This may not be the prettiest of vases, but it is nevertheless very much a Small Success Story: a vase of zinnias. My first vase of zinnias!
It could have been a slightly fuller vase, but I didn’t want to take too many flowers from the cutting beds (the most colourful part of the garden) before our last two group visits this week. The pink ones are from ‘Lilliput Mix’, named for the size of the blooms, I think, rather than their height, and the orange and yellow are supposedly ‘Orange King’. After problems in previous years with timing of sowing, I thought I had cracked it last year only to find the resultant healthy seedlings overshadowed by other plants in the cutting beds and barely flowering. Despite better planning, there was still a degree of that this year too but at least I have some flowers; next year I shall dedicate one cutting bed purely to zinnias in anticipation of even better results!
Do you think this coffee pot fridge magnet looks a little like a cup to be awarded for this Small Success Story? It is certainly shiny enough – and what pretty shadows surround the vase too!
Next week I hope to be more generous with my blooms as I shall have said goodbye to garden opening for another year and will once again become a little more relaxed about the garden and its contents. Even just picking a solitary bloom for a vase would have brought pleasure and if you would like to experience the pleasure of IAVOM yourself then just post your own vase (with any number of blooms – or even no blooms!) and leave links to and from it in the usual way.
Rambling in the Garden 
Bravo! You did it. I think it is a splendid idea to dedicate a space to Zinnias only. Then you could cut to your hearts content. You deserve a trophy for all the hard work you do to bring Zinnias to life.
Oh thanks Lisa – at least it would give them the space to do their own thing properly!
Congratulations! Gorgeous colours. I love the inventive award Cup!
Thanks Sandra – it was either that or a tiny brass bell shaped weight!
They are so delicious against the blue! It is my first year growing Zinnias too, and I am really enjoying them. There may not be the variety of Dahlias, but they are truly fascinating, and so good in the drought!
We are always learning in gardening, aren’t we?
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I love zinnias but haven’t got any this year, so well done to you for growing them successfully and for sharing them with us. Admired Zinnia Purple Prince in the garden of friends last year. Glad you can relax a bit now after the garden open days which were a success no doubt. I’m expecting people tomorrow, always a bit reluctant as it’s so dry in July but it rains at the moment and things will start to perk up. Here’s my vase: https://personaleden.wordpress.com/2018/07/16/in-a-vase-on-a-monday-remembering-aunt-jessie/ Happy summer days to you both xx
Thanks Annette – only semi successfully this year though! Tues/Thurs evening for my group visits this week, then they are done with. Hope yours goes well today
what do you mean with semi successful? hope it wasn’t disappointing for you?
Oh, semi-successful in terms of numbers on the Sunday which were less than we had hoped for as England were playing in the World cup! Overall we will have had more visitors in total though and raised quite a bit more money as plants have sold better
i thought zinnias were supposed to be easy but my success rate has been hit or miss. my first try was glorious but since then not so much. perhaps next year i will buy a couple of six-packs as they are just too lively and colorful to do without. i tend to crowd them into a vase but your sparser approach leads to an appreciation of individual blooms…and oh those shadows!;
I would love to be packing lots into a vase – but that won’t happen yet!. I don’t think I have ever seen them in the UK to buy as plants, but I suppose they must be abvailable mail order form somewhere. Germination and growing on has never been a problem, it is just the failure to thrive. Oh and slugs like them too!
Glad you shared your zinnia success with us today–a shiny medal is definitely in order. Lovely! I admire zinnias for their beauty and colors, but also for their steadfastness through hot and often dry summers. Thanks for hosting.
I wonder if the hot and dry conditions have aided my zinnia cause here, Susie? It sounds as if it might have done
You not only deserve a cup for the Zinnias but also for having visitors on so many occasions this year. Hope you enjoy for garden for the rest of the season as well. Sensing in more ways than sight and smell: http://noellemace.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday-bright-sunshine-and.html
I am slowly learning lessons from In a Vase on Monday posts 😄. I love zinnias, such vibrant colours. This is my contribution this week. https://wp.me/p1jkAI-3As
We have all learned from each other’s vases over the years, Ronnie, and will no doubt continue to do so. Glad to know you are enjoying joining in
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Well done you!
