How to Plant, Grow, and Care For ‘California Giants’ Zinnias

Zinnias are a wonderful way to add quick and bold color to your summer garden. 'California Giants' do it in grand style. Join gardening expert Melissa Strauss to discuss growing and caring for your zinnias.

Zinnias are vibrant, low-maintenance flowers that we love for their bold, long-lasting flowers and easy-going nature. These members of the daisy family love warm, summer weather. A wide range of forms and colors makes them perfect for any sunny space in the garden.

From small single cultivars to double-petaled ‘California Giants’ zinnias, these cheerful flowers are always charming. Their long, continuous blooming season lasts from early summer until frost. Their high impact in the garden, paired with their strong appeal to pollinators, makes these zinnias a win in my book!
What Is It?
‘California Giants’ zinnias are an impressive heirloom known for their large, dahlia-form blooms in vibrant colors. They make an excellent addition to the cutting garden, with long-lasting flowers on tall, strong stems. Their beauty, coupled with their ease of care, makes these a fantastic addition to cutting gardens, containers, and flowerbeds.

Characteristics
‘California Giants’ is a large, flowering variety of zinnia characterized by its bold, vibrant flowers. They often reach five inches in diameter, making them one of the largest cultivars. The substantial blooms are usually semi-double to fully double, with a dahlia-like form.

The blooms in shades of red, orange, pink, white, purple, and yellow are attractive to pollinators. Butterflies, in particular, love to drink nectar from zinnias. Their wide, often open flowers are easily accessible to pollinators.

The plants are upright and branching, and they branch more when you cut and deadhead the flowers. They’re great for cutting gardens and the back of borders.

These begin blooming in late spring to early summer, depending on your climate. With proper care, they will continue to produce flowers right up until your first frost.
Native Area
Zinnia elegans is native to Mexico and parts of Central and North America. They typically grow wild in warm, arid, and semi-arid regions. ‘California Giants’ zinnia is a cultivated strain that is well-suited to a wide range of climates.

Planting
The best time to plant your ‘California Giants’ zinnias is in the spring, as soon as the weather is warm enough. While you can start them indoors early, they are easiest to sow directly in the garden.

These are a large type of zinnia, and they need some space to spread out. Keep this in mind when deciding on a location. Ideally, your plants will grow large and shrubby, producing an abundance of flowers.
How to Grow
‘California Giants’ zinnias are easy to grow and care for. They mature quickly and bloom in as little as 60 days. They are a great addition to the pollinator and cutting gardens.
Maintenance
Because they are annuals, there is minimal maintenance required at the end of the season. The most important aspect of maintenance for your ‘California Giants’ is deadheading. If you’re growing zinnias in the cutting garden, be sure to cut them regularly.

Make your cuts directly above a node with a new branch growing alongside the stem you’re snipping. If you’re growing them as ornamentals in your beds and borders, make sure you deadhead the spent blooms. You should also cut the stem all the way down to a branching node in this event. This keeps your plants sturdy and bushy.

Propagation
You can propagate zinnias by cuttings, but the method is not entirely reliable. Since they are annuals and it’s easy to propagate them with seeds, that’s usually the method of choice. Allow your seed heads to ripen at the end of the season and harvest seeds for the next season if you want more ‘California Giants!’