Oakley I use Eden Brothers for seeds. They are local to me so I go wander through the warehouse picking out the seeds I want but most of their business is mail order. They are very helpful, you can call and pick their brains. Here's a link to the annual seedsthey carry. You don't want to do perennials because many won't bloom the first summer.

I like nasturtiums. Easy.

In the hot spot, I'd be tempted to put in burgundy okra. That might be weird though. :)

Zinnias.

Just read about "Sunpatiens" today. Impatiens that can take full sun. Maybe sunpatiens on your sunny side and regular impatiens on the not so sunny side? My go to for our full sun deck is Supertunia Vista. They get huge and don't require deadheading and can bounce back if you forget to water them.

Here are some I use.

Full sun:

Mandevilla (vine or can put in hanging basket)

Verbena

Lantana

Petunia (I like the double ruffled variety)

Geranium

Bee Balm*

Catmint

Coneflower

Salvia

Veronica*

Roses

Iris

Shady:

Foxglove

Astilbe

Impatients

*I just bought these last year and love them, especially the bee balm. I got pink.

Some of these are perennial, some are annuals. I put perennials in some of my planters.

I don't do seeds. We have a great little nursery near us and I had no problems feeling safe there this year during Covid. I went early in the day, it's all outside (except one building I don't go in) and you can distance yourself from others and of course I wear a mask. I have ordered plants from Bluestone Perennials and they are great quality. I also have 2 or 3 clematis and they like some sun, but shady roots. Mine are in the sun and heavily mulched. I have one in the back that doesn't get as much afternoon sun, but several hours of full sun.

Gomphrena. I discovered how easy these are to grow last year. They bloomed right into frost. I planted directly into the ground and had beautiful blooms all summer. You can cut and let the blooms dry and they are still pretty.

Also sunflowers and marigolds are very easy to start from seed and direct sow.

edited to add...I usually order my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

For plants, various salvia will bloom most of the summer and prefer dry conditions and sun. Also try Monarda as they are great at attracting butterflies. Monarda can tolerate a little shade. Coneflowers are another favorite perennial and like the sun.

Lantana is another that likes sun and it will grow fairly large. Not so tall but a huge spread. Another good pollinator plant

@nekotish iI have had sunpatients, had some this past summer. But they will not take full sun all day well. I water daily, but those would droop/wilt by mid afternoon. I moved them to where they got shade late afternoon. Contrary to what they advertise, at least in my zone 6.

Thanks, Dlm, I saved the website.

Sandplum, definitely Zinnias. I grew them years ago and they did great. Easy for direct sowing.

Fori, Nasturtiums do great in the greenhouse but they didn't do to well for me outdoors. They are awfully pretty though. We grow green okra, is burgundy just as tasteful as green when fried?

Tina, I grow most of the plants you listed, but not from seed, except me and Petunias don't get along. Ever. Never never never. :).

Globe Amaranth, yes! I used to grow them and they were so easy, plus the cut flowers lasted forever. I didn't know they were easy to grow from seed.

Does Monarda grow easily from seed? I'd love to have those.

I can't stand Marigolds, not sure why. I'm tired of Salvia and there's something that eats my Coneflowers so I'm done with those. lol

DH grew a row of Gaillardia (Indian Paintbrush) from seed a few times and they were successful and beautiful. Full hot sun, all day long.

I'd love to have Rose Moss (or Moss Rose) if they grow from seed. They're so pretty in a pot.

I love moss rose too. Penta is another good plant for full sun.

I agre, Tina, pentas are great in a sunny spot or container. I also like Angelonia.

Oakley, I have never grown Monarda from seed but worth a try.

Another vote for Sunpatiens. We've planted them the past three years and they are easy to grow, no pruning or staking. They get in full sun in front of our house and in the back they're shaded by trees. We don't bother with seeds but order them by the flat - and the deer don't eat them.

I’ve not done seeds, but the garden center does curbside and in the lockdown in the spring even did home delivery for a fee. Since it’s hot here, I usually get zinnias, marigolds, and salvia. I mostly use these in containers vs. out in the yard. I also want plants that were cat friendly, though my black cat never really showed interest in these when he was outside.

Impatiens are a possibility, but they are candy for deer, so I don’t want a losing battle.

For the front planter boxes I get coleus because that doens’t get that much sun. For the hanging baskets I add vinca vine, dusty miller, and a spike plant. LOL, a bird decided to build a nest in one of the hanging baskets.

