Zinnia breeding is a grassroots movement with plenty of information sharing. It is my goal to bring together more information about zinnia breeding over time, so check back. Meanwhile, here are resources that should get you started:
The best resource for beginners is a book, The Zinnia Breeder’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Flower Farmers, Gardeners, and Enthusiasts by Tiffany Jones. Clear and concise, the book covers everything from the parts of the zinnia flower to detailed instructions on hand pollinating and seed saving. It is available on Amazon for $42.
So far, that’s the only printed reference I could find, but there is a zinnia breeding community on social media. Instagram is particularly rich. Look for these accounts, follow them, and check out their previous content:
Tiffany Jones of Blomma Flower Farm in Gardnerville, NV, author of the aforementioned book, has many videos of her breeding and seed-saving projects including DIY seed cleaning equipment.
Floret in Mt. Vernon, WA, has an excellent team doing zinnia breeding, with lots of helpful videos.
Dawn Creek Farm in Santa Cruz, CA.
Windfall Flowers in British Columbia.
Additionally, Windfall Flowers has a Facebook group where people ask questions, share experiences and post great photos of their breeding projects.
Another Facebook group, Zinnia Breeding — A Learning Journey is well worth a deep dive. You have to request to join, but once accepted you can read the guide Zinnia Breeding 101. It will answer most of your questions. If you still have questions, use the Search function to see if the topic has been covered previously. This is a really fun site for scrolling back through members’ posts — you can see the many gorgeous colors and forms people are developing.
A spinoff from that group is called Zinnia Breeders Seed Share. Members can post seeds for sale or trade.
Seed Suppliers
Seeds from Italy sells seeds of my Prairie Peach zinnia plus a few other zinnia mixes. My family has owned Seeds from Italy since 2011, and we love these seeds from Franchi Sementi, Italy’s oldest seed company. If you visit the website to buy my zinnias, please look around and see what other seeds you might need. I promise you will be impressed with the selection and performance of these seeds!
Johnnys Selected Seeds sells four new mixes from their own breeding program. Johnny’s also has a large selection of other cut-flower zinnias.
Wild Garden Seed specializes in zinnias in bright colors with interesting variations such as bicolors and iridescent petals from their own breeding projects. Check out UV Bee Mix and Magic Bus, among others. Read all the descriptions for background on other breeding projects. Lots of potential here for the aspiring zinnia breeder!
A few people are selling seeds of their breeding projects. Most of these are in pastel color palettes, with the initial motivation being zinnias for wedding flowers. These seeds are in very short supply, so sign up to be notified about seed sales and “fundraisers.”
Open pollinated zinnias are available from pretty much every seed company that sells flower seeds; you will find dozens of options with a quick search. Remember not to choose varieties labeled F1 for breeding.
Flower Territory 
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