Zinnia are enviable. They seem to perform exemplarily for everyone else and everywhere else. They have never done well for me though. I can not explain why. I stopped trying to grow them many years ago, but I encounter them at work, where the other horticulturist grows some as warm season annuals. This year here, some performed reasonably well as bedding plants, and a few more bloomed impressively within a pair of half wine barrels. They are done now that the weather is cool, but I got a few pictures of them as they were removed and replaced with pansies for winter.
1. Yellow is a primary color, but the scarcest among the few prolific zinnia that grew in a pair of half wine barrels through summer. Only one of the ten zinnia here bloom yellow.
2. Orange is a secondary color between yellow and red, but is a bit more abundant in our barrels than either yellow or red. Maybe three or so of the ten zinnia here bloom orange.
3. Red is another primary color, which is beyond orange from yellow. Perhaps two or so zinnia bloom red, but they are less profuse than those that bloom pink, orange or white.
4. Pink is not really a color, but is merely a tint of red, or red mixed with white. Only two of the ten zinnia here bloom pink, but they are bigger and more profuse than the others.
5. White should be my favorite, but to me, seems to be mundane relative to other colors. Two of the ten zinnia bloom white, but they are neither prominent nor prolific in bloom.
6. Rhody is as unimpressed with our unusually florific zinnia as he is uncooperative with my attempts for a good picture of him. Fortunately, even a bad picture of Rhody is good.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
Tony Tomeo 
They must have looked good all mixed together. Nice to see Rhody!
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They did! I do not get to that landscape often, so I was surprised to see how well they had done. By that time, two had already deteriorated enough to be removed. Otherwise, there would have been twelve instead of ten. They make me reconsider my objection to adding them elsewhere.
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For some reason, I have this same problem with zinnias. I always blamed it on too little sun, but even when I tried them in a container in full sun, they didn’t work out. I just gave up and admire other people’s.
Karla
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That is sort of where I am at with them, although these sort of make me wonder. I also wonder if they would have been even better if we had tended to them better. By the time I got these pictures, much of their foliage was lacking, and the stems were rather lanky. As impressive as they were, they might have been even better with a bit of pinching and trimming.
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I had zinnias that planted themselves next to the hot driveway and liked it. Rhody could be mistaken for a pillow on your couch.
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Zinnias seem to perform for everyone else, just not here, . . . until now. I sort of wonder what was so good about this particular situation. It could have been the weather this season.
That is not my couch. It is Rhody’s. It is in the office at work, where he meets with his crew before they go to work in the morning. As you can see, he is very dedicated to his work and career.
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A lovely selection of Zinnia – even the fluffy variety!
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Fluffy is always best, even if he does not cooperate for pictures.
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Yes, Zinnias do it for me too, and seedlings are just beginning to pop up in my garden now after last year’s flowers flung themselves around. It’s always interesting to see what colour flowers will emerge.
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If I had known that they would perform so well, I might have wanted more of them. It could have been the weather this year though. I doubt that they would repeat the process next year, although we will try.
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Good, here he is. The zinnias are beautiful, but Rhody has fans. There are so many wonderful colors of zinnia. It was my grandmother’s favorite flowers.
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This six would have been better with a single picture of a vaseful of all colors of the zinnia, and five pictures of Rhody, . . . . or just six pictures of Rhody.
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You know lots of people love Rhody. He always makes me smile cos he is so cute, and has a unique personality.
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Oh, of course I know it! It amazes me that such a popular and respected (canine) person, who could have gone to live anywhere he wants to in the world, or even become the President (!) and live in the White House, chose to live with me.
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He is amazing, and we like it that you share his amazing-ness with us. 😃
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It would be even better if he cooperated for pictures.
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Nahhh, we get to see his cute face sometimes; it’s all good.
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He has a cute tail also, . . . and cute ears, . . . and a cute nose, . . . and, well, you get the point.
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Yep, sure do!
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About 85 years back 2 little boys had their photo taken in paddock full of Zinnias. That photo kept the memory alive. I don’t know what happened to the photo but one for the little boys looked at your zinnia post and the past came back. How I remember it, my mother planted the zinnias from seed she had saved into a quarter care paddock where they became an ocean of pastel colours.
Thanks for the memory Toney.😎
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You are welcome. Most of us seem to be familiar with zinnias. They are new to me though, not because they are rare here, but because they do not perform well. I have never been able to figure out why. Because they are available in nurseries, I want to believe that they must perform well somewhere near here. Were the old zinnia as variable in color as these modern sort are, or were they limited to only a few colors?
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As I remember them they were as good as todays. But the photo was not in colour can my memory be trusted. The quick answer to your question I don’t know.😎
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I actually prefer the simpler and older flowers. For example. I remember bachelor button blooming only blue, so all those other colors, particularly pink, red and purple, look weird. Zinnia could have been just as pretty or even prettier with a simpler color range.
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