Welcome to part three of The Dairy Barn FAV flowers series and today is a little bit of a conundrum.
Confession time… I’m actually not the biggest fan of zinnias, not that I don’t like them, I just feel like they get a lot more hype than they deserve. BUT the Queen series ones got me hooked and earned them a place on my FAV flowers list!!
These are Queen red lime and I love their vintage rose color and pop of lime green in the center.
Since I’m not the zinnias biggest fan girl I can be a little critical of them and have already cut 2 varieties I tried from my grow list (the kids will have a great time with them in their own garden!) this variety, however, is here to stay and I even ordered a few more colors in the Queen series that I’m REALLY excited about- Queen Lime with Blush and Queen Lime Orange.
Zinnias are super easy to grow, come in single, semi-double, and fully double forms so can be used in any bouquet or arrangement you need! And when harvested at the proper time they can spend well over a week looking beautiful in your vase. Proper harvest time is key here! Zinnias actually need to be fully mature in order to last well as a cut flower. If you cut them too early their stems aren’t strong enough and they will prematurely wilt in the vase, but if you cut them too late you risk bug damage and also lose precious time they could be looking beautiful in your home. So how do you tell when the proper time to harvest a zinnia is? Its called the “wiggle test.” Simply grab the stem of your flower several inches below the head and give it a gentle shake side to side. If the head flops back and forth it is not ripe yet, if the stem stays nice and firm and the head moves with it then it is ready to harvest!
Zinnias are a classic “cut and come again” flowers meaning they THRIVE on being harvested. The more you cut them the more they branch and bloom! Because they are so prolific they are perfect to grow for summer bouquets! During the summer and fall almost every bouquet will have at least one of the varieties of Zinnias I grow. I grow four main series of Zinnias - Benary’s Giant (large and stunning Zinnias that can be the focal point of any arrangement) Oaklahoma Series - (A mid size Zinnia with a gorgeous selection of colors) the Sunbow mix (tiny little blooms with fun highlights that add a little pop of color anywhere you put them) and of course the Queen series!
Click the link below to find out what is next in our FAV flower series!