Flower Power!

I have always loved Zinnias!  Back in the day, Dad always had several huge beds of these flowers in the front yard!  The bright colors would always bring a smile to anyone who saw them.  There is just something happy about Zinnias..they literally brighten the day!  With that in mind, it would not seem right if I did not have Zinnias planted in my yard as well.  Clumps of the plants are dotted throughout the flower beds and also in the vegetable gardens.  The oranges, yellows, purples and whites all add a bit of cheeriness to every corner of the yard.

Zinnias are an old-style flower.  Years ago, most cottage gardens would have multitudes of this plant mixed in among the more exotic plants.  Zinnias were (and still are) of the favorite of all home garden bedding plants.  Their rapid growth along with their hardiness makes for easy gardening.  Just plop a few seeds in the ground and more or less forget about them.  In a few weeks, bright blooms will appear and beautify the area.  Care is as simple as bit of fertilizer now and again, a good dousing with water when dry and a bit of dead-heading when the blooms become spent.  Zinnas also make wonderful cut flowers as they have the ability to stay fresh looking in a vase for quite some time.  And, trust me, there is nothing more charming than a canning jar filled with multicolored Zinnias sitting on the kitchen table or a bright windowsill!  

Now I find that perhaps Dad was a bit smarter than he let on to be!  These same Zinnias have quite a protective effect on the vegetable gardens!  Not that the plant itself does the job, but rather these blooms call in all sorts of wonderful critters that are beneficial to the garden.  This is especially so if the garden is infested with Whiteflies!  Little known to most folks, Whiteflies are the culprits behind the awful leaf curling in tomato plants.  If you have ever had a perfectly healthy tomato plant literally "curl up and die" then most likely the Whitefly is in the garden.  These are tiny critters that really take a trained eye to find in and amongst the leaves but their damage is clearly evident!  The leaves will curl and within a day the plant starts to wither and turn brown.  No matter what action is taken by the gardener, the tomato plant dies.  Enter the happy little Zinnia plant!  Zinnias intermixed with vegetables that are susceptible to Whitefly attacks will attract hummingbirds, bees and wasps!  These predators dine upon the Whiteflies and thus save the tomato plants!  (Yes!  Hummingbirds do eat tiny insects contrary to most folks ideas!)   Just to throw it in here at this point..another good flowering plant to mix in with the veggies is the Nasturtium!  It works in quite a different way as it provides certain root chemicals that can deter the Whitefly!  Plus, with the Nasturtium..you can always add the flowers to your meal!

So...Zinnias..those bright, happy flowers pull a double duty!  The task of keeping the veggie garden free of some pests falls nicely on its list of positive characteristics.  Oh..and as an extra bonus..the plant will usually reseed itself!  In early spring, just watch for the tiny plants to start sprouting and make sure to not hoe them out when preparing the beds for planting!  Zinnias..one of my favorites!