08/17/2024
Zinnias are native to Mexico and Central America. The Aztecs originally called them “plants that are hard on the eyes” because of their colorful flowers. Zinnia is named after Johann Gottfried Zinn, a German botany professor who discovered these plants and brought them back to Europe in the 1700s. The original plants have expanded in flower colors and plant shapes and sizes, due to their popularity with breeders. You can now buy Zinnia seeds or plants that range from 6 inches tall to almost 4 feet tall. There are varieties with single or double petaled flowers in almost all the colors of the rainbow.
The zinnia is one tough flower so the symbolism has evolved to mean endurance in all of it’s many forms. This includes spontaneous endurance: from youth to old age the zinnia endures and continues to bloom. It is also believed to mean joyous endurance, happy to bloom in the broiling heat of summer. The zinnia also endures through any trials and tribulations (unforgiving heat, drought, bugs) and continues to put forth beautiful flowers in many shades of red, orange, apricot, yellow, white, lilac and even lime green.
The Zinnia Flower is used by Native Americans in their traditional medicine and rituals. The flowers have medicinal properties that are beneficial to the skin. It also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. The Navajo tribe holds the flower in high regard as one of their sacred Life Medicines.
Almost all of the Zinnia’s symbolism is positive. Depending on its color, Zinnias can mean different positive things but the flower mainly represents friendship, endurance, lasting affection, remembrance, and goodness.
