If I had to choose, I'd plant zinnia. No question. Now, dahlias are gorgeous flowers but they require dead-heading to produce well, and even then flower production can be iffy IME. I've had dahlias produce a fair amount of blooms and other times very few. I've started dahlias from tubers in the past, and one year it took until end of July or so to see any flowers, even though I did pot up the tubers a few weeks before planting out and kept warm under my light cart. One advantage dahlia have over zinnias is more attractive foliage IMO - if grown well, they are lovely, bushy plants with healthy deep-green foliage that is attractive in its own right (note I've only grown the shorter cultivars, so my experience is based upon the growth habit of the shorter varieties). OTOH, zinnias bloom their stinkin' heads off and don't require much in the way of tending - though I prefer to deadhead, if I don't get around to it, the zinnias bloom beautifully anyway. In a word - they are joyous :0)

Since you said you were open to other suggestions, I wonder whether tea roses might be a better prospect for you. I live in a dry climate and can't advise you about which ones might be best, but I've heard many times they do well in the humid south. I wouldn't be without mine, they bloom almost all the time and are such handsome bushes. I don't spray at all and the worst disease they have is a little mildew, while some of my other roses, including Austins, are showing some blackspot and rust. Ingrid

Peggy I purchased mine on sale at a local nursery. I didn't want to deal with Nature Hills. I wasn't really looking to buy these in particular, but I had read about them, and there they were on sale. I didn't have much selection, but purchased Kiss Me, Macy's Pride, and Sunrise Sunset. I haven't had them long, just a few months. So far no disease at all without spraying. The Sunrise Sunset is not getting six hours of sun, and has bloomed non stop. Kiss me smells wonderful and lasts a long time in a vase. The Macy's Pride and Kiss Me weren't in the best condition when I purchased them, healthy plants that needed some TLC. This month they are very bushy and loaded with buds. I will have a better idea next spring, but so far I am impressed. Diana

newbie nicole... you will have no problem in moving perennials with a 15 hour drive ahead of you... I moved from a house in town, to our acreage in the spring about 13 years ago. These are some things you could keep in mind... Hopefully you will be able to move after the ground is thawed and as plants start to come up in the spring. This is what happened with me. As the plants started coming up, I divided or removed the whole perennial and placed it into a nursery pot. When I ran out of pots, I used plastic bags in a box, or ice cream pails/margarine containers with holes in them. The people purchasing our place had not seen any pictures of the yard with flowers blooming so, they had no idea what was there before. I took out favorite plants and a rose bush that was given to us as a sympathy gift when my DH's dad passed away. Is your home sold already? Do the people moving in know what your yard looks like with the perennials you do have? Sometimes all you need to take is a corner chunk of the perennial and you will be able to start it again at the new place. If you have access to crates (eg. milk crates) that stack...then you would have an easier time in transporting the perennials. You could also use plastic bags in a milk crate to place a number of perennials in the same crate instead of using nursery pots and lots of soil that would then also take up a lot of room (and weight). If you are moving after the ground would be thawed but before the perennials would be growing, then I would recommend right now for you to start digging and replanting into pots and placing them in a friend's garden for the winter. Because, you don't want anyone who potentially is a purchaser of your yard, to see all these perennials in pots in the garden that you are taking with you. Then in spring, just dig them out of your friend's garden and take them with you. Another thing is that when selling your home, you could place a clause in the agreement, that you will removing favorite perennials (all or some) to take with you. Place the perennials in the shade as soon as you get to your new home and plant them as soon as you can. If you do not know exactly where their permanent home will be then dig the pots into the ground, making a holding garden and then transplant them out of there as the new beds are ready. Have fun moving! It is a lot of work (been there, done that) but it is nice to see the same perennials bloom in their new home. It is like taking some of your old home, your memories, with you. The root system of the plants are usually a lot more mature when you take transplants from your original plants than what you would get by mail order or through a local nursery. You would have mature plants in your new home a lot sooner. Also, you would be saving a pile of money (assuming that you have a lot of perennials) in future landscaping in your new home. I know this is a long reply but...