some viability problems with the crosses, because of all of those chromosomes.

The zinnia species, Z. haageana is represented in the marketplace by Persian Carpet, Jazzy, and Aztec Sunset (a dwarf variety). They should be inter-crossable, and with 24 chromosomes, they have the same chromosome number as Z. violacea (elegans), so that interspecific cross is possible. The zinnia variety, Whirligig, is thought to have originated between such a cross, and I grow a lot of Whirligigs because they still show a lot of interesting variations arising from that cross. The majority of my current breeding stock contains at least some Whirligig "blood" in them. The genes enabling my "Aster flowered" zinnias most likely came from the Whirligigs. This is an example of what I call the Aster flowered zinnia flowerform.

The zinnia species, Z. angustifolia is represented by the commercial varieties Star White, Star Yellow, and Crystal White. It has 22 chromosomes, which limits its viable crossability with zinnia species that contain a different number of chromosomes.

I have grown the zinnia species Z. peruviana (24 chromosomes) because it should be crossable with Violacea, but so far I haven't gotten any viable seeds from that cross. I suspect the problem is my cross-pollination technique with them, because the Peruviana floral parts are much smaller then the Violacea floral parts.

I haven't grown Z. tenuifolia (Red Spider) yet, but I am curious whether it could participate in interspecific zinnia crosses.

The genus Zinnia contains 19 species of annual herbs or perennial shrubs or subshrubs. So there is a lot of uncharted territory in zinnia breeding.

ZM

Hi WoodNative,

"The Whirlgigs are fully Z. violacea now, correct?"

You could say that they are fully Violacea now, or you could also consider them as Violacea plus Haageana. But, in the spirit of your question, yes, they are fully cross-able with any and all Z. violaceas. The Whirligigs have traits other than just the bicolor and tricolor petals. Some of them have very odd petal shapes and some of them have a marbled or blended two-tone effect, like this specimen.

I don't particularly care for the striped and spotted patterns on the Candy Cane and Peppermint strains of zinnias, but the marbled look is more to my liking and I plan to select out specimens like it and inter-cross them and out-cross them, with the goal of getting a new strain of zinnias with various marbled colorations. None of the seed packet pictures or catalog pictures give you any idea how wide and diverse the range of Whirligig specimens can be. The Whirligigs have a very rich pool of traits that can be "mined" for all manner of new zinnia strains. And the "kicker" is that Whirligig seeds from different seed growers have different ranges of variation. So, if you buy Whirligig seeds from different seed companies, you can expand the range of what you get.

ZM

This is another marbled Whirligig picture taken last Summer.

I am hoping my Whirligig plantings this year will produce more marbled specimens.

ZM

Hi WoodNative,

And this is yet another of the mottled and streaked Whirligig specimens.

You might get one of these mottled and streaked specimens in 100 or so Whirligig plants. I guess that is why you never see them in the catalog pictures or the seed packet pictures. In that same 100 plants you might also find some other different specimens that could strike your fancy. The catalog pictures just show a sampling of some of the more common forms.

So the larger your zinnia patch, the better are your chances of finding good specimens. Plant breeding is a kind of numbers game.

ZM

"My space is somewhat limited on my little north-facing lot with only a small area that is sunny and good for zinnias......but I usually grow a nice little patch there."

There is a "bright side" to a limited growing space. It keeps you from over-committing how many zinnias you grow, and with a smaller number to take care of, you can take better care of them individually. And take time to enjoy them individually. A group of zinnias form an interesting little ecosystem. Hand-picking insect pests is much more feasible with a smaller zinnia population. And they need less water and nutrients and less time for their care.

And, even in a small population, there is always the chance that something really unusual and nice will appear.

ZM

Hi WoodNative,

Zinnias are capable of a variety of reds. I notice at least one good red candidate near the right side of your picture. Sometimes a zinnia can "change its mind" about what color it wants to be.

Some of the cactus flowered zinnias have extra long slim petals, and I think of them as "spider flowered".

Some of the scabious recombinants are red with red florets.

The scabious florets can be red, while the guard petals are some other color.

Whirligig heritage can create red petals with contrasting tip colors.

This "reddish" zinnia is actually a scabious recombinant.

This zinnia was one of my breeders a few years ago. It was already showing the longer straighter narrower petals that eventually became my aster flowered specimens.

Some zinnias can have a deep red wine color. You could also think of it as dark plum.

There are several strains of zinnias that offer separate colors, including one or more reds, and they might be a good way to get red zinnias started. Crossing different red zinnias would give you a variety of reds in the recombinants.

ZM

Hi WoodNative,

"That red scabious specimen you posted above......I think you posted that flower or a similar one previously."

Actually, at one time or another, in one message thread or another, I have posted all of those pictures previously. The one with the two bees on it was maybe 2006 vintage. The "scabious" one just above it was this last Fall.

The intense red one with matching florets was probably the Fall of 2009. At that time we were in a different place in a nearby town and I was attempting, with some success, to grow zinnias in a back yard that was mostly shaded by a number of trees. That zinnia's long guard petals are characteristic of the scabious recombinants that I refer to as "Echinacea flowered". The red spider flowered one above it was grown in that same dappled shade backyard, and a small bit of sunlight is responsible for the overexposed white patch on it.

I had pruned the trees as much as was feasible to get as much sunlight into the yard as possible (which wasn't a lot), and made extensive use of foliar sugar feeding to compensate for the limited amount of photosynthesis. That seemed to help considerably. My zinnia growing conditions here in this rural area are much more favorable, although occasionally I still toss a little sugar into my foliar feeding mix. Julie Andrews would approve of that.

"I will order some "Candy Mix" this year and hope I can recreate something like that."

I am not prepared to share seeds at the present time, but I wouldn't rule that out at some future time. Candy Mix is currently probably your best bet for scabiosa flowered zinnias, although Thompson & Morgan also offer a second scabiosa flowered strain. None of the scabiosa flowered seed sources are 100% true to type, and some of them have a fairly low percentage of actual scabious blooms. Be prepared to cull your Candy Mix aggressively at first bloom. The most common "off type" scabious blooms are small singles in a variety of solid colors. For landscaping purposes, they aren't too bad. The scabiosa flowered strains, and the Whirligig strains, are both very "interesting" commercial seed sources. I say "strains", because your results may vary, depending on which actual seed grower's field your zinnia seeds came from. Seed companies rarely grow their own seeds any more.

ZM