Plant Heirloom Zinnias for an Outstanding Vegetable Garden

For a more productive, wildlife friendly and attractive vegetable garden consider planting heirloom zinnias this spring. These old time plants attract a wide range of beneficial pollinator insects, including endangered bumblebees; attract a number of song birds and hummingbirds, and zinnias are relatively easy to grow and maintain. Their usefulness goes beyond wildlife and the garden, they are also excellent cut flowers for the home or for sale.

Zinnias were first discovered by the Spanish in Mexico in 1796 and brought to Europe. However, the early explorers were not very impressed with plants and called them "mal de ojos" or sickness of the eye and considered the plant a mere weed.

However, the German Ambassador to Mexico sent some seeds to Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727 - 1758), a anatomist and botanist at the University of Gottingen, in Germany. Zinn, who first studied the "weeds", died at the age of 32. It remained for other botanists to develop the plants similar to those we know today. However, zinnias were named in Zinn's memory.

Zinnias for gardeners today come in a wide range of brilliant colors, except for blue, and some species bloom even exotic stripes. Depending on the variety, the plants can be as short as six inches tall or as large as upwards of three feet or more. There are easy to grow and can be started four to six weeks inside before the last frost date. Zinnias can also be sown directly into the soil, and oftentimes, these plants catch right up with the transplants.

Zinnias need average, well drained soil and require little care. However, they will do best in rich, organic soil. They require full sun, which means a minimum of six hours every day. Zinnias will bloom non-stop throughout the summer, particularly if the flowers are removed after bloom, until the first hard frost. However, the seeds are a favorite of the yellow gold finches so leave a few in the patch go to seed.

Butterflies, a much needed and important pollinator in the vegetable garden, find zinnias irresistible. The flowers are a rich source of nectar for the butterflies and many butterfly gardening suggestions almost always include a zinnia planting. Hummingbirds are also attracted to the rich nectar producing flowers.

Where the butterflies go, the bees will be there as well. Zinnias are attractive not only to the honeybees but also to the native bumblebees. Both are very important pollinators and essential for higher yields of vegetable crops from the garden. Native bumblebees, similar to the honeybees, have been declining in population because of mites, habitat loss, and pesticides. A garden patch of zinnias will provide these necessary pollinators with a rich source of nectar.

Zinnias can be effectively used as a companion plant. The plants help to deter cucumber beetles and the tomato worm. Birds, like the hummingbird, eat the white flies which can cause serious damage to vegetable crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and potatoes. Of course a hummingbird feeder could also be used instead of a patch of zinnias, but it would be nowhere near as elegant as the flowers.

Zinnias are rather carefree and not bothered by pests so there should never be any reason to even come close to using any pesticide on the flowers. The one area of possible concern is powdery mildew and this can be prevented with ample air circulation and proper watering of the roots and not the plants. Zinnias, however, do not require a lot of water; they are fairly drought tolerant.

Once a heirloom variety has been chosen, planted and enjoyed, it is simple to save the zinnia seeds for the next season. Simply cut the spent flower, the color desired, and remove the seeds. Make sure to mark the envelop or jar regarding color and keep in a cool dark place until the next growing season. If using heirlooms, the result will be the exact color display as the original.

Zinnias, named the flower of the 2011 by the National Garden Bureau, are worth a spot in any vegetable patch . They were chosen because they are "popular, easy-to-grow, widely adaptable, genetically diverse and versatile." Zinnias, for all of their outstanding qualities and rewards to both the gardener and beneficial garden wildlife, are deserving of a special plot in the backyard vegetable garden the next growing season.