I'm a 69 year old granny and I am learning so much from you young gardeners, thank you. And, btw, you're beautiful inside and out!

“Your flowers and garden are growing, but don’t forget that you’re also growing”. Great advice for newbies and seasoned farmers! Very easy to forget to allow grace with ourselves.

Great video Jill. Very glad you’re giving yourself some Grace! No one is born “knowing” and you can’t know what you haven’t learned yet! At the age of 63 I’m still learning! Never think you’ve reached your learning cap. May God continue blessing you and your family. Stay safe.

Hey Jill, if you interplant nasturtiums with your zinnias they will provide nitrogen and ground cover and they are an excellent trap crop for aphids and, by extension, ants.

Jill, I’m 70 yr old & have been growing a huge garden for 50+ yrs. I am still learning something new every yr. 👍. It’s always a learning experience 😜

Girl you and Jess are the reason I started growing Zinnias! Queen Ann, Yellow canary bird, Cactus, Dwarf…I love them all!

I didn’t have originally pinch my zinnias last year but did cut them and learned later where to cut and I had beautiful zinnias from late spring all the way through November dec time. I’m in same zone as you. They did start to get some mildew end of season though. Point is even if you Pinch late they will still perform amazing! Just continue cutting and each cut will branch out, you don’t have to pinch early, Also a tip when to cut.. shake the flower head if wobbly not ready if it stays pretty sturdy and doesn’t wobble much it’s ready to Harvest. If you harvest too early they wilt in like a day or two. I learned that kinda late

Man, it was hard watching you pinch those flowers 💐 Now I’ve got to go do mine Lol 😆

My wife has been gardening for the family for over 30 years and she is still learning about gardening every year. We grow with our garden. Growing your knowledge throughout your life will always reap greater bounties at harvest time.

I love hearing the explanations for why you do things around the garden, if I do know to do something, it really helps to know WHY. Thank you for sharing all the info!!!

"Ziant Ginnias!" I love that I'm not the only one that switches things around in my brain. (@3:00) What a helpful video🥰 TYSM

"Just know that you are growing too." Love that.

I pinch every other zinnia because pinching makes MORE flowers, but most of my unpinched zinnias bloom sooner... I hate waiting!☺

Hi Dear Jill, FYI, every state has a no no in weather. I live inn Florida and have hurricanes for 1 and have had my house hit twice in 52 years of living hear. I lived in Tampa, Fl. 30 yrs, no issues near the bay. we transferred to central Fl. 22 yrs ago and had 2 hits on my well home. No one hurt. But 1 complete roof replaced first 10 yrs, and 1 roof patch after the guys tree next door fell our way 3 years ago. But we have been blessed, God is so good! Would not live anywhere else! Love your channel and you! God bless and keep you! Love, Norma (from Florida)

Those zinnias may be close together but they will sooo gorgeous when all are blooming!!

I am a 66 yr. old avid gardener. I think gardening is an adventure as well as an experiment & you will never ever know it all. That's why I watch this & other gardening video's, to learn new ways or to inspire my own ideas. HAPPY GARDENING!!!

As a flower gardener (and a new vegetable gardener) pinching flowers almost always gives you fuller plants with more blooms! Also, flowers love to be fertilized!

Jill, your flowers are beautiful. It is wonderful watching you walk through your decisions in your garden. Thank you.

I use organic cold pressed neem oil mixed with water and mild soap and spray both sides of the leaves to get rid of the garden pests up here in Michigan.🌿

I watched half of your video and went and pinched my zinnias. Can't wait to have more beautiful flowers!

Ive never started flowers before, but started Zinnias, Marigolds, Pansies and a whole bunch of flowers! I appreciate your encouragement more than I can express! Even just the germination, who likes to sprout in dark, or light...gah!! Pansies and Shasta Daisies are my favorites, but darn they are persnickety to grow from seed!! 😀 Ill know better next year! 🌻🐝🦋💜 Thank you again for sharing the pretty and the bumps! 💜 Have a beautiful day! 💜🦋

Thank you for pointing out the little things. As for me I've been around gardens but am quite aloof as to the difference between growing and growing well. It is one reason I watch Jess at Roots and Refuge and of she led me to you so glad I will still get to see the garden and thankful it was y'all who get to take it over. Lovenhugs and prayers, B.

Wisdom is Knowledge + Understanding

I'm so glad you posted this. I would have been afraid to pinch them back, thinking I was "topping" them. Great video!

