love any blue.. but that salvia is great!!!

Tabby--those salvia are beautiful. Is it an annual in zone 5?

Chelle...I also started my sunflowers very late, but they are growing like crazy now. I am growing "Chianti" and "Vanilla Ice" that I received in trade....can't wait to see them.

S. patens is supposed to be hardy to zone 8, but I've had one plant survive for 4 or 5 years now.

Tabby, what is that semp. in your avatar, its gorgeous!

Sempervivum 'Ann-Christy'

I love this cosmos that reseeds and comes back every year and the butterflies love them.

It is great to have color in my cactus succulent garden

I have never been able to get those yellow and orange cosmos to bloom! Those are the ones with the somewhat heavier foliage, right? I can get them to grow, but I've yet to see blooms off one!

No these have a fern like foliage. I was surprised they were one of those free package of seeds from a magazine subscription. Two years ago I just sprinkled them on the ground did not cover did nothing special. They come back every year.

I'll bet it's the same plants. The seeds I have are ones that came as freebies, too! Darn, I don't have a picture of the foliage, but it definitely looks different from the other cosmos I grow. It's pretty, but not as airy as the other kind. Ha! **smacks head** Duh why do we have a database? Sheesh. Ok. I can grow Cosmos bipinnatus; the other kind is Cosmos sulphureus. But I'm still not sure why I can't get them to bloom. Maybe I'll try them again next year. Hee hee, maybe I'll add them to my winter-sow list. Hmmm, think I'm going to have to make an actual list.

And that goldenrod colored cosmos is such a vivid color, it is a beautiful sight to see when everything else is waning down. I had it for a few years, but for some reason it quit reseeding. I am going to have to re-introduce that one to my garden next year.

Cosmos bipinnatus has always grown easier for me than Cosmos sulphureus. Right now I've got some Cosmos sulphureus that are that vivid, almost greenish yellow that I hope to collect some seeds from.

Just butting in here: new badge available for annuals: sunflower

How and when do you start yours, tabby?

I usually start both in early May, late Arpil, in flats in the cold frames. The Cosmos bipinnatus have been doing a good job of reseeding themselves.
This year I also planted a row of Cosmos bipinnatus about 3 weeks ago where the peas used to be and they're almost ready to bloom.

Well, I tried starting the sulphureus in the GH a couple of times and still had no blooms before everything froze. I think I will try WS-ing them and see if I have any better luck. I'm not that fond of yellow and orange flowers anyway, except as accents, but I do like the foliage on those. Besides, I like a challenge.

I grew the pink/white mixed cosmos back in NM (z7) and they got about 4-5 ft tall. I was about 15 and had a huge bed of cheap seeds--cosmos, bachelor buttons and pinks/dianthus. I remember Dad getting pissed off next spring and summer when volunteer cosmos plants all over his yard randomly sprouted--he was mowing every weekend to take them down to lawn height:lol: I'm super lucky he didn't make me go pluck em out of the lawn!

The foliage on those were denser than the sulphureus that I grew later. I decided to start a new container of an orange type, seeds were some I had collected 4 yrs earlier, it was mid July and I did get 4 ft tall plants with huge blooms right up till late October. I do generally prefer the sulphureus colors and foliage.

This year I grew some Salpiglossis for the first time. I don't know the variety. Just picked a package from seed rack. They were supposed to be orange but the ones I liked best were purple.I had thought these to be difficult but these weren't. I'm surprised because they favor cooler temps & we certainly didn't have these.I situated it in a pot with just a little afternoon shade.They are still blooming & most of the other things have been frosted.
I just started in the house like I do petunias. Seeds are fine & germinated readily.Can't wait to explore other varieties.

sewNsow

That gives me hope! Those are gorgeous! I have bought seeds and stashed them cuz I'm seed crazy so I may break those out this spring. I bought separate colors pkts and think I have scarlet, red and chocolate. They're older pks but usually I do OK with a big chunk of my older packets. Always worth trying since the money has already been spent:lol:

I love salpiglossis and start them every year. There are so many colors! My favorite is Kew blue but they are all beautiful.They are also easy to collect seed from.

Salpiglossis are one of my favorites, but I haven't been able to collect seeds for that color in the first picture and it's one I like best!