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Origins
Zinnias are simple, cheery garden flowers that are related to the black-eyed Susan, marigold and aster. The father of modern plant nomenclature, Carolus Linnaeus, named the flowers after Johann Gottfried Zinn, a professor of medicine in Goettingen, Germany, in the mid-18th century. It's part of the Asteraceae family and is native to the Americas, including Mexico, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona and Texas. It's been commonly referred to as youth and old age, presumably in reference to the flower's multiple layers.
Their showy, dahlia-shaped double heads are supported on stiff, coarse-textured hollow peduncles, or stalks, and have similarly rough oval or heart-shaped leaves. The stalks are very efficient water conduits, but zinnias that are cut too early will turn limp. Therefore, buy them only when the flowers have opened. In addition, avoid purchasing zinnias that exhibit evidence of powdery mildew or other fungal infections such as leaf spots. |
