I love Zinnias! Haven’t grown them much - my sister-in-law sent me a packet of seeds for my birthday that came from the .99 cent store - scattered them about - I got the most beautiful zinnias I had ever seen from those seeds.
Time to re-plant. They seem able to take our heat.
During the summer, I keep an eye out on blooms that I really like - as soon as I see petals starting to disappear (birds getting the seeds), I cut that bloom. I lay then out on a tray in the house to dry, then store them in a paper grocery bag. At some point before planting time, I strip/pick the seeds out of the dried blooms. I don't remove the petals, so when I plant, I have a colorful row before I cover with dirt. I don't space or anything within the rows (rows about 12" apart), just let what comes up come up. So far, this has worked great and I have multiple beds of zinnias. I like to have an early bed and a late bed that would have flowers for Thanksgiving, IF we don't have a freezing spell. They'll do ok with frost if I cover them. My experience has been that blooms that have been cold-killed don't have seeds that germinate.
We especially love zinnias because they are so 'hardy' in hot weather and sturdy enough to make gorgeous flower arrangements - my mom likes to give them to shut-ins, neighbors, & the secretary & pastors at church. I posted these before, but I'll repost ....so pretty .... can't wait for blooms this year!