🐦my favorite flower...the zinnia 😁

Bless you all in your new endeavors and moves.

I used orange essential oil on fire ants and it worked! I did 20 drops in 2 cups water in a spray bottle.

I have june bugs/beetles destroying my zinnias this year! Although my damage is entire leaves or plants being eaten - not small holes. I sprayed with a bit of water/dish soap which seems to help deter a little bit - but truthfully I’m just going out every night and hand picking them. Silver lining - bonus snack for my chickens!

Planting flowers in the veggie garden is a great practice. I've been planting stands of zinnias (semi-dwarf pumilla mix), nasturtiums, marigolds, calendula, and cosmos within my veggie plot. All from seed to keep my costs down,. Plus, I'll also let dill, cilantro, and some basil go to flower because the bees love the flowers, Also, we have a decent-sized herb plot in the garden-space, with lavender, thyme, oregano, sage, and borage. The result is, bees galore from June on. Since doing this, We've had no problems getting our peppers, squash, cukes, melons, and tomatoes fertilized because of all the bees and months. Whereas before, we'd often have to fertilize with a paintbrush.

Slugs. That was the cause of the holes in my plants (not zinnias but the holes look just like that). I put food grade diatomaceous earth around the base but if you don't want that route maybe slug traps. Come out at night with a flashlight and if it's slugs you will see them.

Jill I have to tell you that my daughter wendy and I partook in your seed swap and she had so much fun with that that she says she's gonna be a flower farmer now. So we are growing so many zinnias, cosmos, and other things that we got from our swap plus things we went a lil wild and bought all the pretty things. So thank you for taking on that swap. And I'm glad to be learning right there with you

Thank you so much for this video. You have taught this ole gal something new about the pinching the Zinnias. And you had me laughing about pinching off the bloom. I am the same way, it would be really hard to pinch off the blooms. You are such a great teacher and a beautiful soul! Thank you so much for sharing with us!

Yes, not only does it create 2 more shoots or branches, another thing or two that happens that is beneficial to the plant. That being more root density and all important stem strength. You may get straighter, stronger flowers for your cut flowers. You may have found something fun to do and get into selling some bouquets.

Thanks for sharing. We got a chuckle when you said “ziant Ginnias” . Love watching your videos.

I have insect holes on most of my zinnias almost every year too. Not sure whats doing it or how to fix it (I'm in zone 6b). But if you are keeping them for bouquets to sell you can just strip the leaves off when you harvest...that will give them a longer vase life anyways! Love watching your videos and I learn so much from you!

Your honesty is so refreshing. When you mentioned that you weren't familiar with pinching zinnias, I was so surprised, yet appreciative that you shared. I've had some type of garden for nearly 50 years and this is the first time I've pinched my zinnias! I could only pinch 3!! Using the analogy of pruning herbs was genius! Thanks for making it so simple! I feel so ridiculous now. So much simpler now. You're a lovely lady and I wish you the best of every season ❤. Let's grow! 😉

I will say this....I found you when you and Jess went to California to help your friend with her garden. I started following you then. The reason I love Jess so much is BECAUSE, as she is planting seeds, splitting her plants, walking the garden or even pulling weeds...she will most always mention some little side note to whatever she is doing and those are things that I am like "OH I didn't know that!" or "OH, that's why this is happening"...for me, I can't always sit and read on things bc of work, home life, etc...so when things happen, I often have no idea why. For example, when I planted my tomato seeds, my starts got veryyy tall...and I didn't have a clue that that wasn't really a good thing to let happen (again life happened and I didn't get to transplant them like I should have)...but one day, in passing, Jess just happened to mention that tomato plants can be planted very deep so if they got too tall, it wasn't an issue for them. She then did mention that not all plants can be planted that deep. I was very grateful for that little "nugget" of information bc I had no idea. So please, mention those things you may think everyone may already know. bc at least in my case, I am following you girls because I am new at this and have literally no idea what I am doing. LOL. I am in North Texas, by the Red River, also zone 7b...so if you happen to know things like, what you can do in Arkansas that may not automatically apply to all of Zone 7b, I'd love to know that too! ...and one thing I do not know is, why are you planting flowers? Are they just for resale? Color to the garden? Or can they be eaten? Thank you for all your videos. I enjoy them very much. ~Kelly

Thanks for the info on pruning. I am growing vegetables and zinnias for the very first time. I am using neem oil to control the insects and it has really been very effective. I put it in a $15 sprayer from Home Depot and I do it about once every two weeks. All the best!

