zinnia, gaillardia,cosmos in container

can you recommend specific varieties of these annuals that will keeps their looks in containers : full sun , central MA. Any other thoughts on annuals for this purpose? thanks

How big are your containers?

How about Profusion Zinnias? They're meant for containers and edging...

http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=90338&scChannel=prod2working

Very popular and have won several awards.

Little Ladybird cosmos (or 'cosmic' cosmos) from Renee's seeds or Sonata Cosmos. Both are smallish for their type.

My containers are big--about 18 inches or more across--and I grow regular zinnias like Benary's Giants, but that may be too rangey of a look for you..

Lots of marigolds will work for you, too. Don't know much about Gaillardia. I have never had luck with them in our sultry climate...

Jim~ I grew gaillardia in 2 containers last year on my back patio with French marigolds, the gaillardia flops over the edges and took over the marigolds.However, I plan a different planting scheme for the gaillardis this year. I also grew cosmic cosmos with delpininum consolida and sweet alyssum in a container, they are quite lovely with attractive foliage that provides a nice contrast with the other 2. I had to deadhead the cosmos regularly to prolong repeat blooms. The delphinium blooms earlier than the cosmos in the late Spring, but the cosmos growth hides the waning delphinium . The delphinium reblooms ( with deadheading just below the faded blooms) when cooler temps return in the Fall. The blues of the delphinium, the bright zesty orange of the cosmos dances vividly above the cascading whites of the sweet alyssum in the Fall is breathtaking and worth the wait. This year I plan to duplicate that cosmos schemes in several containers.

thanks gardeners

jimbo - how do I not know you? Do you ever visit the NE Forum? We're having a Round Up on June 28. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/805174/

ANYWAY - last year I had gazania that my husband really loved - I wasn't crazy about the colors but he loved it! It was orange and then something purple, like - oh gosh, I can;t even remember. But what i wanted to say was that I had cosmos together with a tall basil in a container in MA last summer and i thought they worked well together. x, Carrie

Hi jimbo001,

Of all varieties of Gaillardia I have grown G. pulchella `Red plume'
and G.pulchella ' Sundance.'

They are both extremely easy to grow.

Tomtom

I really liked the Sonata cosmos, I had them a few years back and they were great! You could also try the 'Persian Carpet' zinnias in a container, in my experiances they've had great heat and mildew resistence.

TomTom, as always your plants look amazing!!!
Could I possibly ask what kind of fertilizer you use???

Steven

thanks for posts - I have Profusion and Sonata started in the seed trays

I have a question about Gaillardias. If I have a large container and can it be planted with a Arizona Sun Gaillardia? I am re-doing my perennial beds and as usual got carried away and overbought. I have no more room and was wondering if this would work and could it overwinter in my SE Michigan garage? I do have a daylily that I carry over every year and need to know if I can do this. Any help would be appreciated.

I did a container of Cosmos Bright Lights (which mainly turned out to be glowing orange flowers) which did OK. They were much taller than I had anticipated, 2 1/2 ft tall, so I had to get one of those tall plant support rings. I would go with a shorter Cosmos like Cosmic Orange, Cosmic Yellow, Cosmic Red, Ladybird Scarlet (I think all the Ladybird series are dwarf). They shouldn't need support like the taller ones would.

This message was edited May 28, 2008 5:08 PM

I try everything in containers!

Yeah, I kinda do that too! I am a seed hoarder as well so I seem to always have more available if it doesn't work out and I tend to run out of flower bed before I run out of seeds or plants I want to try.

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm going to try a couple of things because as usual I bought more seeds than I should have. They look so pretty on the package.

August 21 update: the Sonata and Cosmic cosmos were very successful, although a small number of the Cosmics have browned up and died recently (maybe the incredible amount of rain in this area) Profusion and Pixie zinnias were excellent - also tried drawf butterfly weed in container - outstanding - gazanias were also successful although they are just now coming into bloom - thanks for all suggestions -

Good to hear that your containers were successful!

edited for goofy sentence!

This message was edited Aug 21, 2008 2:45 PM

Glad it turned out so well!!!

Happy Gardening,
Steven

Sounds like a success:) and a butterfly magnet:) I think it was most likely the rain causing the cosmos problem. Mine always tended to prefer their soil on the dry side.
Which variety of butterfly weed is dwarf? May have to try that one.

I don't find the rain all that helpful in watering my containers. The larger ones seem to get some water but the smaller ones especially seem to shed the water. When you think about it, when you water you fill that pot an inch or two a couple times. We don't get 2-4 inches of rain at a time usually.
I also like victoria blue salvia for a blue in my containers if your container/plants size can take it's height.

I like to try things in containers also as I am limited to garden space. I have recently planted a few shrubs in containers so I hope they survive. I planted our native Texas sagebush & it's doing really well.
I would think annuals would be just as good in containers..you may have to support them with a small trellis, depends on your container..I am talking of large containers.