Karen, I had powdery mildew towards the end of summer on my zinnias too. I guess drop in temp and moisture promotes it. They had enough air circulation around the plants.
I tried Distance Scarlet Zinnia last year. This year I'm doing the Swizzle series.

Last year was the absolute worst for powdery mildew. So many of my plants were affected--zinnias, zucchini, cucumbers, monarda. My lisianthus and gazania were unaffected.

If you like red ones, Red Cap from Diane's Seeds was a winner for me last year.
http://www.dianeseeds.com/zinn...

What you see in this pic was all one plant.

Karen

Beautiful, Karen. What are the two tall plants at the back of your bed?

They are dwarf castor bean.

Karen

I love Lobelia from seed, and geraniums.
Regards.
Neil.

Never thought about trying lobelia from seed.....hmmm......something new to try next year. Thanks for the idea, Neil.

Dear Linda, Annuals are grown extensively in the UK due to the Victorians. The use of glass made it possible for the growing of masses of these plants from overseas, and carpet bedding was born. Nowadays most councils have there own parks departments, and they plant carpet bedding and hanging baskets wherever they can. The Royal Parks and the Historic Royal Palaces do the same. Also nearly all household gardens use them as well.
Here are some I have grown from seed and some from a Royal Historic Palace.
These Petunias are called 'Ocean Wave'.

The geraniums are called "Black Surprise' as the zones in there leaves are quite black although my camera may not have caught them.
Now these Petunias are 'Pink Picotte' apart from the blue one, and the Lobelia is 'Cambridge Blue' insted of the deeper 'Oxford Blue' you have seen before.

Petunias a little closer!

The use of Annuals and 'dot' plants at Hampton Court Palace.

Having had to grow these and plant Victorian beds out with them I can assure you it is backbreaking work, thank goodness I do not have to do it anymore!
I hope you enjoy them, and I am not disturbing your most wonderful forum.
Regards from England.
Neil.

love the oxford blue!!

Neil--your photos are beautiful, as always. Thanks so much for sharing here. I love that "Black Surprise" geranium; the foliage is gorgeous. I've only recently started growing petunias from seed, so I'm looking forward to expanding the number of annuals I can start.

Dear Allison and Linda, these may not be perfect Royal Parks gardens but this is what a lot of people grow in the UK. I thought I would give you some idea, of what we get up to many thousands of miles away.
The first one is in my mothers and the plants I grew. The second is one of of my mothers elderly neighbours garden, and both sides of her front garden are like this, and her huge back garden is also covered.
Regards.
Neil.

I see a bunch of my favs in there!!

Larkspur


One of my favorites ,I have purple and pink
it self-sows here so no work involved

''Spooky'' dianthus


suppose to be a perennial but is not for me (zone 5)
I love the unusual flower, with the fringes ,blooms all summer and white goes with everything.

both have seeds easy to collect, spooky winter sows very well.

What a beatiful border, Neil, (love all of the color) and great photos, Cinda. What a unique diantus!

Its hard to choose 1 annual fav.
Lobelias definatly
remembering they need a cooler spot in the garden plus regular watering


I also grow zinnias profusion variety from Swallowtail seeds.This is a bush type and doesnt mold.

I like swallowtail

By cooler spot do you mean shady?
I have never grown it from seed , must give it a try.

yeah they like it shady ... easy peasy from seed .. bad news is they are dust like seeds.. I usually start them in a foil loaf pan.. hate to fight and try to get them in cells nice nice.. once they get bigger they transplant well

Sorry to mislead.I direct sow Zinnias
.I buy lobelia plants Romence Gardens.

Oh, what a lot of great inspiration. I think I'm going to have to find that white mallow for sure! Neil, your photos are amazing! The second one of your mother's neighbors garden, I have to wonder what it looks like later in the season? Does the whole assortment survive, or do some plants take over?

Hmm, my favorite annuals from seed. Well I've been doing the 'piggy swap' for a few years now, and have accumulated an amazing assortment of seeds. I've been trying to concentrate on perennials, as my planting time is taking over my life at this point. SO, any annuals that I still plant are must-haves in my book for sure.

Petunias.. this year I actually bought some on sale as I didn't plant from seed (crazy spring), but all other years all my petunias have come from seed. It will be interesting to see what I get from seeds of this plant... they'll be pot-luck I'm sure!


Oops, sideways impatiens balsamina... I just love this color! Super easy (and fun) to collect, and they self seeded too.


First Kiss Blueberry Vinca... came true from seed the second year... yipppee! And did self seed also in a nice orderly fashion.


Ornamental Pepper Tricolor Variegata... just love this foliage, and the dark purple little peppers are a bonus!


My all-time favorite is Japanese Morning Glory Mt. Fuji. I'll actually go out every few mornings with a paintbrush and pollinate them so I get some seeds. They're not the prolific self-seeders that the purpureas are.