Girl you are speaking directly to me today as I keep staring at my zinnias and peppers afraid to go for the big pinch 😁 with your encouragement i will do it today 😀

Thank you for sharing all the nuggets, loving your Channel😃👍🏼

I posted a video last year showing my pinched zinnias vs. Not pinched. You can clearly see, that the unpinched ones will eventually send off side shoots, but pinching forces them to earlier & more of them, therefore creating more stems.

We will be doing that this year, thank you! We already do this with marigolds thanks to a niece who pinched her plant on accident haha

Wow! I tried your zinnia pruning method and it’s wonderful. The zinnias are so much fuller.Thanks!

I am giving cut flowers a go this year. I planted 66 Dahlias today and have around 45 more to go. I am also planting around 100 Zinnias. I have around 500 flower and filler seedlings planted and still have a few hundred more to go! I also have 200 Gladiolus bulbs and 50 ish asiatic lilys to plant!

Omy Gosh I was so sick to my atomic when you pinched off that new growth. I sure hope you show those plants in a few weeks so we can all feel better. Hahaha! Thank you so much for sharing.

Thanks so much!! This is my first year to really put flowers in my garden.

I have very little experience with flowers....but I get so much joy from learning from my garden. I have a neighbor who constantly tells me "x is not going to work" But for me, it is about learning. It has never been about the harvest. I used to get upset, now I just pray for him. Because he is just negative all the time. I am never going to be perfect, but I am going to enjoy the process.

An armadillo dug up most of my tiny zinnias, I’ve ended up with two little plants that survived, I will definitely be pinching them off to increase the tiny yield I may get!

Thanks for this video. I am going to pinch my zinnias tomorrow. I can't wait to see them blooming.

Thank you! This is my first season of growing Zinnias and Dahlias! If it wasn't for your little nuggets, I'd never have known to deadhead either one of them. You are the first to teach me this even though I've watched other videos! ❤ keep giving us your knowledge it helps us have a better season 😊 I love watching yours and Jessica's videos! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Baking soda mixture sprayed on leaves (top and bottom)

Yesterday's video had me in tears for you! Gosh dang mom hormones! So glad you all are ok!!!

P.s. I am 71 and, lived in the same Well built home for 21yrs here in Florida. Retired with the 75yr old love of my life and will die here bouts til the end. Love, Norma (from Florida)

Rhubarb leaf tea. Cook rhubarbs leaves in water, strain, spray on plants. Natural insecticide.

I had a terrible time last year with Japanese beetles on my zinnias last year. I almost just pulled them because they looked horrible,but I found that I could spray them with a mixture of Dawn dish liquid & water,so I tried that,and what I thought would never be able to bring them back to even a useable flower amazed me! I did not however have super high heat in my Ohio weather. Research that option.😉

Omg, I planted zinnia seeds in mini blocks on Sunday. Placed in a old Tupperware type container over a heat mat. Dang if the didn’t sprout yesterday...Tuesday. They are beasts. First time growing them. Thanks for the tidbit on pinching them back. ♥️🌱

Thank you! This is my first year growing zinnias and I didn't know to pinch them!

So pleased you kept yourself and your family safe.

I planted a couple hundred zinnias one year and that was the year that the june bugs had a record season. I would walk out in the morning and the plants would be dripping with PILES of them, all the leaves destroyed. I frantically went around with a bucket of soap water, pinching them and grabbing handfuls, throwing them in the water to drown them, but it was crazy. I don't know what people do without using pesticides for stuff like that.

That's why I love gardening and experimenting for that reason. More to craft with also so double win!

I've definitely found it beneficial to pinch zinnias. They just are so tall! Your netting will help keep your stems straight too!

Thank you so much for sharing!! I had no idea to pinch these flowers. As soon as our down pour is over, I got to get outside and do mine. Thank you so much for all your encouragement and knowledge! I’m learning so much from you!! ❤️

Thanks for sharing. I grow zinnias every year and had no idea to pinch them off. I definitely have to try this this year 🙂💐

Love the learning and your teaching us through that learning 🥰

Just pinched mine. Thanks for the info.

Such a great tip, had no idea!! Thanks for sharing and please keep sharing!!

Totally going to try this this year!

Girl we are new to AR we started a homestead in Searcy. Thank you for all your videos between you and Jesse I’m going from 4 boxes to a 80’x30’ foot high tower. Can’t wait to see you on your new farm.

