Organic. Period.

These zinnias were very pretty this year. They were a good mixture of singles, doubles, pom types, and the firecracker or aster types. And they were all in reds and pinks and lavenders, with a couple of whites mixed in. The plants grew to about 3 feet tall, and all had numerous branches with loads of flowers on each branch. I didn’t even need to do much deadheading, they just kept on blooming!

I’m saving a selection of seeds from several different flower heads. I’ll mix them all together in a bag and plant them next year as a surprise.

There is one problem with these particular varieties of zinnia, and that is the powdery mildew you can see on the leaves of the plants. Perhaps it was due to the abundant rainfall and  (normal) high humidity last summer.  It is fairly easy to control using MILK. Yes, spray the plants with milk mixed about half and half with water. Generally, the lower the fat content of the milk, the less aroma you will have. Regular milk can get pretty rank on a hot summer day. Even powdered milk works, mixed half strength with water. I just didn’t keep up with the spraying on my ornamentals last summer.

Milk is the easiest way to control this unsightly problem, and it works on squash, pumpkin, and melons, too. Any plant that can host powdery mildew can be sprayed with the milk spray to control it.

Back to the zinnia seeds . . . if you don’t get them cleaned up and composted, the birds will eat them. Goldfinches and other small birds love them. So do mice. Hang bunches of the dried seedheads upside down from a bird feeder pole or fence, and you’ll see some little birds out there picking away.

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