The Floret Original Zinnias: Are they worth the $? An honest review of 4 new varieties

If you have anything to do with the flower world, I am sure you have heard of Erin Benzakein and her team at Floret Flowers. She is a widely known and respected flower farm and breeder and just launched new varieties of zinnias, celosia and dahlias this past year that she has been breeding for almost a decade. I got my hands on 4 varieties of zinnias and in this video I will show how they all look and give you my opinion on... Was the hype correct? Are they worth your time and $?
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Dani

[@janeb1400]

Floret seeds have just landed in Australia which is exciting. I have ordered the unicorn zinnias and one of the celosias. Wish me luck!

[@summerskyegardens]

@@janeb1400 Yay good luck! Let us know how they do for you!

[@squeesplort]

I LOVE my Floret unicorns!! Each one is unique; only 2 singles. Also my packets had 60-75 seeds instead of just the 25 advertised

[@rachaelbrown1726]

I am really impressed so far. I ordered dawn creek peach, precious metals, alpenglow, and unicorn mix. The dawn creek peach and precious metals just started blooming. Excellent germination, and the plants are really robust and don't have powdery mildew like other zinnias so far. The precious metals I have so far are so unusual and beautiful. The blooms I'm getting are a grayish purple and do look like a metal. The peach are a beautiful subdued color. So far all mine are single blooms. I'm looking forward to see what the unicorn mix and alpenglow turn out like. It was worth every penny to me. 🌸

[@summerskyegardens]

Happy to hear that, yay!

[@pcjrao]

I purchased Alpenglow and Precious Metals and have found that my plants are not as hardy as other varieties I have grown in the past. For the price, I don’t feel it was worth it and I probably won’t purchase them again. The Celosia, on the other hand, is doing very well.

[@summerskyegardens]

Happy to hear about the celosia! What's happened to the zinnias? Disease or small plants?

[@lehhan5056]

I feel the same way… I purchased Precious Metal and honestly for the price I’m not impressed. 8:57

[@daniellegrows2498]

They are all so beautiful! Thank you for taking the time to share them with us.

[@summerskyegardens]

Thank you for watching!

[@nnagle9224]

I agree - the flowers are wonderful and it's lovely not to have just hot "Crayola" colors. I did get a good mix of fluffies, ombres, and two-tones.

[@bloomsbyamelie]

I’m also growing the Floret Zinnias seeds. Mine are not in blooms yet. I’m a little disappointed by what I’m seeing to be honest. Looks like a lot of single petals. I already grew a mix called Peaches and Cream from a Canadian supplier so I’m really hoping the Floret zinnia will deliver what was marketed. When you look at the pictures and videos of her new series they are all these beautiful double blooms. I’m also growing the celosia and so far they are extremely short.

[@summerskyegardens]

I have found you give the zinnias some time and they bulk up, although as I said in the video certain varieties seem to have more doubles than others!

[@carolhendley760]

My unicorn mix has just started blooming and I’m in love. So far I’ve had some s beautiful pink/lime bicolors, pink/orange as well. My first thought was that they look like candy!

[@summerskyegardens]

Sounds delicious!

[@marielyencasa]

Thank you for the video! I was so worried. I bought them because I love zinnias. I’m a backyard gardener and I though I was doing something wrong because they were small. Beautiful, but small…. I really appreciate this video! Love your channel 😊

[@summerskyegardens]

Thank you so much, glad to hear it!

[@carlynmydarlin]

Thank you for showing the difference between these different varieties. I couldn’t tell any difference while on the Floret website.

[@summerskyegardens]

@@carlynmydarlin Glad it helped!

[@flowerbelly]

Oo the Golden Hour zinnia colours look just like the Apricotta cosmos! Gorgeous!

[@summerskyegardens]

They'd look very pretty together!

[@robingrunzweig1880]

howdy! happy to have seen your video come up in my video list this morning.. love Floret Flowers altho i am just a hobby gardener here in southern california... i felt for your heat though as i grew up in south texas (victoria)... i don't miss those hot, high humidity days altho we get pretty warm out here in socal in the summer... loved your review, happy to meet you, and i hope you had a big glass of ice tea or lemonade waiting for you at the end of your zinnia session... 🥰🥰🥰

[@summerskyegardens]

Haha yes thanks for watching! I definitely enjoyed a cold sparkling water and better yet, a cold shower, after!

[@melaniebusmc]

Gorgeous. The germinations was awesome for me.

[@summerskyegardens]

Happy to hear it!

[@anniewildmush1284]

im in montreal i got vicotias wedding and alpen glow.. cant wait to see them bloom. i dont regret my purchase just to help her going to go forward. i bought glowing amber celosia also :-) dahlia bees choice

[@summerskyegardens]

Yes I agree, I'm happy to pay more to support businesses like hers that give back so much!

[@dianetetz438]

Great to see them growing! Due to my northern clime I started them inside. A cool Spring so waiting to plant outside. Good germination for me.

[@summerskyegardens]

Glad to hear it!

[@Sunny14136]

Very helpful video. Thank you! Hang in there with that heat.

[@summerskyegardens]

Thank you! 30 years in Texas and before the Louisiana so I feel like I'm so used to it by now! 🤪

[@GrowRoots23]

Thank you for reviewing these varieties! I am always looking for new varieties of Zinnias, and I haven't ordered from Floret before. Good to hear the reviews on them before spending the money. I'm still not sure it's worth it for me since I'll be growing for myself and my gardening channel, not necessarily selling them in any way. I'm not sure yet!!

[@summerskyegardens]

Thanks for watching! And I'll say too even if I wasn't selling I'd still buy and grow them just for me, zinnias are my fave flower!

[@serenababy6358]

Thank u for sharing this info. I didnt notice a huge difference in the varieties and I thought the seeds were sooooo expensive! I bought benary and 2 queenies from Johnny's (and growing for the first time).

[@summerskyegardens]

You'll love the Benary and Queeny! I think there can still be some improvement in the Floret series but so far really liking the colors

[@karenzorn773]

Thanks for review, flowers look amazing, I’m in Houston where are near in S. Texas. I’m a big zinnia fan as well, I also grow sunflowers, have you heard of SunFlower Steve?

[@summerskyegardens]

Hey where in Houston? I'm up north in Splendora :) I love Sunflower Steve! I'll be growing his sunflowers later in the summer/fall

[@deborahjump9156]

Hey I'm moving to just outside of Huston between Conroe and Cleveland but closer to Conroe in the next couple months

[@theboojiefarmer]

Our temps in SoCal are finally heating up….im excited to see some growth on my zinnias lol Loved seeing yours! Thanks 😊

[@summerskyegardens]

Thank you! Always so interesting to hear how different regions are in temps throughout the year, I'd habe thought Cali was already hot but guess not!

[@theboojiefarmer]

@@summerskyegardens where I live, we had a delayed spring due to all the rain and cold temps. Finally reaching 80s this week. Wild!!

[@doramaldonado4460]

My first floret “precious metals” zinnias popped up! Can’t say that I am thrilled (so expensive) but definitely not disappointed! I think the flowers know they have pressure because I lost quite a few as seedlings! 🌺🌸

[@summerskyegardens]

Fingers crossed!!

[@ginny.harrison]

I lost alot as seedlings too. Both the precious metals zinnias and certain celosias.

[@kathrynburgess8987]

I didn’t have the best germination. About 50%. Mine haven’t bloomed. Looking forward to see how they bloom.

[@summerskyegardens]

Did you start indoors or direct sowed?

[@meconilla]

Two years ago I got Little Flower Girl. Good germination, flowers as described. Smaller flowers in nice soft colors. I also got Unicorn then. Not like the photos, too much variation, and lower germination rate. This year I got Golden Hour and am very pleased with it. Good strong plants, mostly semi doubles in a lovely creamy color that gets more pink with age, and with only small variation. I'm saving seeds from these.

[@summerskyegardens]

So happy to hear that!

[@cjoseygirl70]

I'm growing Alpen Glow, Precious Metals and Victorian Wedding. I'm still waiting on Blooms from Precious Metals, but Victorian Wedding so far is my favorite. Im getting some amazing colors from them. I noticed the Alpen Glow and precious metals seem to not be as vigorous as Victorian Wedding.

[@summerskyegardens]

Interesting to hear!

[@allysonrogers9701]

Thanks for the review!

[@summerskyegardens]

Thanks for watching!

[@nicholasryan5401]

Greetings from Ireland, Beautiful zinnias, They are the bees knees.

[@summerskyegardens]

Howdy! Yes I agree!

[@judyrobinson2282]

Very cool! Just wondering if you have in the past grown Johnny's Seeds Zinderella peach and Queeny Limes--they have that more peachy, pastel look. If you have, love to hear how they compare with the Floret series. I am trying the above varieties but up here in the Pacific Northwest they are only 3 inches high yet after a cool wet spring. Heat has now arrived so we shall see!

[@summerskyegardens]

Tried both of those. Not a fan of Zinderella at all - I only get small singles. Love the Queeny series and still grow those- overall those are fluffier but smaller than the Floret.

[@judyrobinson2282]

@@summerskyegardens Fascinating! I will be very interested to see what I get! Will let you know!

