| Such a scene-stealer, Big Red draws gasps of amazement every time we grow it in our trial gardens, and is one of the plants our visitors ask most about. Yet there's no mystery to these huge, 5- to 6-inch fully double blooms of glowing blood-red. They begin just 7 weeks from sowing--the plants are vigorous and upright, reaching 3 feet tall in the full-sun garden. They keep coming long after other Zinnias have given up the ghost, too--you have never seen such garden-worthiness and flower power, and that's saying a lot, considering all Zinnias are pretty tough customers! We are proud to offer Big Red, which we have awarded our High Performer status. The waxy petals, which arise in many layers in dense, Dahlia-flowered form, surround a small greenish eye--sometimes the petals go right to the center of these massive pompons, hiding the eye altogether! Their waxy texture holds its shape and shakes off rain and moisture nicely over a long time, making them as powerful in the garden as they are in the vase (where a single bloom is an arrangement in itself!). Zinnias are one of the easiest annuals to grow, and attract butterflies to the garden. They are outstanding in beds, borders, and containers, are are the perfect cut flower--the more you cut, the more you get! They thrive in the sun and heat of summer, and ask only well-drained soil. Their biggest enemy is mildew, so water them with a soaker hose or other ground-based spray to minimize wetting the foliage--or, if this isn't possible, water them early in the day, so that the leaves can dry off before nightfall. Space the plants generously to prevent overcrowding. When cutting the blooms for the vase, trim off all the foliage; unlike the blooms, it does not age well! Pkt is 10 seeds. |
