Posts Tagged With: Zinnia acerosa

Easy to Grow Native Zinnia

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Gardening With Soule

 

Say Zinnia

Say “zinnia” and most people think of the garden flowers. A pleasant annual for the summer garden, available in shades of oranges and purple. A bit old-fashioned perhaps, although the plant breeders keep trying to entice us with exotic new hybrids.

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Having grown up in the Sonoran Desert, to me “zinnia” means Zinnia acerosa, a low growing native shrubby perennial occasionally encountered on hikes. Only later, when I interned in Philadelphia, did I encounter the colored, non-shrubby garden varieties.

Landscape with Desert Zinnias

Here in the Southwest, desert zinnia are occasionally planted in the low water landscape to help “fill in” spaces, since it is a diminutive plant reaching about a foot tall when it gets ample water. It’s under-utilization in the landscape is a shame because it deserves ample space in every wildlife garden. Desert zinnia is excellent for attracting many of the smaller native butterflies.

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Planting Desert Zinnias

You can purchase desert zinnia in pots from nurseries, plant them in well drained soil, and water to help them become established. If you are thrifty, nice way to get desert zinnia established in your yard is to plant them as seed. If desert zinnia live near you (and they are distributed in the desert areas of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas), simply collect a handful of the paper flowers and scatter them in the landscape.

You Can Grow That

Ideally scrape a shallow hole around a quarter inch deep, sprinkle the seed in, and cover with soil. This is to hide it from the voracious seed eating birds. Add water once a week, and soon you will have a number of plants. It’s ease of establishment and hardiness from USDA Zone 10 to Zone 6 have lead to Zinnia acerosa being included in revegatation mixes.

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Prairie Zinnia
Consider the prairie zinnia, Zinnia grandiflora. Found in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, as well as Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas, it grows on plains in the foothills and other dry habitat. Like it’s desert cousin, the flowers are a nectar source for butterflies, and the plant a low-water user. I haven’t tried growing it from seed but it should just as easily establish from seed as it’s desert cousin.

Zinnia grandiflora TBG

JAS avatarIf you live in Southeastern Arizona, please come to one of my lectures. Look for me at your local Pima County Library branch, Steam Pump Ranch, Tubac Presidio, Tucson Festival of Books and more. After each event I will be signing copies of my books, including the latest, “Southwest Fruit and Vegetable Gardening,” written for Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico (Cool Springs Press, $23).

All photos (except where noted) and all text are copyright © 2016, Jacqueline A. Soule. All rights reserved. I receive many requests to reprint my work. My policy is that you may use a short excerpt but you must give proper credit to the author, and must include a link back to the original post on our site. Photos may not be used.

Categories: Flowers, Landscaping, Native Plant, Xeriscape, You Can Grow That | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Fall Flowers in Southern Arizona A, B, C

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Gardening With Soule

I love fall in Arizona! The heat of summer is over, and yet the soils are still warm for growing. If we had a decent monsoon season, summer plants are still blooming and the autumn bloomers are starting.

Listed below are some of the fall blooming plants found in southeastern Arizona.  Note we do have mountains, so some of these are only found on the tops of the Sky Islands, or on the slopes, like the ceanothus.

For me it is time for a field trip to capture some of these beauties on digital media, plus see if there are seed available to scatter in my yard for up close enjoyment next year.  I will also be collecting some seed for the Desert Legume Program (DELEP).  Note that all of these do grow well from seed in our alkaline soils, just plant them twice as deep as they are large (1/2 inch seed goes 1 inch deep).

Since the entire list is three pages long, and I do not wish to boor the gentle reader to death, we will look at A, B, and C to start with.

 

Abutilon abutiloides – shrubby Indian mallow

Abutilon incanum – pelotazo

Abutilon parvulum – dwarf Indian mallow

Abutilon reventum – yellowflower Indian mallow

Acacia greggii – catclaw acacia

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Acacia greggii catkins are followed by reddish brown seed pods.

Acalypha phleoides – shrubby copperleaf
Agastache wrightii – Sonoran giant hyssop
Allionia choisyi – annual windmills
Allionia incarnata – trailing windmills
Almutaster pauciflorus – alkali marsh aster
Amaranthus fimbriatus – fringed amaranth
Amaranthus palmeri – carelessweed
Ambrosia confertiflora – weakleaf bur ragweed
Anaphalis margaritacea – Western pearly everlasting
Anoda abutiloides – Indian anoda
Anoda cristata – crested anoda
Argemone pleiacantha – Southwestern prickly poppy
Arida arizonica – arid tansy aster
Aristolochia watsonii – Watson’s Dutchman’s pipe

Aristolochia watsonii_flower

Aristolochia watsonii flower. Granted you do have to get close to see it, but the pollinators seem to find it just fine. Photo taken at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.

Asclepias linaria – pineneedle milkweed
Baccharis salicifolia – mule-fat
Baccharis sarothroides – desert broom
Bahia absinthifolia – hairyseed bahia
Baileya multiradiata – desert marigold

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Please don’t pick the wild daisies! But you can collect the seed and grow them in your yard for bouquets next year. Common name is desert marigold, although it is in a different sub-family from the true Tagetes marigold.

Bidens aurea – Arizona beggarticks
Boerhavia coccinea – scarlet spiderling
Boerhavia scandens – cimbing wartclub
Bouvardia ternifolia – firecrackerbush
Brickellia coulteri – Coulter’s brickellbush
Calliandra eriophylla – desert fairyduster

Calliandra_eriophylla_bloom_ASDM

The desert fairyduster may bloom more than once per year, if we get the rains for it. This photo was taken outside the Hummingbird Exhibit at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.

