planting california giant zinnia seeds California Giants Zinnia Mix, Packet (100 Seeds)

planting california giant zinnia seeds California Giants Zinnia Mix, Packet (100 Seeds)California Giants is an heirloom zinnia variety that produces 3 to 4 foot tall stems topped with large 4 to 5 inch wide double flowers in a stunning array of colors including red, orange, yellow, fuchsia, and purple. California Giant zinnia plants bloom profusely right up until first frost and attract a variety of butterflies including monarchs, swallowtails, painted ladies and many more. What's more, their cut flowers make beautiful arrangements and

California Giants is an heirloom zinnia variety that produces 3 to 4-foot-tall stems topped with large 4 to 5-inch-wide double flowers in a stunning array of colors including red, orange, yellow, fuchsia, and purple.  California Giant zinnia plants bloom profusely right up until first frost and attract a variety of butterflies including monarchs, swallowtails, painted ladies and many more.   What's more, their cut flowers make beautiful arrangements and boast a long vase-life.  In short, if you are looking for an all-around beautiful zinnia, California Giants is the way to go.

Although some sources state that the California Giant zinnia traces back to 1926, the earliest record we could find for this variety was in the September 1928 letter of one Blue Island, Illinois gardener, who had written to Sun-Ripened Seeds of Pasadena, California to boast of his prize-winning giant zinnias, the seeds for which he had purchased from the company the preceding spring at an astonishing price of $1.00 (over $30 in today's dollars).  Such extravagance was probably not uncommon in the late 1920's and indeed, the gardener seems pleased with his purchase, writing that the handful of seeds had yielded a garden "filled with these wonderful zinnias, some as large as saucers" and had won him numerous prizes in local gardening contests.  The 1929 Sun-Ripened Seeds catalog lists 7 unique shades of Giant California zinnias, which they also describe as Mammoth Flowered zinnias.  By the spring of 1930, a packet of California Giants could be acquired for a mere 25 cents.

Thankfully, today one need not trade a steak dinner for a packet of California Giants zinnia seeds.  Generations of Americans have enjoyed the breathtaking beauty of this variety, and it remains as popular as ever with home gardeners and market growers alike.  Pick up a packet of California Giants zinnia seed today, and you too can bask in the beauty and history of this beloved garden variety.  Each packet contains a minimum of 100 seeds.