// SPECIES PROFILE · CROP · NON-INVASIVE / CULTIVATED

Zinnia

Zinnia elegans

Zinnia elegans is the cut-flower-and-butterfly garden workhorse — direct-sown after frost, blooming continuously from July through hard frost in every color except blue, and consistently ranked among the top three annual nectar plants for butterflies in published trials.

// QUICK FACTS

Family: Asteraceae
Group: crop
Native range: Native to Mexico (well-behaved in OK)
USDA hardiness: Annual
Mature size: 2–4 ft
Sun: Full sun
Water: Average; drought-tolerant
Wildlife value: Top monarch + swallowtail nectar plant; zinnia + butterfly is the iconic pairing
Ecological role: non-invasive annual · butterfly magnet · cut-flower workhorse

Zinnia (Zinnia elegans) — *Zinnia elegans*. Photo via Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.

Field Notes

[ growing · ecology · siting · care ]

Single-flowered varieties like 'Zinderella' and the Profusion series feed pollinators best (double cultivars hide nectar). Old-school 'California Giant' and 'Benary's Giant' remain the standard for cut flowers.

Why it's on this list: non-invasive annual · butterfly magnet · cut-flower workhorse. Part of Rooted Revival's NE Oklahoma plant catalog — natives, ecologically positive non-invasive cultivars, and food crops worth growing in the Tulsa region.

Companion Planting

[ guild · polyculture · cross-layer pairings ]

In a kitchen-garden polyculture, zinnia pairs naturally with: american persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), american beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), maypop / passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), comfrey (Symphytum officinale), cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), and black cherry (Prunus serotina).

In a polyculture bed, zinnia pairs with the partners above for pest deterrence, pollination, and soil-building.

Zinnia

Field Notes

Companion Planting

Photo Reference