Calyptocarpus vialis – straggler daisy
Castilleja tenuiflora – Santa Catalina Indian paintbrush
Ceanothus fendleri – Fendler’s ceanothus
Chamaesyce setiloba – Yuma sandmat
Cirsium ochrocentrum – yellowspine thistle
Commelina dianthifolia – birdbill dayflower
Conoclinium dissectum – palmleaf thoroughwort
Convolvulus arvensis – field bindweed
Cosmos parviflorus – Southwestern cosmos
Crotalaria pumila – low rattlebox

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Zinnia acerosa, the desert zinnia, grown from seed scattered in the unfenced area of the yard. Just to show you this will be an A to Z list.

JAS avatarIf you live in Southeastern Arizona, please come to one of my lectures. Look for me at your local Pima County Library branch, Steam Pump Ranch, Tubac Presidio, Tucson Festival of Books and more. After each event I will be signing copies of my books, including the latest, “Southwest Fruit and Vegetable Gardening,” written for Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico (Cool Springs Press, $23).

All photos and all text are copyright © 2015, Jacqueline A. Soule. All rights reserved. Photos taken at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum are denoted as per 2012 agreement.  I receive many requests to reprint my work. My policy is that you may use a short excerpt but you must give proper credit to the author, and must include a link back to the original post on our site. Photos may not be used.

 

Categories: Landscaping, Native Plant, Xeriscape | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

You Can Grow That – Desert Zinnia

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Gardening With Soule

You Can Grow That

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Low growing and lovely, the desert zinnia will bloom for months on end in a watered landscape.

 

Want a cute, low growing perennial plant that flowers for months on end and attracts butterflies to the garden?  Furthermore this plant is a native plant that survives well in our arid environment.

Permit me to introduce you to the desert zinnia (Zinnia acerosa). Common names also include wild zinnia, white zinnia and spinyleaf zinnia.  It is a popular landscape plant in the southwest due to its low water use and long bloom period.  The books say it is hardy to 0 º F, and USDA Zone 6, and I can report that here in the wild areas of my yard it tolerates over 100 º F for months on end with no additional water.

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Just the foliage doesn’t look like much – wait until it blooms!

 

Growth Conditions for Desert Zinnias

Soil. Desert zinnia are often found in sandy soils, thus your soil should be well drained.  If you have clay or caliche, add some compost and sand.

Light.  In nature, desert zinnia are found in full sun and in the fringes of shade under palo verde trees.  Not in full shade.  Also, avoid sites with reflected light.

Water.  Desert zinnia live in the Sonoran desert in areas that get 5 inches of rain (or more) per year. But!   If you have a pampered plant from a nursery, water daily for 2 weeks after planting, then gradually taper this off.  From seed?  See below.

Fertilizer.
Like any flowering plant, fertilizer will help the plant produce prolific bloom.  Desert zinnia ancestors are tropical species, so only fertilize in the warmer months.  When in doubt – go with my “big three” for fertilizer – Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.

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Planted from seed, the plants will live in the landscape for years.

 

Start From Seed

One easy way to get desert zinnia established in your yard is to plant them as seed. If desert zinnia live near you (and they are distributed in the desert areas of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas), you can simply collect a handful of the papery flowers and scatter them in the landscape.

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You should find 5 or more achenes or “seeds” per flower. This size variation is normal.

 

Ideally scrape a shallow hole around a quarter inch deep, sprinkle the seed* in, and cover with soil.  Covering the seed is to hide it from the voracious and ever present seed-eating birds such as quail and doves.  Add water once a week, and soon you will have a number of plants.  *Plant nerds know that what most people see as “seed” are technically achenes –  a fruit with one seed inside.

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Desert zinnia looks lovely most of the year.

 

Enjoy

Desert zinnia will bloom with the winter rains and again with the summer rains.  If you look closely you will see that some of the blooms are long dried past flowers, but since they are only about 8 inches tall, I tend to enjoy them from standing height.

 

Where the Name “Zinnia” Comes From
The genus “zinnia” was named by Linneas in honor of Johann Gottfried Zinn.  Zinn was a German anatomist, ophthalmologist, and botanist born in 1727 and died in 1759.  Zinn was a professor of medicine and served as director of the botanical gardens in the university town of Gottingen.  He was one of the first to render an accurate description of the eyeball and he investigated the vessels and nerves of the eye cavity.

Zinn traveled in Mexico where he collected seeds of Zinnia elegans (from which the garden zinnias descend).  He also collected several species of my dissertation plant, Tagetes. While in Mexico he was accosted by bandits who, after searching his bag, left him alone, believing him crazy and therefore unlucky.

 

 

JAS avatarIf you live in Southeastern Arizona, please come to one of my lectures. Look for me at your local Pima County Library branch, Steam Pump Ranch, Tubac Presidio, Tucson Festival of Books and more. After each event I will be signing copies of my books, including the latest, “Southwest Fruit and Vegetable Gardening,” written for Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico (Cool Springs Press, $23).

 

All photos and all text are copyright © 2015, Jacqueline A. Soule.  All rights reserved.  I receive many requests to reprint my work.  My policy is that you may use a short excerpt but you must give proper credit to the author, and must include a link back to the original post on this site. Photos may not be used.

Categories: Landscaping, Native Plant, You Can Grow That | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

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