Whirlygigs, Persian Carpets, and Envy are all part of the Zinnia Collective Launch.
On Tuesday May 16th a small group of people gathered to share a lovely lite meal, get to know each other and select their zinnia seeds to grow out for the 2023 growing season. Present were farmers, seed keepers, master gardeners, and community organizers all excited to learn from each other and grow an array of these cheerful sun loving blooming species native from Colorado to Guatemala.
Buds of a Seed to Seed Blooming Collective
Seed Keeper, educator and farmer Abby Fenton and CCSL organizer Dawn Lamm had been following each other’s Instagram accounts and then Abby reached out to CCSL and a conversation started around seed saving and seed libraries. Inspired by a video of saving Zinnia seeds that Abby had made for a friend and the book the Zinnia Breeder’s Handbook by Tiffany Jones, Abby and Dawn knew that the easy to grow Zinnia was an appealing foil for exploring the wide range of forms and colors found in this Genus and the fun of growing and saving the seeds from beautiful flowers!
Envisioned as a three year project where participants would spend the first growing season (this season) growing out seeds they had selected from a collection of commercially available open pollinated varieties, sharing their gardening successes and maybe even a few failures, selecting their favorite blooms to save seed from and if they are feeling particularly adventurous, hand pollinating to breed something new.
During this growing season the collective will meet a few times to share knowledge, growing tips, make a field trip to see Zinnias in a flower farming setting, and then celebrate the 2023 Zinnia growing season with a harvest seed swap with a few surprises mixed in.
In years two and three we want to expand on the successes of the previous season while increasing the amount of seed that can be shared in the community. Perhaps we will identify a particular example that the collective wishes to grow out to a new mix or grex stability.
And then there will be the work of the bees and the happy accidents.
Zinnias: A Flower with a Long Complicated Colonial History
The Zinnia genus has about 20 different species and was first cultivated in the gardens of New Spain around 1500. As all members of the Asteraceae family, zinnias are composite blooms that are made up of many individual flowers as are other members of this family like black-eyed susans, sunflowers, and dahlias
In the 18th century the flower was brought back to Europe by German botanist, Gottfried Zinn. And of course he named them zinnias. Those first zinnias were bright shades of red, orange , yellow and white.
A Zinnia for Every Garden
Today Zinnias have been bred to be one of the most diverse blooms with forms that resemble daisies to dahlias. They come in every color except blue. Breeders have selected for petal shape, petal color and reverse color, size, and longevity. They are the backbone of many a farmers market bouquet and the home cutting garden. With a very short germination period and a long bloom time, these are a fail safe option for preschoolers to flower farmers.
Join the Collective
Are you interested in joining this learning community and exploring the infinite possibilities of Zinnias? Email Dawn DLamm@comoseedlibrary.org or Abby Fenton Fenton.Abby@gmail.com for more information.
