How to Care For Zinnias

Relax! Zinnias are among the easiest of flowers to care for and enjoy.

Things You'll Need

• Packets of zinnia seeds
• A shovel and a rake
• A sunny location for the flower bed
• Either a large watering can or a water hose that will reach the zinnia flower bed

Instructions

Zinnias in five easy steps!

1. Check to be sure that the time for the last frost is past--zinnias love the sun and simply won't sprout if the ground or air is still too cold. Use an almanac to check the date, or ask your gardening neighbors or the county extension agent.

2. Find that sunny location. For added pleasure in your garden, choose a place where you can see your zinnias when they're blooming, whether it's from your kitchen window, your dining room, or your back porch. (Remind yourself to enjoy your garden with a tall glass of iced tea or lemonade in your hand while relaxing in a comfortable chair).

3. Turn over the ground where you want the zinnias to grow, and break the dirt up into pea-size or smaller bits. Then rake the ground smooth. If water run-off is a problem, build a little hill of dirt around the perimeter of the space, to act as a dam.

4. Plant the zinnia seeds about 1/4 inch deep and one inch apart from each other. Gently smooth a very thin layer of soil over the seeds. If the ground is dry, water--again, gently--you don't want to wash the seeds right out of their furrows.

5. Check your garden regularly. You should see the first seeds sprouting in only six or seven days, and the seeds will rapidly grow into sturdy plants which produce lovely, colorful blooms. Keep the ground moist, not soggy, and be sure to water daily during dry weather.

Tips & Warnings

• Give the plants room to grow by pulling up the extra seedlings so that each zinnia plant has about a foot between it and its neighbor.

• For a really showy flower bed, buy three 'sizes' of zinnias in your seed packets--the tall, giant variety, the medium height, and the smaller or dwarf zinnias. Plant the tallest at the back of the flower bed, the medium in the middle and the smallest zinnias right in front.

• You can cut zinnias and use them indoors in flower arrangements, but they won't last longer than a few days.

• If you have tomato plants in another part of your garden, keep an eye out for tomato worms. They'll migrate to your zinnias and munch them up too!

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish