When I visited our local farm nursery last summer to order some compost to be delivered, the owner saw me browsing through their seed packets.
And told me to take one of the packets home with me, free of charge.
I had already planted my vegetables and many flowers (other than native plants going in the new composted beds), so I picked a packet of zinnias I never heard of before: Lilliput zinnias.
And they’ve become one of my favorite flowers to grow!
I directly sowed them in the ground and had 95% germination rate; I’ve never had such a high seed germination rate.
The flowers buds formed quickly. Based on my garden journal, flowers bloomed from early July 2024 through November 2024. (We had a very warm autumn and many annual flowers continued to bloom through November.)
Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds visited the colorful pink, yellow, orange, and red flowers non-stop.
Though they’re only supposed to grow 18 to 24 inches tall, my Lilliput zinnias reached almost five feet tall!
I was excited to plant them again this year. And was surprised to have similar germination results.
What a treat this past week was, as I watched Ruby-throated hummingbirds, bees, and Black Swallowtail butterflies light on the zinnia flowers.
