Are they Zinnia?

A few months back a nearby neighbor offered us a Dahlia plant after seeing our little garden. Apparently this is the last plant that survived out of a set of five that he had brought from Ooty while visiting a friend. When he gave it to us it was middle of a hot summer and how much ever we tried we could not save it. We transplanted it from the plastic mug it came with to a nice grow bag full of soil+sand+manure mix but still the plant wilted quickly. We know it is the climate to blame.

But this did not stop me from dreaming for a Dahlia in the garden. So we bought dahlia seeds from the Sunday market vendor( for Rs.10) and I sowed initially five seeds. The vendor had already warned us that it would take some time for the seeds to germinate but even after a month gone, the seeds did not germinate.

So as a final attempt I emptied the entire packet into a small container and left it in the parapet wall leaving it to fate. After a 10 whole days nothing happened and so I decided it is going to be waste of the money paid and time spent. But after a dash of panchagavyam a set of tiny leaves showed up. I knew it was not dahlia but I was happy that at least something is growing from the seed mix.

This something turned out to be a most productive ornamental plant that gave out a flower within a month with only three set of leaves. I know it is only three set of leaves to be exact because I had been watching it like a hawk to see the flower and to know the plant type.

When I saw the flower I vaguely remembered that I had grown it in the past thanks to a gift plant from my schoolmate and I guess its name was Zinnia(the internet search confirmed it).




This too I think is a kind of Zinnia that came mixed in the dahlia seed mix.With just a couple of more leaves it has already given out two more buds and one of them is about to bloom.

At this rate, I am sure it will retain its title of most productive ornamental plant in our garden.