Zinnias are one of my favorite flowers. I carried them at my wedding (grown by my parents and uncle… a tradition all of the girls in my family have done since!) and this year I set out to grow my own. I planted them from seed in June. Early on I had some spotting on my leaves (which I attribute to excess moisture from crummy gutters that above!) so I tended to them carefully - removing the effected leaves and cutting stems often. The result is a gorgeous bed of cuttable flowers that will keep blooming into the fall (I hope!) 

And a bonus? They attract bees and butterflies like crazy! The bumble bees sleep on them at night and I’ve captured at least six different varieties of butterflies so far and today I saw a green hummingbird (too fast for my camera skills). 

My kids love them too. Felix is allowed to help me cut bouquets and Bea just grabs the colors she likes (which is fine by me.. we have plenty!)

Since i’ve had good luck with zinnias, next year we’re going to do a large bed of them in addition to some other flowers - probably dahlias too. I hope I have enough to start a table at the market! We shall see!