NN,

Lots of cold weather here in Kansas. I "rescued" some of my favorite zinnias as cuttings last Fall before a killing freeze destroyed the plants, and those cuttings are growing indoors under fluorescent lights. The cutting plants have produced a few precocious blooms, that I need to remove to encourage more vegetative growth.

I plan to expand my indoor zinnia growing by planting some seeds as well. This is a close-up picture of one of the zinnia blooms that formed on the cuttings.

Its petals have an interesting sculptured shape with split ends. I save seeds from my favorite zinnias and I cross-pollinate selected specimens as well. I enjoy being an amateur zinnia breeder. That lets me grow lots of zinnias that you could never find in a commercial seed packet. This is a picture of one of my home-hybridized zinnias from my last-year outdoor zinnia garden.

I referred to it as a "Pink Shaggy Dog" zinnia. I saved seeds from it and from its parents, so I hope to have more like it this year in my outdoor zinnia garden. I would like to get a Shaggy Dog strain of zinnias in a complete range of colors. I can grow lots more zinnias outdoors than indoors.

ZM