The Best Zinnias for Cuttings

The cheery colors and thin stems of zinnias (Zinnia spp.) make them excellent flowers for cutting. They’re easy to grow, but they don’t ship well, so planting your own is the best way to have them on hand for vases and bouquets. The genus Zinnia includes annuals and perennials native to Mexico, the southwestern United States, and Central and South America. The kind grown for cutting, Zinnia elegans, is an annual in all U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones.

Plant zinnia seeds or starts in well-drained soil amended half-and-half with compost. Choose a site in full sun after all danger of frost has passed. When the plants reach 18 inches tall, pinch the stems back to where they have only four to six leaves. This encourages side branches to grow longer for cutting. The taller types of zinnias often need support, such as peony cages or tomato cages, so their stems don’t break. Water the plants regularly at the base, not overhead, to help prevent powdery mildew. Harvest flowers early in the morning.

Pennsylvania State University conducts zinnia trials to determine worthy cultivars for commercial flower growers. The trials showed that the "Benary’s Giant Series" was the most mildew-resistant cutting type. Other grower favorites include the "Cut and Come Again Series," the "State Fair Series" and the chartreuse zinnia cultivar, "Envy" (Zinnia elegans "Envy").

"Benary’s Giants" have strong stems that reach 4 feet tall. The flowers are fully filled double blooms and come in more than a dozen clear, bright colors. They reach 4 to 6 inches across. This series also is known for its long vase life. The plants have multiple branches, so they provide plenty of blooms. They come in single colors as well as color blends, such as "Hot Crayon Colors," which mixes reds, oranges and yellows, and "Cool Crayon Colors," which offers lavender, rose, pink and white.

A few of the most in-demand zinnias for flower arranging are the chartreuse-flowered "Envy" and "Benary’s Giant Lime." "Envy," an heirloom cultivar, is a pale yellow-green flower atop 2-foot-tall stems, but the newer "Benary’s Giant Lime" (Zinnia elegans "Benary’s Giant Lime"), also known as "Green Envy," is a deep, vivid chartreuse and reaches 3 to 4 feet tall on many-branched stems. There's also a new double form, "Envy Double" (Zinnia elegans " Envy Double").

This mix of red, red-orange, pink, yellow, maroon and white single and double flowers grows on 3 to 4-foot stems. An old-fashioned variety from the 1950s, it isn’t as mildew resistant as newer varieties but remains a favorite with home gardeners. The "State Fair Mix" blooms slightly later than "Benary’s Giants," yielding puffy, 4-inch blooms on vigorous, upright plants.

Also known as the Pumila series, the "Cut and Come Again" series is an heirloom zinnia mix that reaches 3 to 4 feet tall. Its 3-inch, double or semi-double flowers come in shades of cream, coral, rose pink, orange, red-orange, yellow, gold and magenta and have a rounded form. A sturdy plant and vigorous grower, "Cut and Come Again" provides blooms all summer long. Like other older varieties, it is prone to mildew in humid climates.