I am enjoying my new crop of zinnias – ‘Zin Master’, planted in big terracotta pots. I have been cutting most of the flowers in hopes of getting actual long stemmed zinnias – something that has always eluded me, my zinnias are always very short in stature. These are the longest stems I have ever grown and have a wiry appearance that I like. I visualized this vase as a Zen Ikebanaesque arrangement with winding stems of zinnias intertwined with the Min – Miniata Bromeliads. It was not to be, the glass frog serving as a base was not up to the challenge of the weight of the flowers. I had to add rocks on top of the frog to keep everything upright. I ended up not having a very Zen flower experience at all. It is what it is. A soup bowl filled with flowers.
The Zin – ‘Zin Master’ Zinnias grown from seed started around the first of May. I am enjoying the color mix, but thought I would get some different types of zinnias. I guess these are semi-double something. I bought some Cactus Mix seeds this week to spice things up. I am not quite sure what will happen in mid July with seed starting. Always an adventure.
The Min. These are Miniata Bromeliads (Aechmea miniata). A reliable summer flowering shade perennial, if one can think of bromeliads as perennials. The tropical plants always twist my mind a bit in sorting out what they are – house plants, perennials, epiphytes, plain weird? The big green leaves in the back are from a coleus and the vase is actually a soup bowl.
That is all from South Florida this Monday. I’ll be seeking further garden Zen from Zinnias this week. Follow the link to visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden and see what’s appearing in other vases this week. Or soup bowls.
The Shrub Queen 
So many zinnia blooms, wonderful. That Bromeliad bloom is so tropical and bold, I love it!
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Thank you, Tracy. They are surviving the heat.
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You are certainly the Queen of Zinnias with such a lovely range of blooms.
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Thank you, Noelle. I hope they carry on.
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Hmm, yes, a long-stemmed zinnia is something to aspire to but at least you have lots of blooms! And less than2 months from seed? Wow! I like your soup bowl very much, whatever is going on at its base – and the bowl itself is the perfect colour for the blooms
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I’m wondering if the seed catalog photos of long stemmed zinnias are photoshopped??! I bought the soup bowls at an estate sale, no idea how old they were, two or three perished and I have this one left – it makes a good vase this Monday. Now I want soup for dinner.
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Haha, yes, perhaps!! Homemade soup and bread and cheese is one of my favourite meals… (not homemade cheese, and not always homemade bread!! 😁)
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Exactly what I had for dinner – no homemade cheese included.
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😁
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Well, that’s the prettiest soup bowl full of flowers I’ve ever seen, Amelia! I love that bromeliad too. I’m regretting that I haven’t purchased and planted any Zinnia plugs this year as my seedlings are barely past the germination stage.
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
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Thanks, Kris, I bought a fresh pack of zinnias recently and they really took off.
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Gardening (and flower arranging) is ‘always an adventure.’ Your attempt at a Zen moment in flower arranging made me smile. Some days just seem to go that way! 😀
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I love it Amelia! That souo bowl/zen vase is perfect for your zinnias. And the zinnias are beautiful! The colours are lovely and they look really healthy and fresh. I have had no success with them in recent years so gave up. The ‘mins’ are the ideal companion for a bit of extra height too. 😃
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The title made me giggle because I went to high school with several kids from Vietnam. Three young ladies who were typically together were Linh, Minh and Ninh, like L, M, and N with inh after them.
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Yay for those Zinnias! Min Masters with max. effect 😉
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Perfect combination of forms and colors. I love zinnias…the bromeliad is new to me. Lovely.
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Thank you.
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Hats off to you, Miss Zinnia! Best use of zinnias I’ve seen and great title.
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Thanks, Susie. I just cut some more.
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