The best part of growing zinnias
One of my favorite flowers to grow is zinnias. They’re just so easy to plant – just dig up some dirt, spread the seeds, cover loosely with some dirt, and let them grow. The added bonus is how cheap they are to grow year after year. Just save the seeds from one year to the next and keep growing your garden. It’s so rewarding to plant seeds that you harvested from your own flower beds. In the past, I have stored the seeds in different ways, but the best way is still the easiest.
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Best flower garden memories
One of my best memories of gardening when I was a child were the years my parents created a secret zinnia garden hidden in the middle of our our massive vegetable garden. My parents didn’t really know much about gardening but we lived in rural Kentucky and the men of the church were determined to help their Pastor (my dad) grow a massive garden. They brought their big tractor and turned over the dirt and helped us learn all we needed to know.
My Mom decided it would be fun to plant a secret wildflower garden right in the middle. Imagine the church member’s surprise when they came over to help pick us harvest the vegetables and they discovered this hidden jewel. We ended up with thousands of zinnia and marigold seeds to save each year for the next planting.
I love this picture of me and my Mom a few years back picking zinnias together.
Zinnias and Marigolds are some of the easiest seeds to harvest from one season to the next. Simply wait till the flower heads have completely dried and pick the seed heads. You will know the seeds are ready when the flower heads are completely brown, dry and flaky. These hot pink Zinnias are getting close to harvest time!
I enjoy the zinnias in my kitchen and have vases all over my house with the cut flowers. And then when the color starts to fade, I toss them in a basket in the utility room. This allows them to dry out thoroughly.
It’s so rewarding to see my basket start filling up with zinnia and marigold seeds. Once they fully dry, I store them in a brown paper bag so they’ll have airflow and will be ready for next year’s wildflower beds.
And now as the weather starts to turn towards cooler weather, the zinnias will be about finished blooming and it will be time to pull out sweat shirts, hoodies and hot tea.
Have you ever gathered zinnia or marigold seeds? Do you have success growing flowers from seeds? I’d love to hear your fun stories!
