For superb tolerance of heat, wind, and drought, you simply cannot find a better Zinnia than Persian Carpet Mix. These double and semi-double blooms pop up all over dwarf plants, beginning in early summer and usually going right up to frost. For cut-flower magnificence and nonstop color, there's nothing to equal Persian Carpet Mix!

This heirloom selection is a Mexican Zinnia -- Z. haageana rather than our more familiar Z. elegans or garden zinnia -- and has a dwarf habit. The plants are just about 16 inches high and no more than a foot wide. Yet from these small annuals burst forth dozens upon dozens of brilliant blooms over an incredibly long season!

These flowers measure about 2 inches wide, and sport every color in the Mexican zinnia family: yellow, gold, orange, and burgundy shades are dominant, but you will also see some whites and pure reds sneak in. Most blooms are bicolored, with contrasting centers and/or tips. A few will be single. All will be long-lasting in garden and vase, and will bring butterflies and bees into the sunny annual bed or patio container garden all season long!

All Zinnias are easy to grow, but Persian Carpet Mix is hands-down the best for tolerating extreme heat, drying winds, and drought. This is the one you can fearlessly plant along the baking-hot driveway or sidewalk, or in that poor-soil sideyard that often gets forgotten at watering time. All this sun-lover needs is good soil drainage and a strong start in life!

Persian Carpet Mix is cut-and-come-again, meaning that as soon as you cut or deadhead one bloom, another will begin to set in its place. Keep the plants picked and you will have new flowers for months!

Direct-sow the seeds as soon as the soil has warmed in spring, or for even earlier blooms, start them indoors in the Bio Dome a few weeks before last scheduled frost. Mexican Zinnia doesn't like its roots disturbed, so if you are starting the seeds indoors, transplant them as soon as you can, while the roots are small. Then sit back and wait for the show! Pkt is 50 seeds.