Check out Amaranthus, it grows very easily from seed and loves sun. It gets thes droopy red flumes, I am partial to Love lies Bleeding. Birds love to the the seeds in the fall.

Oh, and I second the vote for Gomphrena. I’d also look at Celosia. Poppies, too, though they won’t give all season color.

And thank you for the reminder I MUST order seeds TODAY

My poor poor Poppies. I grew a beautiful patch from seeds two years ago and when DS was spraying the yard he always gets the flowerbeds, BUT...I go out there with him and show him what to spray. He had a pre-emergence in it and forgot to get me and he zapped them.

He also zapped these flowers which were perennials too, and I can't remember the name but they were so easy to grow. Anyone know what this is? The plant was given to me as a gift and it came back and spread pretty good too.

See the pink Roses in front of the bed, one pic when they're tall, the other when trimmed. Those are Rose Hedges and I ordered them from QVC. They did fantastic!! They they got that darned Witches Broom disease.

Here's a general idea of the flowerbeds, one on each side of the sidewalk, same size. The Roses caught a disease and they're gone.

They kind of got overgrown and I cut each one down by myself. My arms are permanently scarred.

Better picture of the size of matching beds below taken after I trimmed everything before cutting the Roses down.

Local, I had Celosia plants and they did well and came back the next year. Where are you going to order your seeds from?

While we're talking flowers, I want to show you this hose I bought two years ago and it does NOT kink at all!! This is the only hose I'll buy from here on out. Light weight too.

I'm reading the reviews on the hose again during the year I bought it. Mine is perfect, they must have received a dupe. :)

Park Seed is a company I would recommend. Full afternoon sun is different than full morning sun, so if it is shade in the am and full sun in the PM in hot dry conditions, might as well be full sun. Are you just thinking planters or garden too? Coreopsis is an easy to grow from seed plant but it is perennial and like all perennials, starts out a bit slow but really takes off later on. Can't beat petunias for full sun, they are easy to grow from seed. So actually are old fashioned geraniums. Another perennial that would be perfect for you would be gaillardia, which goes by the common name "Prairie Blanket." Good both in the ground and containers. Marigolds easy from seed. Those are all kind of common in the big box stores except for the gaillardia and corepsis. The thing that I do with the common big box annuals when I'm growing from seed, is get a color or variation that is not commonly found. Another plant is alyssum. I've grown peach and yellowish ones, but I actually prefer the purple ones for their scent. Carnation and lavender, also easy to grow from seed. Perennials but look good the first year. Anything in the mint family, which includes bee balm, monarda, salvias and oregano, etc. Many types of verbenas, both dwarf and tall. Also same with snapdragons. Most have a dry spell midsummer, but some more everblooming than others. Then there are the many wonderful members of the sunflower family . . . morning glories easy to grow from seed . . . echinacea but watch out if you have deer and bunnies, they love it. Little begonias, angel wings and impatiens all easy or relatively easy to grow for shade. Lobelia is a fave of mine for shade, but in needs serious shade, any variety. Ajuga as a flowering groundcover for shade . . . ice plant. Honestly if you peruse some of the good seed catalogs you will be astounded. Yarrow, pansies if you keep them cut back bloom all summer . . . it would be easier for me to tell you what doesn't work--milkweed. It's fine to sow in the garden, but very hard to start ahead of time.

Sorry I can't recommend other seed companies, but I buy from ones mostly in my zone, which is moist and northern. Harris, Stokes, Johnny's. Better to support smaller regional seed companies, IMHO. When we bought for plant sales and landscaping at the greenhouse, we bought in bulk, which is why I am not as familiar with good small seed companies. I always found something fun at Park, and they are great for customer service and philanthropy. Home base is S. Carolina? maybe north but I think south. But they have growers all over the country.

In place of those roses, you might want to try drift roses. Several years ago we had some professional landscaping done. The guy suggested knock-out roses, but I am somewhat over them as you see them everywhere. I like to be different. Anyway, he suggested I try drift roses. We only hired him to do the front and I ended up not using any roses there. Instead of pink roses, I have spirea - a dwarf variety. I think it may be called "princess". Maybe not. It has pink blooms. (My color scheme outside is blue/purple, pink and white. I love silvery non-blooming plants with these flower colors.)

