The lineage of modern zinnias is too complicated to describe. Most are still known as Zinnia elegans, even though they have been bred extensively with several other specie to produce an impressive variety of flower forms and colors. The shortest varieties get only a few inches tall. Big varieties get about two and a half feet tall.
The two to five inch wide flowers, which bloom in phases from spring until autumn, can be yellow, orange, red, purple, pink, salmon, peach, chartreuse or bronzy brown. Some are striped or freckled.
Some flowers look like colorful daisies, with big petals (ray florets) neatly and flatly arranged around prominent centers (disc florets). The overly abundant petals of pom-pom types make rounded blooms with nearly obscured centers. Most are fuller than the daisy types, but not as plump as pom-poms.
Zinnias are warm season annuals that like good exposure and rich soil. The paired leaves are slightly raspy, like kitten tongues, and can be susceptible to powdery mildew. Deteriorating flowers should be deadheaded, although a few can be left for seed.
Tony Tomeo 
I grow flat zinnias as the butterflies like them best.
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‘Flat’ does not sound so appealing. What makes them flat?
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More like a daisy with a good landing pad for the butterflies.
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That is what I thought, but did not know.
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There are such beautiful colors. One of grandma’s old time favorites. and I grow some in my wildflower bed every year. I always have butterflies all around that area.
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You know, I have not done well with them. It is amusing that they are so easy for everyone else.
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Maybe just your climate, tho so many things grow well for you there. They like it here. Save seeds, cover them with a little soil in the spring, repeat. I enjoy those old time colors.
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A climate that is good for some species is bad for others. It only seems like we grow many species that do not do well in other climates. There are many things that are not so happy here. For zinnias, I never quite figured out what is lacking. I do not think that they need humidity, because they do better in more arid climates than they do here. They may just like to stay warm at night, which they do not do here.
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Wonderful colors. The squirrels destroyed my seeds. I think I need some nursery plants to get some rich color in my garden.
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This is a recycled article, so the zinnias are from a few years ago. You know, I have never grown zinnias. There are some at work, but someone else works with them.
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I plant zinnias in my fenced in vegetable bed; otherwise the woodchucks, rabbits, and/or deer would eat them. The butterflies love them! Zinnia Zowie Yellow Flame is a particularly beautiful variety.
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Zinnia Zowie Yellow Flame sounds awesome just because of the name!
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Love Zinnias! Easy to start from seed. Love the single/semi-double in hot colors best. ‘Yellow Flame’ is a good one, also ‘Starburst’.
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Everyone seems to like them. I have not done well with them, but there are some doing well at work. It is frustrating to see them do well at work when I do not grow them in my own garden.
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