[@melvinleopoo]

Bought 6 packs of Floret. Around 40 plants grew from all those packs and survived. Some of the zinnias are absolutely beautiful (e.g. the orange with pink interior petals and a pink center). However, I also had full packages only germinate 2 seeds. That was disappointing and not worth the money. I can't justify $20 for 25 seeds with that germination risk. Price point needs work for me to purchase again. I had one lovely muted red one that was a strong double, absolutely stunning, but I only had one flower that way and haven't seen that color or style since in my flower patch.

[@summerskyegardens]

@@melvinleopoo Sorry to hear you had germination issues. Let me know how you start your seeds and I can help troubleshoot any other issues!

[@melvinleopoo]

@@summerskyegardens I start by putting seeds shallowly into progro soil in a 72 tray situated under growlights on a timer in a temperature controlled environment with mostly bottom watering or misting depending on how dry the soil gets.

[@marialeguizamo5673]

That’s. Bummer on the singles. Didn’t get many fluffy as many as she advertised.

[@summerskyegardens]

@marialeguizamo5673 I would definitely recommend waiting, they get fluffier the older the plants get. But yes a handful of singles, although they are pretty!

[@marialeguizamo5673]

@@summerskyegardens I was referring to your video. Mine haven’t bloomed yet

[@sallyloosli4379]

Did you direct seed? If so what was the germination time?

[@summerskyegardens]

Definitely no! I start most things indoors, and especially a $20 pack of seeds. Took 2 days to germinate

[@sallyloosli4379]

@@summerskyegardens one more ? If you don't mind.. soil blocks or cells?

[@ilenehales7849]

Are you saving any seeds from the fluffy Alpen Glow

[@summerskyegardens]

I'm definitely saving seed from all of them!

[@GibbsJaneAnne]

What zone is Summer Skye?

[@summerskyegardens]

9b

[@susandobbins1313]

I had horrible germination.

[@summerskyegardens]

Really?? Describe your setup, maybe I can help. Mine were all great!

[@nevilleandpixie]

Did you direct sow or start indoors. I’m in SW Washington, and this is the first week of great temps, so mine were mostly started indoors. I’ve been unsuccessful at direct sowing them so far, but had almost 100% germination by starting them inside. It may have to do with our weather, or maybe they just do better being started in a greenhouse or indoors.

[@rubyoro0]

I had terrible germination too. I had no problems with queen lime, benary salmon, Zowie, Sahara. Wish I could get my money back.

[@rli3772]

My zinnias were okay but the germination rate for my dahlias was close to 0 😢

[@Lacoux]

I got 50% germination on my dahlias indoors.

[@rubyoro0]

Can’t believe I got duped. The terrible germination makes it even worse.

[@summerskyegardens]

Can you describe what happened? Maybe we can troubleshoot?

[@ChristieHarris-ys3wq]

Vancouver Canada here. Me and my neighbour are disappointed that most of them are singles. I feel like she false advertised and we all fell for it. She needs to separate the singles and doubles.

[@summerskyegardens]

I agree the pics definitely show a ton more fluffys than singles, but I'll say as mine have gone on I'm getting probably about 50/50

[@barbaraaria]

I bought them…Texas….none of them germinated😢

[@summerskyegardens]

Oh no! How did you start them? Maybe I can help?

[@barbaraaria]

@@summerskyegardens I usually just broadcast them in the garden bed that gets nice sun and water from a sprinkler system. I have always had super displays of zinnias, so I splurged on these $25 seeds! Because the seeds were so special, I scratched up the beds, planted them carefully, tossed new garden soil over them….but not deep at all! Then I watered and watched the bed carefully, watering when needed. Nothing! I’m super disappointed!

[@nevilleandpixie]

If you have any left, try starting them indoors. I had a nearly 100% germination rate with mine. I haven’t had luck with direct sowing yet, but it could be because of our weather (it’s just starting to warm up in SW Washington).

[@Lacoux]

Just to let you know if you don’t cover your flowers and they cross pollinate, you will be cross breeding your varieties of florets.

[@summerskyegardens]

Yes I know that. I use organza bags to isolate individual flowers

[@katjoy9921]

To me all the flowers from all the lines looks the same. Pretty but all pastels pink, peaches and creams. Nothing dramatic.

[@summerskyegardens]

@katjoy9921 I think overall yes, but there are definitely some subtle differences between varieties. Just have to determine if it's enough for you to grow them

[@juliepuhr9806]

I Liked the dahlias better. The zinnias were blah

[@summerskyegardens]

@juliepuhr9806 Yes I can't grow the dalias where I live, so can't speak to that, but the pictures I've seen from everyone look great!

[@CindyKane-qi5ln]

Not worth the hype or the price!

[@summerskyegardens]

Many share this opinion!

[@alihuebner9086]

@@summerskyegardens I'm another floret victim. Not a single double out of the 4 packet of seeds I bought and the plants were severely stunted. All my other zinnias did fine!