Garden columnist Don Kinzler shares some favorite annual flowers from his 2023 garden

Half the fun of gardening is seeing what everyone else is doing. My main Facebook fun is scrolling though the photos of people’s flowers, vegetables and landscapes.

For me, horticulture wasn’t just a career choice. It’s my hobby, my relaxation, my sport, my distraction, my leisure, and my quest. That’s why I’m always interested in what other gardeners are up to.

If others share a similar curiosity, I’d like to share a few thoughts from the flower gardens that my wife, Mary, and I are growing this summer. We start most of our own plants from seed under lights in our basement, growing them in re-purposed cell-packs until it’s time to plant outdoors.

Following are the annual flowers that we’ve found especially beautiful this summer. They also happen to be quite carefree.

• Holi Scarlet Zinnia first came to my attention as an All-America Selections winner, and I’m so glad we tried it several years ago. The compact, 12-inch-high plants are well-branched and covered with full sized, large flowers.
• Holi Pink Zinnia has all the fine attributes of Holi Scarlet, except with vibrant pink flowers.

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• Big Duck Yellow Marigold has become my favorite large-flowered type, replacing First Lady Yellow which we’d grown for decades. The 15-inch plants are sturdy and covered with bright yellow ball-shaped flowers.
• Queen Mix Cleome is a reliable old favorite for backgrounds where a three-feet high flower is wanted. Its unique blossoms add interest and the pastel shades of rose, pink, lavender and white blend well.
• Bee’s Knees Petunia is the best yellow petunia I’ve ever grown, and its mound shape is especially well-suited for containers. It can be used in combination planters, but I’ve found it produces a dynamic display in a large container all its own.
• Profusion Red and Yellow Bicolor Zinnia looks much different than traditional zinnias. Like other zinnias, it thrives in hot, sunny flowerbeds or containers. It has a slightly spreading habit, with an interesting blend of color tones on 12-inch-high plants.

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• Blue Victoria Salvia has been around a long time, but it’s as beautiful as ever, with spikes of blue that contrast well with yellow or pink round-shaped flower types.
• Kong Coleus has huge leaves, larger than any other coleus, and the mix of colors brightens any shady spot. I enjoy coleus planted in pots all by themselves, rather than a mixed container. Coleus really shine when given their own space.
• Coral Candy Coleus is a new All-American selections coleus for sun or shade. The serrated foliage has a coral-pink center that blends to green.
• Tidal Wave Hot Pink Petunia becomes a massive hedge of color when planted in a flowerbed. If spaced 24 inches apart, they spread outward and remain lower-growing. If spaced closer, at 12 to 18 inches apart, they mound themselves upward into a hedge capable of reaching two to three feet high.

Chris Flynn / The Forum

• Non-Stop Begonias sport large rose-like flowers in assorted bright colors for shaded containers. Seed must be started in January or early February so plants are large enough for May outdoor planting.
• Monticello Cockscomb Celosia has a unique flat-topped deep rose-red flower. The seed was given to me by a garden column reader who got them from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home. This cockscomb seed was directly descended from that planted by Jefferson himself.
• Verbena bonariensis has a clumsy name, but the violet-blue flowers float gracefully above the green foliage, creating a uniquely pretty appearance.
• Viking Explorer Red on Green Begonia is a new All-America Selections winner we tried this year, and it lived up to its reputation, despite the long name. It’s a trailing type wax-leaf begonia with pretty red flowers on clean green leaves, and it has bloomed beautifully all summer.