I love learning new things. I've been growing zinnias forever. An didnt know to prune them. Thank you

Its like when you go through and thin out carrots....but we have to do this! thank you for sharing, its my first year to seed zinnias...

Thankyou for the hands on nugget of zinnia and dahlia pinching info! Loving all you share from North Idaho zone 6a 💚🌻🌿

I'm so thankful for everyone's safety thru this stormy spring. I'm in NE Ms (also 7b btw) and we have had seems like weekly tornado alerts and just plain bad storms.

This is my first year growing zinnias. Great info to know. I direct sowed them. Bought the seeds from Baker Creek. Hope they Germinate! I tried to start them indoors but they didn’t make it 😔. But it’s a fail and hopefully I’ll have a win this time!

Thanks, for sharing this! I knew that frequent dead-heading was good, but had not heard about pinching like this. I will absolutely be trying this with my Zinnias.

Thanks for posting this , my zinnias where always leggy too and this will help

This makes so much since because I do this to my peppers too.

I'm cringing all through this rn!😭😍😭😍😭

Thanks for the info to pinch the zinnias. This is my first year to grow zinnias for my pollinators. The more flowers the happier they will be.

Jill, thank you for the words of encouragement, I really needed to hear them today. I was letting discouragement seep in, so your message was perfect timing!!

OK Jill and family, I'll keep praying for you !

Once again, you’re sooo encouraging Jill. Started zinnias from seed for the first time this year. Now I’ve learned I have to pinch back (similar to basil). 😊

Thank you for sharing how to prune zinnias!

I’m growing zinnias for the first time this year. Thanks for the nugget. I see someone mentioned doing the same to marigolds. I have some spindly ones!

I'm glad to know this. I'm going to be putting my zinnias out as soon as this little cold snap moves on, and now I will know to pinch those heads off to get a bigger yield. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for explaining

Wow thanks for the tid-bit! My zinnias had horrible powdery mildew last year 🙄 I was still really proud of them. 😊

this was such a helpful video! I'm pretty new to gardening as a whole, but especially flowers, and I was really wondering what this whole "pinching" thing was - thank you for explaining it so well!

Curious if pinching will provide the long stems wanted for bouquets and/or vases. I will keep watching to see!

I’m growing zinnias for the first time this year in my garden and the information in this video was helpful. I would have never known any of this, thank you for sharing. If I start more zinnia flowers then I will do this method. But as of now, mine already have flowers on them.

I never thought to pitch them!! Most of mine are bearly pitting on a 3rd bloom I will definitely go through tomorrow and do this! I don't have as many zinnias as you lol but I have at least 20+.

Thanks for the heads up. I didn’t realize you could prune zinnias too. I pick all the buds on my petunias for the first few weeks after planting and they bush out and get huge! This is the first year that I have planted flowers from seeds. I thoroughly enjoy watching your channel.

My zinnias (and a lot of other things) are still in the house under lights :( I don't dare put out anything frost tender until Memorial Day. Good news is that they are just today pushing their first true leaves.

Thank you so much for the video! This is my first year growing zinnias and I have about 20 plants!! Just for my front gardens... not so sell. They already had buds and many did have some side shoots already! I'm 6a so they are all still inside. I went through them all and pinched ... so hopefully when they go outside to be planted in 2 weeks they will already be working on becoming bushier! I can't wait to see your flowers this summer!

Along with my huge veggie & fruit garden, I’m also doing flowers...lots of flowers. Ha. So I’m learning right along with you. Adding pitching those zinnias to my list of things to do this week.

My zinnia seeds started sprouting today 😃 I use small clippers instead of my nails so I don’t leave tears in stems.

Thanks 😊 I’m going to be learning about zinnias with you!!!!!

I apologize to my plants too when I pinch them off!!! Could you please do a video on how you make compost? It would be very helpful. Thank you!

Me toooo! Lol I'm a zinnia fool now!♥️

Super encouraging Jill! I’m gonna be passing this video on to my friends who are learning to grow with me. Also, my holes have been from slugs. I put out Budweiser at Melanie’s suggestion and the problem went away. As far as the ants I have seen... you’re not gonna wanna use my solution. 🙈 definitely not organic, but it does alert me to the hills from a distance to stay out and they do go away.

Hi Jill from Australia 🇦🇺 when I grew zinnias I had ants on them because I had aphids on the under side of the leaves. I’ve never pinched out the top before, iam going to give it a go thank you for the great advice 🥰