Zinnia elegans Queen Lime Orange

Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Orange' is a variety from the renowned Queen series, whose cultivars can boast refined colours. This one has won the Fleuroselect 2019 gold medal and the Innovation Award. It presents a well-double flower with an original colour: a mix of light orange and chartreuse green, around a red heart. It blooms continuously from summer to autumn and ass well as adorning flower beds and borders, brightens up floral compositions. This annual plant is easy to grow in the garden. It can be mixed with other equally undemanding flowering plants.

Zinnia elegans is a robust annual plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, native to Mexico, which has given rise to numerous cultivars. 'Queen Lime Orange' forms an erect and branched clump that reaches an average width of 30 cm and a height of 80 cm. Its stems are hollow and relatively brittle, adorned with rough and hairy lanceolate to elliptical, medium green leaves. Flowering occurs from June-July to September-October, and it is nectar-rich. The flowers appear in the axils of the leaves, they are beautiful 7 cm wide heads, with fine ligules that overlap abundantly. They surround a rounded centre of pinkish-red. The flowers are followed by numerous seeds which self-seed in light soils.

Zinnias are rightly appreciated for their ease of cultivation. They also show great resilience in conditions where other plants struggle. Zinnias thrive in the sun and withstand high temperatures well, as long as they are watered a little. They do best in neutral, rich, and well-drained soil, but they can also tolerate ordinary garden soil. Plant them in ornamental gardens, borders, and flower beds, and in the vegetable garden. Combine zinnias with informal, naturally charming plants such as sages, perennial geraniums, and Coreopsis. Clumps of ornamental grasses with their spikes mingling with zinnia flowers create a beautiful display. They can also be sown in pots to decorate the terrace in summer. It is a nectar-rich plant that will delight bees and butterflies.