Short report: “Cresto” Zinnias

  This is the first year I’ve grown the “Cresto” zinnia series, and of course, the variety I chose was “Cresto Orange. ”  The photo above shows the pom-pom center surrounded by a row of petals, the form the “Cresto” zinnia is supposed to have.  Of the fifty I planted, there were 3 with the desired form.  Several more were acceptable, looking like this but by far the majority of orange flowers look like this and are quite small, only about 2″ across, which while disappointing are at least in my color scheme.  Unfortunately, over half the plants have flowers like this (cheery yellow is nice but I have lots of other yellow flowers so don’t need yellow zinnias)    or this (gasp!) deep rose

or even worse, like this painful

  RED!  So, my carefully planned color scheme screams in places, but it’s too late to begin again, and the butterflies enjoy them all, so I’m just gritting my teeth as I pass.  There are no certainties when growing from seed, but I’m already searching the catalogs for a better variety to grow next year.  How do you handle surprises in the borders?

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