Herb. No. 247 · Asteraceae
Mexican annual; a world cut-flower and a hot-bed insectary.
Native · Mexico & Central America
Native Also grown
LegalGentleplant
Zinnia
Zinnia elegans
Garden flowersFlowersHarvestCompanions
A stiff, honest cut flower that keeps blooming if you keep cutting — the pollinator tower of a hot vegetable row.
Zinnia is a Mexican annual that asks for sun and a pair of scissors. The more you cut, the more it branches. Bees, butterflies, and hoverflies use the open types; the tight doubles are a bouquet, not a diner. Plant a row on the sunny edge of tomato and squash as an insectary, not as a pesticide. Powdery mildew comes in September if the air is still; space them, water the soil, and ignore a late blush.
Flavor
Not a food flower.
Parts used
Flower (cut and insectary)
Helpful
- Heat-proof
- Cut-and-come-again
- Cheap from seed
Cautions
- Mildew in a crowded, wet row
- Doubles feed fewer insects
- Not edible