After seeing the beautiful zinnias that several of my fellow bloggers have showed on their sites, I was plotting through the winter how I could create my own display, featuring my favorite colors that I rarely find in the local nurseries anymore. Others have told me that they have had a similar experience to mine, of ending up with mostly magenta flowers, when they buy a mix of zinnia starts in a six-pack.
So I bought four packets of seeds, and started most of them in the greenhouse. When many of those seedlings mysteriously died, I bought single plants in the nurseries, 4-inch pots in which the buds were beginning to open, and didn’t appear to be magenta. Two coral colored to begin with, and later, true orange. And I planted seeds again, at the end of June, directly into the ground or pots.
The seeds I planted the most of were called Fruity Beauty mix. They came in a clear cellophane packet, but online they are advertised to look like this:
Now various of the seed-started are beginning to bloom. I’m not sure which are which, I think I got a little mixed up, and lost some tags. Maybe when they have fully opened and all bloomed I will be able to tell more. But I think I am still waiting for the Queen Lime Orange ones. Every day there is a new flower to look at and rejoice over.
I’m also thrilled to have eggplant this summer; and true Echinacea Purpurea, Purple Coneflower, which flourished for years and years in my old garden. The interesting subspecies of echinacea in various colors that were installed in my new landscape have mostly died out. It took me a few years to find good plants of the “regular” type at the right time, but now I those are in bloom, too.
The white echinacea are very enduring, too. They are in the front garden, and faithfully grow up tall and elegant every summer. They seem to make more flowers every season.
This last picture I think of as Lovely Layers. There is a whole community of plants at their peak here, from the echinacea on the right to the volunteer sunflower poking out from under the asparagus fronds on the left… yellow abutilon against the fence and golden marguerite in front of that, and even lamb’s ears and salvia sticking up. My cup runneth over with these sunny gifts of high summer.
Gladsome Lights 
The zinnias are lovely. A friend gave me some of her seeds last year, which I think I froze, but I forgot about them and did not plant them this spring. It’s too hot here to garden in summer — for me. So our yard looks tired and dull green, and I try not to think of how it might be if I could tolerate the heat and working out there in the baking sun.
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Your garden looks colourfully beautiful. I am so pleased that zinnias have come into ‘garden fashion’ again and look forward to planting seeds once our weather begins to warm up.
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I love Zinnias! Sunflowers and zinnias are the two things I can grow. The best seeds I have used have been Renee’s. She has a kind called Happy Birthday that are the prettiest red. The seeds I have bought from her have come back year after year. Your gardens are beautiful.
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Your garden is looking terrific, Gretchen. Zinnias are one of my favorites (but I don’t have any growing this year). I do have a few (not enough) coneflowers, though, and I do love those! You can tell your plants get a lot of love!
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I love all your wonderful flowers. The zinnias that I had in one area were badly bug-eaten and are slowly recuperating. Others are in bloom and making me so happy! It’s uncommonly hot here this week. 35C which I believe 95F and the zinnias are looking a little stressed. As are many people. I’m looking forward to some cooler weather.
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Beautiful! I love zinnias, too. My grandmother used to put them in the middle of angel food cakes for summer birthdays (hers was in August). I have started seeds twice here, but the first batch dried up, and the second set are in pots in the shade and have just grown leggy, but no buds. They were old seeds I harvested from the ones I had planted in Coronado, so they may not be very hearty, and it has been hot, hot, hot here. The best display of zinnias I had was in Virginia, where I had them planted in front of cosmos, and they would self-seed each year. Such cheerful colors!
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My zinnias are ready to bloom, we just noticed the ball like bud atop! The Echinacea are pretty. My mother has them in her garden. Do you know which part of the plant to harvest for medicinal purposes, like tea?
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You can use any or all parts. Here’s an article about that. (I’ve never done it.)
https://practicalselfreliance.com/echinacea-tea/
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All look very lovely. I typically have zinnias, but had such a busy spring that they didn’t get planted. Nice to enjoy yours from a distance!
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