I always sprinkle a lot of Shirley poppy seeds around my garden (Papaver rhoeas), and California poppies, and desert bluebells (Phacelia campanularia). They all sprout in early autumn and bloom in late winter/spring.

This is a GREAT time to plant a bunch of nasturtium seeds too. Self-sown ones are popping up all over my garden and I'll supplement them with new purchased ones too. So easy and fun.

African daisies are popular here too. You buy seeds now and sprinkle them around the garden. I like them, although they self sow aggressively and can spread into native areas so some folks don't like them.

It's getting a little late to start pansies and snapdragons from seed, but purchased plants will thrive here all winter and spring, as will purchased "geraniums" too. Keep us posted on what you plant, purchase and grow, and how they do for you. Definitely get some nasturtiums going. :)

Happy gardening!
Grant

gardenerprer, in addition to what Grant suggested, I'm fond of calendulas (pot marigold- although not a marigold at all) They come in many different colors, heights. They like cool weather.

Petunias seem to do real good during the winter here too (with some protection from hard frosts in Dec, Jan.)

I sow sweet alyssum like crazy. I can't think of an easier annual for winter garden. I like the mixed color varieties the most.

Last winter I planted a wildflower mix that had a lot of bachelor buttons (also called corn flowers.) Super easy, lots of different colors.

Like Grant mentioned, African daisy would be a good choice for a desert themed landscape since it has a real informal, natural look (unlike petunias for example.)

If you want a good deal on snapdragons, Lowes usually has a bunch of them in their discounted rack. Just snip the tops off them, plant them in good soil, and they should be good all winter. I bought a bunch of marguerite daisies there for 99 cents ea. They should do good all winter.

Oooh, good suggestions too, Richsd! Like you, I LOVE calendulas too, especially the orange ones (my favorite color), they bloom pretty much nonstop from autumn through late spring if they get enough sun. They're pretty fast from seed too, plus are easy to find too. I love snapdragons too, so fun to snap! Happy gardening all!

Thank you so much Grant and Richsd.. I will get Nasturium, African Daisy started from seeds. I did plant calendula last year and they came out very nicely. I will also put in Alyssum as well from seeds. I really like Viola as well, will see once they come in as plants. How does Cosmos grow here from seeds in summer? When do we sow them?

Cosmos do great here. I love borage! What a fun looking plant and the flowers are edible. I saw where some folks put a flower in each cell of an ice cube tray, fill and freeze. You have flowers in your water!! Four o'clocks are fun and mine are still blooming from last year's planting. Coreopsis are great too.

Now is a good time for sowing all those seeds for spring blooms. One note on the nastursiums, I had lots of them blooming their little heads off last fall and the first frost killed 'em flat out.

Happy seeding for a pretty spring!

Thank you marymcp. When do you put in Cosmos ? I got some purple coneflowers also. For winter I got- pansy , alyssum , nasturtium. I will be sowing them this weekend .

You are welcome. Don't forget blanket flower too - it's daisy like, very pretty colors.

I used to sow flower seed in spring but they never came up. Someone on another board told me to sow in fall for spring blooms so that is what I do now. Good luck. Post pics in the spring so we can see how everything turned out.

I have to second the suggestion of blanket flower- EASY.

With water, they take 110 degrees and keep on putting out more flowers (those crazy things.)

For best appearance, they take a lot of deadheading though.

[they take a lot of deadheading though]

That's what Sunday mornings and "Sunday Morning coffee" are for......I like a little Bailey's to sweeten the morning. ;-))) Then I grab that 5-gallon bucket with a plastic seat on top, a paper lunch sack and commune with my flower bed.

That's fun :) would love to see some pics from last spring/ summer :)
Thanks for all suggestions . I just planted alyssum white and purple and some pansies and nasturtium.
Then put in some veggies seeds.

That's fun :) would love to see some pics from last spring/ summer :)
Thanks for all suggestions . I just planted alyssum white and purple and some pansies and nasturtium.
Then put in some veggies seeds.

I can't find a picture of it chock full of flowers, this is the best I could find. This little bed out front was really chock full of mostly daisy types one year. It changes each year.

A close up:

One more (I *really* like daisies).....and I know how to post more than one in a message but I'd have to upload to Shutterfly first.

Those are pretty flowers :) white flower is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing.