Think Zinnias Are Fleeting? Think Again - Here's Their Exceptional Blooming Time - The Practical Planter (2024)

Out of all the different kinds of flowers out there, there are very few flowers that are both long-lasting and ones that have bright and vibrant colors in them.

If you want to decorate your home or your yard with plants that look beautiful, there is more to the floral world than just daisies and lilies. For example, if you enjoy plants that bloom for long periods of time, you may want to consider the idea of adding zinnias into your garden bed of flowers.

The zinnia flower is one that comes in just about every color that the human eye can pick up. These plants are considered annuals, meaning that once they are done blooming, that is the last time that they are going to bloom for the year and you aren’t really going to see them unless you purchase them again.

Zinnias themselves, being warm-season-based annuals, will begin to bloom shortly after they thaw out from the first frost of springtime of the region you are in. The flowers always look so delicate and fragile, but they are surprisingly comfortable to the touch.

The typical size of a zinnia is going to be somewhere between six inches and four feet tall, although this can vary wildly between the several different “series” of zinnia plants. There are four main types of zinnia plant that you can purchase at the store.

Because there are so many different variants of the zinnia plant, they are divided into families. Some zinnias out there fall into a category known as the Elegans family. The Lilliput series will provide tall yet small double blooms and will generally stand about 18 inches tall.

The Zesty series will grow to about 24 inches in height and produce tall double flowers, meaning that it is going to be a little bit larger than the Lilliput series. The Button Box series will have double and dahlia-shaped blooms, and these plants can be considered the runt of this bunch, growing to no more than 12 inches tall.

On top of this, there are also several different colors that make up the zinnia family. The zinnia category can cover any color and there have been recorded cases of just about all the different colors that zinnias can come in.

The type of zinnia is divided by the color, rather than the size of the plant.

In the Zinnia Angustifolia family, there are four types of main zinnia that you will encounter. There will be the “Cascade Beauty,” which is a plant that will produce white or yellow flowers and will typically grow to about 10 inches in height.

The “White Star” series has a mounding habit, and will typically grow to be about 12 inches tall with white flowers coming out of it.

The “Classic” series has flowers that usually only grow about eight inches tall, although they have a tendency to spread. Finally, there is going to be the “Crystal Yellow” series.

This series of zinnias will produce yellow flowers and will grow the tallest out of this bunch, reaching about 14 inches in height.

Now that you know a little bit more about what you can expect from the zinnia flowers, you can now begin to focus on how long your zinnia plants will bloom, and what you can do for your precious zinnias to ensure that they live for as long as possible.

How Long Are the Blooms Going to Last?

Zinnias are known for their ability to bloom for a considerably long time. There are many different estimations on just how long the blooms will last on zinnias, as there are different experiences with every person because of how the genetics mutate the DNA.

With that being said, the amount of time that someone can spend keeping the blooms of a zinnia alive is going to be somewhere between 60 days and about five months.

Typically, zinnias will begin to bloom in the late spring when you plant them in the early spring or even in the very late winter.

Once they have been put into the ground, they will not stop producing blooms until the first frost hits, effectively killing off the plant because it is not equipped to handle the cold very well.

As a rule of thumb, because zinnias are unable to handle cold temperatures very well, it is important that you only begin to plant them after the last frost of the year has passed.

In the best of circ*mstances, your last frost will usually be within the mid-spring months, and the first frost of the year is usually going to be in the late autumn months.

What this means for you and your zinnias is that you can easily expect about half a year of blooming gorgeous flowers from your plant. There is a very good reason why many people appreciate zinnias and keep them inside and outside as home décor.

Speaking of home décor, if you want to keep your zinnias around for as long as possible, you are going to want to make sure that you are doing everything that you can do for them so that they are getting all of the nutrients that they need.

There are quite a few ways that you can make sure that your zinnias get all of the resources they need to produce healthy, beautiful blooms for the better part of the year.

Keeping Your Zinnias Healthy and Happy

When all is said and done, zinnias are considered to be extremely low-maintenance plants. Of course, you should water the zinnias whenever it hasn’t rained for a week or two.

You should always make sure that your flowers have no signs of rot or any other infection. However, there is a bit more that you can do for your flowers than this.

Zinnias are plants that appreciate being able to get as much sun as possible. If you can, you should try to plant your zinnias in an area where they will have full exposure to the sun at all hours of the day.

The more sun that the zinnia can get, the more vibrant its coloring will be when it is finally time for them to bloom. At minimum, you should aim for the zinnias to get at least six hours of sunlight each day.

You should also add compost and fertilizer. It is important to make sure that you know what you can add to the soil to make it more beneficial for the plants. Fertilizer is not going to be as good as compost for these flowers.

With these methods, you can do everything in your power to provide your zinnias with as many resources as you possibly can.

By doing this, you are doing what you can to ensure that the flowers and blooms that the zinnia produce will be as vivid, strong, and beautiful as you need them to be.

Before you know it, you will have a batch of beautiful zinnias that you can give to someone special, or you can simply look at them and admire them from your backyard.