As I said in a previous IaVoM post, I’ve struggled with some Zinnias in the past, but mine have been better this year. I do think they like the heat, and boy, we’ve had plenty of that this year!
Here’s mine – a few more Zinnias from me too, but not your zingy colours
I am beginiing to think it is the heattand not my care and attention that has caused them to do better!! And you now have sweet peas!!
Aren’t the colors pretty.?Mine have all been crafted out of paper.But then that is what I do. Some day my garden will be alive again.
They are indeed – and why don’t you share your paper flowers IAVOM? We would love to see them
Anyone can go to moreinkpleaseblog.com My tech skills are not to good when it comes to posting on someone elses blog. ???
I see your blog is also on WordPress – the easiest way is to check out the Help and Support or Walkthrough and Tutorials and it will show you how to add a link from any of your posts to another blog, and to add a link to your post from another blog, like this one. It is a simple procedure – honest! Your paper tiger lilies are gorgeous!!
Thank you. I just wish I knew someoned one on one with me one this. iImight even blog more often if I knew what I was doing.
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What brilliant colours your zinnias are Cathy and they look fantastic against the bright blue backdrop! Glad you now have a chance to relax and enjoy your garden (and not worry too much about the watering.)
Here’s my offering this week:
https://carrotsandcalendula.co.uk/2018/07/16/in-a-vase-on-monday-around-the-world-and-back-again/
Can’t ‘relax’ till after Thursday, Ciar, but we will be even more pleased to get the back sitting room back to normal and all the refreshement paraphernalia put away for another year!
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those zinnias looks ace. Ive never tried growing them. Maybe next year. I’ve written about pinks, Pimms and wimbledon – slowly catching up 🙂 lohttps://viewsfrommygardenbench.wordpress.com/2018/07/16/in-a-vase-on-monday-in-the-pink-with-pimms-and-tennis/
The zinnias shouldn’t be started too early, and defintely don’t like to be overshadowed, as I have discovered
ah do i need to grow them inside to start off with? I don’t have a green house or space for one 😦
They are half hardy but if yoo had a warm and sunny window sill you could manage without a greenhouse.
Ah brill – I’ll make a planting plan with my cosmos for next year 🙂
Yoo? I meant ‘you’ of course!!
oops here’s the link:
I support any and all Zinnias ! I will be growing more next year too . Here is this weeks vase https://gardenbook-ks.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday-go-big-or-go-home.html
Hurrah all round for zinnias, it seems!
Here in North Carolina I have a raised bed of only zinnias—so easy to sow and to cut! Zinnias are such happy flowers, so I wish you great success!
Thanks Martha – hopefully they will be a BIG success next year and not just a small one!
Brilliant. I have the same issue with Zinnias. I bought some heirloom lavendar Cactus Zinnia seed to try this year. I think mine need to be sown in the next month to plant in late September or something like that. Here is another mad tropical vase http://theshrubqueen.com/2018/07/16/in-a-vase-on-monday-summer-surprises/
Thank you for hosting!
Crikey, knowing when to sow things must be difficult for you!
Looked up crikey.Sounds worse than it means. Though, crikey is right! I will figure it out someday. Tomatoes are the real mystery.
