Another bumper crop came from my first (successful) attempt to grow zinnias: these were dark pink and pink/apricot. In the height of summer, these dried to about 1/5 of their size and lost most of the colour. Those picked at the end of summer lost about 1/2 of their size and retained most of their colour. I chose the latter to experiment with and used about 100g; I’ll try with the faded ones at a later date.

As with the dahlias, the alum/CoT brought out the yellow, and the bicarb modifier intensified the shade.

Would I use zinnias again over other dye plants that give yellows? This’ll depend on the results of the wash-fast and light-fast tests to come. As for growing them, the monarch butterflies love them and they tolerate the summer heat admirably.