My favorite annual is zinnias, and you could say that I am a zinnia hobbyist, because I grow a lot of them and dabble at breeding them.
I like a lot of other annuals. Portulaca (moss rose) have a lot of colors and come in both single and double flowers. And there is a trailing plant form (Happy Trails) in addition to the usual mounded plant form.
Breeders have given snapdragons a tremendous variety of colors, flower forms, and plant habits. Our Kansas summers are a little too hot for them, but they do well in the Spring, just survive our hot Summers, and bloom again in the cooler Fall.
Cosmos now come in a wide color range and flower forms. And plant heights, ranging from short to towering.
Gaillardias are a wildflower in parts of the midwest, but plant breeders have done a lot with them. One unique Gaillardia variety is called Razzle Dazzle, and I refer to one of my "in work" zinnia strains as Razzle Dazzles, because of their resemblance in their flowers to the Razzle Dazzle Gaillardias. These are commercial Razzle Dazzle Gaillardias.
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These are photos of a few of my "Razzle Dazzle" zinnia specimens.
Some of the really full Razzle Dazzles, like that last one, resemble Alliums (flowering onions). I have had several different colors of Razzle Dazzles so far.
Eventually I hope to get the Razzle Dazzles in a complete zinnia color range, of every color except blue.
Zinnias are very versatile in being able to have so many different colors, flower forms, and plant habits.
ZM
