There are nasturtiums and also cornflowers to sow; both of which come in a variety of colours.

You can sow Larkspur now. Lovely and tall.
Likes the cool weather too.
Calendula, California poppy, as well as other annual poppies. The peony flowered ones are beautiful.

My favorites are california poppies and nasturtiums. I dont think there is any point in sowing them anyother way. I also direct sow morning glories.

Love in a mist (nigella), alyssum, bachelor's buttons (cornflowers), nasturtiums, morning glories, larkspur, virginian stock.

Most of these are cool-season annuals, though, and won't keep going through a hot summer, although the morning glories will be happy to. I did some lovely moonflowers via direct-sowed seed once in a hot climate, though. Wow, they smelled good. But they only bloom at night.

Won't the allysum last through the summer? I do have a packet of seeds that have sat around for a few years. I should give them a try.

I have a lot of self-sowing California poppies in one of the beds, and the seedlings are all over the place (so much so that I'll need to thin out what's out there). I know I was not enthusiastic about orange in my first post, but I do like the color of Calif. poppies; perhaps they have a little more gold in them.

So, if my focus is on summer annuals, it looks like some of the suggestions above won't work very well. Are Calendulas cool season plants, too?

Any more ideas for medium and short flowers? Like 6-12" tall? Some yellows, purples, or pinks? Ones that will flower all summer and be quick to bloom from an early May sowing?

Thanks!
Steve

The Alyssum will last through the summer. Other suggestions are 4 O'Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) very easy, Lavatera, Datura "Lilac le fleur" I started mine about 6 weeks ago and they are about 12" now and blooming, next year I'll wait or direct sow these babies. For shorter plants Viola "Johnny Jump Up", for foliage interest Coleus, Portulaca great for dry areas (succulent). Janet

I normally just let the ones I could direct sow self-sow themselves. Seems whenever I try to butt in they never come up! They only one I have much luck direct sowing are Nigella just after harvesting seed....I just toss and walk away. I tried a direct sowing of poppies last Thanksgiving...don't see anything yet so just sowed some more! Sunflowes do self-sow...madly, but am gonna give some direct sowing a try; one is 3' and the other's are giants.
This is the list of those self-sowers you might have better luck direct sowing :D
Amaranthus
Cosmos
Nicotiana alata
Linaria maroccana
Viola (sometimes short lived perennials for me)
Salvia hormonium
Salvia coccinea
Rudbeckia amplexicaulis
Clarkia elegans
Cynoglossum amabile (Chinese Forget Me Not)
Sweet Alyssum
Larkspur (these will self sow in late summer/fall and winter over...as well as get more spring germination)
German Chamomile (can keep them going a long time with frequent deadheading/harvesting of flowers for tea)
Moss Rose
Snapdragon (some can be perennial zone 6 and warmer)

As far as Profussion Zinnia, I recieved some harvested Pink Profussion in trade. The ones I wintersowed all came true! We see what happens from the seed I harvested this year :D

I'm a couple of zones hotter than you, so your mileage may vary. But I had great luck direct seeding dwarf cosmos last year. Thrived in poor soil and full sun, and bloomed pretty quickly. I got the seeds from wildseedfarms.com -- the only place I could find the dwarfs. They have a dwarf sensation mix, among others, that grows to 12-16", and has pink, white or purple flowers. Other dwarfs are yellow, gold and orange. Lots of varieties of cosmos and other wildflowers too. Check out the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: wildseedfarms

Thanks, folks! You've given me some great ideas. I'll take note of all these and decide on several varieties to use.

Steve