'Zinderella Lilac' Zinnia Seeds

Fleuroselect Novelty Award Winner 2014

The Zinderella family of zinnias burst onto the scene when peach won Europe's Fleuroselect Novelty Award for its unique color and very unusual flower form. Known as scabiosa blooms for their resemblance to pincushion flower (scabiosa), these double blooms are eye-catching from way down the street, and boast so many layers of petals they are often as "tall" as they are wide.

'Zinderella Lilac' offers big crested pompon blooms of bright lilac with a delicate cream "halo" around the central eye. Reaching 2 to 2½ inches wide, these blooms boast a pompon of tightly-clustered short petals above a skirt of longer, daisylike petals. During warm days and warm nights, you will see 10-15-20% single flowers. When day and night temperatures differ, double blooms will appear. Very distinctive.

And like all zinnias, Zinderella is long-lasting in garden or vase. The blooms attract pollinators and "good bugs" that can help repel pests from vegetable crops and other flowering varieties, so scatter your zinnias where you like—they help the whole garden.

One of the very easiest annuals to grow from seed, zinnia can be direct sown into the warm spring soil of the annual bed or begun indoors in the Bio Dome. It grows in a flash and blooms heavily. A "cut-and-come-again" annual, it sets new buds as soon as the old flowers are cut or deadheaded, so it repeats reliably all summer. 'Zinderella Lilac' reaches about 25 to 30 inches high and 15 to 18 inches wide, with good branching and masses of buds. Make it part of your sunny bed and best containers this season.