This is the lovely Mary Previte in her Crows Woods community garden in Haddonfield. Photo was taken by her daughter Alice. If you look closely, you can see a bee on the tall pink zinnia. Major zinnias, Mary! And big-time sunflowers behind you.
I have both in my garden. The sunflowers are different sizes, nothing in bloom yet, and the zinnias are colorful but quite small. Next time I'm thinking negative thoughts ... everything's fading, the best is over ... I'll think of Mary's zinnias and sunflowers. They're so colorful and cheerful.
Like a lot of flowers, the zinnia has an interesting - you might say bizarre - history. It was named for Johann Gottfried Zinn, a professor of medicine in Gottingen in Germany, who was well known for his detailed description of the anatomy of the human eye. The iris - of the eye, not the garden - was a particular fascination of his, as were orchids and other flowers.
Linnaeus named the zinnia, originally from Mexico, in his honor. Now you know. This is quite a bit of baggage. Might've been better if he'd had a daughter named Zinnia.
Kind of a cute name, don't you think?
