Hello Owl,

I just ordered and received Linda Beutler's book, "Garden to Vase, Growing and using your own cut flowers" where she provides conditioning information on hundreds of flowers. Your post was timely as I just read this a few hours ago when I picked my first zinnias of the season. "Although zinnias can last as long in fresh water as it does in foam (nearly two weeks), it dislikes preservatives. At harvest all but the leaves closest to the flower should be removed. The leaves divert water from the flower, and zinnia foliage does not age as gracefully."

I hope this helps. By the way, I am really liking this book. Her sense of humor will crack one up. She seems to be well qualified as she is a floral designer and has experimented with many flowers to determine the best conditioning method. She also teaches at her local community college and I believe she teaches floral design. My only fault with her book is that I would like more photos. She provides information on several flowers (both annuals and perennials) with which I am not familiar and I feel I really know my flowers.

Good luck,

Teresa

Teresa, Thank you for answering my post so quickly. I always take off any leaves that will reach the water in a vase. I picked last evening for the market this morning and some of the zinnias I brought home are already wilting. I will not be able to take them to market tomorrow. Maybe it is the variety I planted. What have you guys had good luck with?
owl

What a shame about your flowers! Ms. Beutler refers to the variety, zinnia elegans, in her book. And, she recommends planting the antique variety "Envy" and claims you will be jealous of others who have it if you do not grow it!

Maybe as an experiement, try removing all the leaves from a zinnia and see if that helps? Won't look great in a bouquet but might lead you to the best method? She mentions in the book that one should experiment with various conditioning methods to see what works best. Start with several flowers and treat each one differently and see which one lasts the longest.

BTW, I read her article on zinnias after mine were cut and in a vase so it will be interesting to see if my homemade brew of water, sugar, white vinegar and bleach adversely affects them as she claims they do not like preservative water.

Teresa

That is a terrible thing. I"ve grown zinnias for years here in our zone. I'm in Madison. My zinnias last for at least a week, and I'm not very good about changing water. I cut them early in the am. I strip off the lower leaves, and have a vase of water with me and plop them right in. They do like to stay in water, they drink a fair amount right after picking.

Owl,

Since you are having a problem with your FIRST picking of zinnias, I suspect that you are cutting them when they are not quite yet mature. Immature zinnias and their weak stems will droop and not hold up. Try waiting for the blooms to open a bit more and stems to become more rigid.

I really appreciate the advice you all are giving me. I would love to add the beautiful colors of zinnias when I go to market. I am no longer on my first cuttings and I am still not able to keep them for more than two days. By the third day after picking they must be thrown out. Maybe I am picking them to late. I can't really tell how long they have been open when I go out to pick and only pick the flowers that look real good, but they ARE fully open when picked. I will pick some today that are not quite fully open and see how they do. I guess nobody else is haveing this trouble so it must be me. Thamks again.
owl

Owl
Cut Zinnias in the morning early or very late in the day. Try to cut them just as the pollen flowers are present but not showing pollen yet. Zinnias, need some of their leaves left on so they'll transpire or you won't get long vase life from them. I normally cut them into straight water and then put them into floralife to condition.
The best thing for you to do is experiment. Try cutting Zinnias at different stages of development into different mediums, straight water, preservative water, a mix of both, whatever. It's not necessarily the flowers. Your tap water could have something to do with it, it's a hard problem to diagnose, so play with your options.
Good luck Owl.
Cheers - Kim
Billabong Fresh Flower Farm

You mentioned that you picked them at night. Maybe you need to cut them in the early morning. I'm no expert, but most general cutting advice I've read recommends early morning and then put them into warm water. That might help.