A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Those Beautiful Zinnias


This is the zinnia that I planted out by my mailbox. I have to water there almost everyday, because the soil is thin, being near the street. Lots of gravel sand thrown by passing cars. Dogs going by and watering them for me...so they are a tough plant. They are planted with some Stella Doro lilies and some cushy mum like marigolds in a pale yellow. I never remember the real names and the empty seed packets are downstairs...so you will have to bear with me. I wish that i had planted more zinnias, because they make wonderful, long lasting, bouquets.Few plants offer the dazzling array of color choices and large flowers that characterize the Zinnia family. Only dahlias and, perhaps, roses, can compete for size of bloom, intensity of color and showiness. The zinnia asks very little of its garden caretaker and gives so very much. Zinnias can be grown almost anywhere. They are not finicky about soil or water, but they do require full sun. The more you deadhead them, the more flowers they will produce. Japanese beetles do love them, but so do butterflies – lots and lots of butterflies. In mid to late summer, they are very prone to developing powdery mildew on their leaves, but this does not affect their flowers. Spacing the plants 6-8 inches apart sometimes helps, but not always. I walked out to the mailbox last night to water and I was greeted by the dreaded Japanese Beetle. They burrow right down in the center of those marigolds and then the petals turn brown. Those dratted things. We haven't had as many as last year, but one is too many. I have a plant dust that seems to work pretty good, but it looks terrible on the flowers. So you either have dusty white plants or plants turning brown with holey leaves.Tomorrow I will post a picture of the mailbox planting.
Balisha

5 comments:

Gram said...

Zinnias are one of my favorite flowers, but none of my seeds came up this year - I'm not sure why, they are so dependable and usually I have so many reseeding that I am yanking them out. I miss them in my bouquets this year.

Barbee' said...

I've noticed that we haven't had as many Japanese Beetles this year, either. But, I agree with you: one is one too many. I love Zinnias. They were the first seeds I ever planted. My mother gave me a packet of seeds when I was 6 years old. A few of them did grow and bloom, and I was enchanted! Yours is such a bright color. Wish I could grow them, but we have a severe powdery mildew problem here.

Margie's Musings said...

They are lovely. I guess I will plant some next year.

cwa said...

I do love zinnias. They are so colorful and so hardy. Zinnias are the only flower I have ever successfully grown.

Balisha said...

Usually they are easily grown from seed. The seeds are big enough to see...that's what I like. I don't space them out...just scatter them and cover with a little bit of soil. I don't thin them either...just let the come up where ever.This works for me.