Zinnia - Peppermint Stick (Zinnia elegans) Candy Stripe Single Bloom Zinnia Flower
Zinnia - Peppermint Stick (Zinnia elegans) Pepper Mint Dahlia Like Zinnia Flower
Annual
Height 36 in
If you love variegated blooms ...this bud's for you! Peppermint Stick, also known as common zinnia, is an herbaceous deciduous plant with a dense, bushy, mounding habit of lanceolate leaves and a fast growth rate. Candy striped petals boast color from summer to fall, and usually blooms until the first frost. This Zinnia looks fabulous when grouped or massed in beds, and is an excellent choice for containers, cutting flower gardens, cottage gardens and borders.
Each two inch daisy-like single bloom is unique; petals are cream and yellow, and have stripes and spattered shades of red ranging from scarlet, crimson, rose, and vermillon, to purple and orange. Single blooms attract and are a excellent source of nectar for our beneficial pollinators, specifically bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Although zinnias are low maintenance, pinching young plants out promotes a compact, bushier plant. Remove the foliage and don't be afraid to cut off side shoots on the mainstem just harvested; deadheading the spent flowers keeps zinnias blooming. Zinnias are a 'cut and come again' flower - when you cut the plant 'hard', it responds by sending out even more long, strong stems all season long!
- Full sun
- Rich organic well draining soil
- Direct sow zinnia seed after the last frost - as soil can be worked; cover seed very lightly and keep the soil moist until all seedlings appear. Thin out to 12 in apart.
- OR start seeds indoors 4 weeks prior to last frost, acclimatize sprouts for 10 to 15 days, and transplant seedlings after all threat of frost has passed
- Germinates best at 21 C (70 F)-reduce heat after 3 – 4 leaf stage to 15 C (60 F).
- Germinates: typically 7 to 10 days
- Spacing 30 cm (12 in) apart.
- Succession planting every week or so for several weeks extends the flowering period
- Seed Count: 1 gram