So the spirea would be a suggestion - it takes full sun. i'll see if I can find our which variety I have. I would also suggest the drift roses. We ended up planting some of those in the back. I also have a couple of regular rose bushes back there. The drift roses don't grow up real high and they spread width-wise, if that makes sense. They bloom non-stop. You can prune on them anytime - doesn't hurt them. Very hardy.

ETA: Little Princess Dwarf Spirea. As soon as I hit submit, it came to me. Little Princess see here. I think you can find a much better price. We bought ours local. I was just searching for a pic to show you.

Oakley I live in Maine, and so I try to buy from Fedco and Johnnys, two Maine companies. I will go astray though to get something pretty that I want. I have used Swallowtail Seed Company for flowers before.

A couple of people mentioned starting perennials from seed. I have had great luck with lots of varieties of daisies doing this. I used to have a bed, I called my starter bed. It sometimes takes until the third season until they are really established and then I move them. Granted I am zone 4.

Oakley - your top photo is a Columbine.

seagrass

Thank you seagrass! So delicate looking yet strong.

Tina, all Roses are banished because of Rose Rosette disease, aka Witches Broom. The whole plant has to be destroyed because the RRD spreads like crazy. Many opinions say to not plant a rose where an old rose was, and my only choice is where the old roses were. I had a rose fence too, they all got it.

Drift Roses are very similar to Carpet Roses. One year I kind of let them get out of hand but they're easy to cut back. Then they got RR.

I'd love to have some sort of small bush in each flowerbed that blooms in the summer or has noticeable foliage. I made a huge mistake planting the Clematis in that flower bed. They thrive but I read if transplanted there's a good chance of losing them.

A few summers back I grew a Mandevilla in a pot and it just wouldn't grow. The ones I've seen that really take off are planted in the ground. Sure would love to find one. Beautiful.

The greenhouse in town delivers but the pickings are slim. The mini-WM supercenter nine miles away has THE best green house I've ever seen. Of course they were closed last year due to Covid. Not sure what the plan is this year. Fingers crossed. I don't want to go to the city where the greenhouses are jam packed.

I do like how I can buy large bags of potting soil from Amazon. And 50 lbs. of dog food too. lol

I got my potting soil last year from Menards. Not sure if they have it in your state. They have "contactless" pickup and delivery, and most important, the type I want. I went in person to my up the road stores and they all had the same off-brand crap. I got some Burpee stuff from the local Tractor Supply Company, again not sure what is local to you. I won't buy Miracle Gro unless it is their professional mix, and definitely not Vigaro. I like to buy mixes marked "professional" if they have perlite or vermiculite. That's a must for me for seed starting. Although last year I used old spent potting soil and it worked out OK. There's possible and then there's ideal.

Edited to add that columbine is the bell shaped white flower and one of the easy to grow from seed perennials. Needs some shade. I have some of the white colored variety in my yard. Love it. That you would not find in the average nursery but could grow from seed.

Evening primrose in pink gives you that marvelous drift of pink flowers, it's perennial, but does not repeat bloom. https://parkseed.com/evening-primrose-seeds/p/01454-PK-P1/?gclid=CjwKCAiAr6-ABhAfEiwADO4sfRspxGvoaYGaVgX7JRiLIpo_NtAB8_OQWd8RfkhN9FyiYV6ZgFhB5RoCsYsQAvD_BwE&ef_id=CjwKCAiAr6-ABhAfEiwADO4sfRspxGvoaYGaVgX7JRiLIpo_NtAB8_OQWd8RfkhN9FyiYV6ZgFhB5RoCsYsQAvD_BwE:G:s

The princess spirea is a bush. It can be pruned at any time. I've moved clematis (I have several) before and not had a problem. I'm surprised about the mandevilla. I'm not sure I've seen them planted in the ground here. They take the heat, little water, etc. I always grow one in a huge pot, on an old trellis type thingy.

What a bummer about the roses! I have to have roses. For as far back as I can remember, my mom had a rose garden. I'll never have a rose "garden", but I have a few!

I get good results with magic carpet spirea and other similar cultivars. One big flush of bloom but they can be deadheaded and you will get some secondary blooms. I like the golden colored foliage so when not in bloom they are still a nice visual. Another fairly interesting and hardy shrub is leucothoe. I can't reliably grow it, but you might be able to. It's nor particularly cold hardy and needs good soil. Also Pieris japonica, Japanese andromeda. All of these types of shrubs can be mail ordered.