Language is so interesting, and ‘crikey’ makes a change from ‘good grief’ as an interjection! 😉
I’ve never opened my garden to visitors, I fear it would make me a nervous wreck. Hooray for your success at growing zinnias from seed! I love growing from seed. I planned to do zinnias this year but time got away from me. My vase post is here: http://bonneylassie.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday.html
It has actually been fun – nearly every visitor has been absolutely lovely and we all share a common interest. It does take a lot of work – but at least it is a target to work towards and of course it raises money for charity
Well done for winning the cup! I’m pleased you managed a crop of Zinnia and the shadows are interesting. I have always struggled with them which is annoying as everyone says they are easy. Mine are coming and some are beautiful shades. Good luck with your final openings this year, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it and then you can start planning for next year. I already have as seed list but can’t even contemplate moving anything at the moment as we are still dry as a bone. Here is my link:
http://ablogaboutcompost.blogspot.com/2018/07/miniature-in-vase-on-monday.html
Thanks Alison. I have just sown some perennial seeds but will need to watch they don’t dry out as there is no forecasted end to the current weather as yet. I have been dropping pots of fillers into the borders but kept things in their pots for ease of watering, so I can remember where they are. Hope you are still managing to grow what you need for your new business in these conditions
Yes, it’s all going fine thanks. My ‘crops’ had water early in the drought as they were small plants whereas the border plants are suffering as I didn’t water them early enough. The promised rain for today never came. 😦
That’s good to hear – it is a tough summer for little businesses like yours. Here, have only had a couple of very brief sprinklings
The “winning cup” has definitely been earned by your zinnia success. I’ve not grown them for many years but this post, and those of others who grow them beautifully, makes me want to give it a go again. I’m certain that your guests loved seeing your garden and were grateful for the opportunity to see, in person, the gorgeous garden you share online. However it’ll be nice for you to have your garden back as your own and be able to relax a little. My container today isn’t a vase, nor did I cut anything but plonked plants inside instead: https://outlawgarden.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-mondayfoliage-follow-up-size.html
Thanks Peter – yes, when everyone else is sharing them it makes one wonder why we have been going wrong! But I have persevered, and hopefully next year they will be even better
Beautiful zinnias! I didn’t plant any this year and sometimes wish I had. They aren’t over fond of our (usually) wet summers, though. The little coffee pot does look like a trophy, and I love the way you captured the shadows! Lovely!
Just a simple wildflower vase for me this week:
http://heirloomcottagegarden.weebly.com/blog/in-a-vase-on-monday-fireweed
Thanks Joanna – and the shadows were incidental, but very pretty! I wonder if anyone has had a wet summer this year…?!
Congratulations on your Zinnias! The flowers give a lot of joy, especially to butterflies, so they’re worth growing. I planted my own seeds late and then compounded that error by providing inadequate water and no pinching so mine are making a poor showing thus far this year. Finding flowers for a vase is getting tougher but maybe my dahlias (also planted late!) will come through before summer is a memory. Here’s my post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday-welcome-blooms.html
Best wishes with your next open days!
Thanks Kris _ I was trying to rember if I pinched mine out or not…I am sure I did… I am certainly glad I have persevered with them. Hope your dahlias bring their delights soon
The only zinnias that I ever grew were in a nursery that produces ‘color’ such as annuals, flowering perennials and bedding plants. I have never grown them in my garden, and have certainly never taken them as cut flowers!
They certainly seem to be popular as vcut flowers amongst bloggers Tony!
I have managed to join you Cathy. I love zinnias especially my niece of the same name.
https://digwithdorris.wordpress.com
Glad to have you with us again Dorris. Now, niece of the same name – Dorris, Zinnia or Cathy…? 😉
Cathy your Zinnias are divine, I like each variety very much. They are beautiful. The detail of the mini coffee maker is nice. Congratulations for winning the Cup. You deserve it for all the work and dedication to the garden before opening it to the public. I would like to grow Zinnias, is it very difficult without a greenhouse? They are such beautiful flowers that I would like to try to have them in my garden. Greetings from Margarita.
Thank you Margarita. The zinnias are half hardy so ideally should be started under cover but probably a sunny windowsill would be OK if you have not got a greenhouse
Oh I share your excitement Cathy having seen my first ever zinnias get to the stage when they have produced flowers 🙂 I think that you deserve a big shiny cup never mind a little ‘un. No vase from me today – rain and I mean serious rain stopped play this evening when I was all set to snip. I’m off out soon with my torch 🙂
I admire your zinnias, Cathy – I’ve not had success with them yet. They are rather tantalizing when planning for cutting! 😉
Finally I am posting a Monday vase again, after playing hooky for I don’t know how many weeks! Here is today’s offering: https://www.smallsunnygarden.com/2018/07/17/in-a-vase-simply-summer/
I love the idea of a cutting garden. Enjoy some downtime.
Thanks Lisa – I love my cutting beds!!
I will have cutting beds one day again.
Stick with that aim, Lisa!
Thank you for this!