1. What traits do you breed for in Zinnias?

We breed zinnias to create new varieties that have:

• Muted colours that are not too bright, garish or electric. We focus on softer pink, peach, salmon, lavender and buttercream colours. We exclude bright single colours like bright red, yellow, and orange.
  • Ombre colouring or multiple layers of colours per flower
  • Full double shape
  • Resistance to pests and disease
  • Tolerance to heat and drought

2. How do you breed zinnias?

We use several breeding techniques in our breeding program, including:

• Isolation of individual flowers using organza bags and pollination by hand,
• Isolation of beds of flowers using bee netting tunnels and pollination by flies,
• Isolation by distance and pollination by local pollinators,
• Removing unwanted genetics through culling,
• Selection for good genetics at all stages of development, from germination through to seed production,
• Increasing good genetics through multiplying by cuttings,
• Increasing the number of generations per year by growing indoors over the winter.

3. Will your seeds produce flowers that look exactly like the photos?

No. Our zinnia breeding work is in progress. It can take 7 or more years of breeding to create a variety that will produce flowers with predicable, stable results. While we work on breeding stable varieties, we are offering seeds from our in-progress breeding work. This means that our seeds will produce flowers with unpredictable results. Some flowers will look like the photos, some will look similar, and some will look different. We cannot guarantee what percentage of the flowers will look like the photos. Please see our varieties page for more information.

4. Do you grow organically?

Although we are not certified organic, we grow without using chemicals (no pesticides, herbicides or fungicides). We use ecologically friendly and restorative practices, and work to support our local pollinator populations.

5. Are all of your seeds grown at your farm?

Yes! We proudly grow all of our seeds at the Windfall Flowers Farm in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. We sow, grow, nurture, harvest, clean, package and ship the seeds all right here at the farm. We only grow zinnias from our own breeding lines (no commercial varieties or varieties from other independent breeders).

6. What are your germination rates?

We are proud of our high germination rates (usually 95% or above). We optimize every stage of growing, harvesting and seed cleaning to maximize germination rates (from growing plants that are as healthy as possible, to harvesting seeds at peak maturity, to cleaning seeds professionally to sort out non-viable seeds). Our germination rates are tested and are listed in each product description as well as on each seed envelope.

7. Can I resell your seeds?

• At this time, we are not taking requests from re-sellers. We are not allowing the direct reselling of our seeds in their original packaging or in repackaged form.
• You are free to save your own seeds from the plants that you have grown from our seeds. You may share or sell these seeds under your own name and branding. Do not use the Windfall Flowers name and do not use photos taken from our website or social media accounts to promote your seeds.

8. Where do you ship?

In 2024/2025, we will be shipping within Canada and the USA. For more information please see our shipping policy.