The heat and sun of this summer ‘did for’ lots of plants in the garden but it did suit some other plants. Every year I grow tall zinnias for cutting and they usually do quite well. Famed for their hatred of root disturbance, I sow them in individual cells in April and then plant them in a raised bed with good soil – usually alternating with carrots in the adjacent bed. They also like sun and warmth and, because I was able to water them regularly, they have done well.

The problem I have is that, no matter what seeds I sow, I never get many doubles and they are rarely the colour I want, and pay for. So this year I bought the most expensive F1 hybrids I could find (F1 Florist series) in four colours – light pink, dark pink, white and green – and off we went. I have to say that they have been astonishing, with strong, long stems and the flowers keep on coming.

The plants are now about 1.5m high. But I am still disappointed that, although the pinks are largely double or semi-double, most of the green flowers are single. As it turns out, people didn’t like the green zinnias anyway so I won’t grow them again – even though I like them. I was also surprised that there were some ‘off colours’ – near scarlet – in the pinks, which I did not expect of F1 hybrids. But they have done well. Now the weather is cooling down and morning dews are more common it is increasingly important to cut the stems just above a pair of leaves when picking and to remove any dead leaves to reduce grey mould.

The flowers are very popular with bees and butterflies and I leave some fully open flowers for them. The flowers last at least a month with the starry, yellow disc florets opening in succession as the ray florets gradually fade.

double zinnias, Florist zinnias, how to grow zinnias, when to sow zinnias, zinnias as cut flowers