Annual / color · North Texas care guide
Zinnia elegans & 'Profusion'
Nursery Pro tip: Butterflies, cut flowers, and heat that would kill anything else. Profusion never mildews.
The great summer cut flower — bright daisies in every hot color, June until frost, growing fast from a small plant and asking for nothing but sun. 'Profusion' and 'Zahara' series stay low, tough and mildew-resistant; the tall cutting types reach 3 ft.
Full sun and good air circulation. Any bed with drainage; they don't want rich, wet soil. Space 10–18 in apart depending on type — crowding is what causes mildew.
April and May, once the soil is warm; they grow so fast that a second sowing in June extends the season. Root Stimulator at planting, light mulch.
Weekly, deeply, at the base — never overhead. Dry leaves are healthy leaves with zinnias.
Light feeding at planting and once midsummer. Too much makes floppy plants.
Cut flowers constantly — the more you cut, the more it blooms. Deadhead anything you don't cut. Shear a tired planting by a third in August for a fall flush.
Powdery mildew on the tall old-fashioned types, especially with overhead watering — choose Profusion or Zahara and water at the base. Japanese beetles some years; spider mites in drought.
Cutting gardens and butterfly beds with marigolds, celosia and lantana. Butterflies prefer the single-flowered types.
Written for Rockwall's black clay, heat and winters by the Landscape Source team. Every yard is different — bring a photo by, or ask LS-Ai, and we'll tailor it to your spot.