v1rtu0s1ty, I, too, was impressed by Susan's picture of Exquisite. Exquisite is a standard zinnia variety, and its seeds are available from a number of sources. Some seed racks might have it, and Exquisite zinnia is listed by Burpee, and probably by some other online or hardcopy seed catalogs as well. Zinnias exhibit considerable natural variation and, if you grew a grouping of them from a seed packet, you would probably see one or more individual specimens that looked particularly good to you. If you marked your favorites in some way (a bit of colored yarn tied onto a stem might do the trick) you could then identify which seeds to save in the Fall. Then your personal seeds would probably perform better for you than seed packet seeds. Exquisite has fairly wide spoon-like petals, while my personal preference is for narrow petals that produce an open flower that you can sort of "see through", like this one. However, I have had some specimens with extra wide petals that give a zinnia bloom an almost rose bloom look, and I like that too. When you are saving your own zinnia seeds, you have the opportunity to pick what appeals to you. ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

Hi everyone, Thanks for the new replies. Gem1, this is indeed full sun. I took these pics at 5:30 a.m. so the bed is showing what little shade it gets. By 6:30 it's in full sun and it stays in absolute full bore sunshine until 6:30 or so at night, so it's getting 12 hours of direct, full sun. That being said, I do have some zinnias in half a day's shade and they do great too--they just get a bit leggier, but still bloom their heads off. DesertHeat, I don't do anything special at all with these--I definitely don't avoid getting the leaves wet--I slosh water all over them each time I water, though I do water just in the morning. Glad you like the marigolds too-they're another one of my favorites. Mine are all the French type (small flowered types) and they're doing really well. This year I'm doing a lot of the 'Janie' hybrids (link below), but I also plant some old time heirloom types too, plus there are always some self sown marigolds popping up here and there (my most attractive marigold of all is one that popped up in the cracks of my back patio--I'd feel sorry for it baking all day and not having much root exposure, except that it looks so great!). Easy, I noticed that watering wand after I took the pic, heh heh...yes, the fountain is more of a fancy holder/statue than an actual fountain (coffee cup while I'm dragging the hose around, occasional hand shovel, or sprinkler head, lol). Glad you all enjoyed the pics. I've got some similar beds with vincas too. I'm all about clown's-pants color! Take care, Grant, off to Flag for a four day weekend. Here is a link that might be useful: Janie hybrid marigolds from Parks

Thanks for the comments. Here are a few more pics! My sago palm is in a corner. I guess thats my plant hospital-no one can see it-but I can easily care for it. Windmill palm planted this year is looking good in shade. I think its on its 3rd frond . Next is a pic of my sabal domingensis, also newly planted this spring. Its pushed 1 and a half fronds this year. Not bad considering its in a pretty good amount of shade and still a pretty young palm. Also new for this year is my european fan palm. It has a pup on the side of it which is about to open its first frond. Sabal minor in its second year and growing very fast considering its a sabal minor! Its already pushed out a full frond and the second frond is unfolding. I wouldnt be surprised to get 3 fronds by the end of the summer. My sabal minors 'trunk'. It looks like it is actually growing above the ground, but maybe its planted too shallow. I think Ill have to add a little mulch in the fall since the roots are pretty exposed, but I think they have always been exposed. Do you think it should have some more soil on the top? NEW VOCAB WORD FOR ME! This is the 'hastula' of my Sabal domingensis. Apparently its where the petiole meets the base of the leaflets. On palmetto shaped fans its more spearlike. Im pretty sure sabal domingensis is a palmetto shaped leaf and heres a pic of the 'hastula' on it. And here is the 'hastula' on my sabal minor. So Im going to guess the longer the hastula is, the more coastapalmate (that palmetto shaped leaf) the frond is. I guess its a pretty good way to determine if a sabal minor is a minor or a palmetto at a young age. You learn a new thing every day! My new and first crape myrtle which is a crape myrtle zuni. They are starting to become pretty common in the area (maybe almost as common as southern magnolias). They are all in bloom now, but mine looks like it has about a week before the first blooms open. Heres my parlor palm and stromanthe in the shade doing well. They made it through 4 days of 100 degree weather in the shade with no leaf burn. I was very impressed. I have a peace lily in even more shade further to the back and it also had no leaf burn from the recent heat. Heres my tree fern which is growing at a pretty good speed. wsg89, Gardening can be very frustrating at times, and relaxing at others, but in the end its a great hobby. I think we have all lost a few plants. This year (from spring to now) I lost a bismarkia (I guess it didnt like the indoor atmosphere), musella (it just didnt like being shipped), one hibiscus, and definitely a few other plants also. Its disappointing to see plants die, but we learn from our mistakes and I definitely buy more than I lose! Greg, Thats definitely one of the reasons to by at a nursury. And you know the quality of fruit will be good on a grafted plant since it will fruit just like its mother. You just have to know which plants you have to buy grafted and which can be easily grown from seed. Laura, Thanks for the compliment. You have a beautiful yard also! I love those huge sabal palmettos and healthy pindo palms! Thanks for looking! Enjoy! -Alex

Thanks Chris! I wish I had a greenhouse, but I dont really have a place where it would look good and get the benifits of the sun. I usually just put the plants around the house with the tallest palms going by the tallest ceiling . Last year all the plants barely had a place to go and this year I have a LOT more so Im starting to get a little worried. I think Im going to partially convert a room into a greenhouse since it has nice south facing windows and is rarely used. But one day I would really love to put all these plants in a greenhouse! Until then my house becomes a jungle with all the plants are fighting for their lives until spring finally comes! I think I am going to look up about greenhouses and maybe see where one can go. I can dream :) And thanks for the tip about the Fireball bromeliad. Originally when I took them out in late march, they were in full sun, but when the tree grew leaves for the summer, It got a lot more shade. I think next year Im going to look for a place with more sun and maybe if I get enough pups, I will have a few more plants too! And you got my ending signature just right! Sometimes I dont even notice Im writing it, lol.... Good luck! -Alex