Hi AJS,

As a zinnia hobbyist I suggest zinnias. They start to bloom in about six weeks or so from seeds, and bloom throughout the summer. They come in many varieties, plant styles, and colors. Do a little research to see what your preferences are.

The Profusions and Zaharas are probably the most trouble free, because they resist Powdery Mildew in the Fall. Their plants are lower growing. I personally like bigger individual flowers and taller plants, so I don't grow the Profusions or Zaharas.

If you prefer a mass of a single color, you can purchase separate colors. If you have a lot of area to cover, there are seed companies that sell larger quantities of seeds at a much lower cost "per seed".

I will second zinnias. Some other options for direct seeding might be:

Anagallis monellii or Anagallis arvensis - low growing with small blue or red flowers.

Borage - edible (cucumber flavored) fuzzy foliage and small star-shaped blue flowers. Gets about 2 or 3 feet tall.

Cleome - gets to be 2-4' tall with pink, purple, or white flowers.

Cosmos - many varieties to choose from in tons or colors.

Lavatera trimestris - large beautiful pink satiny flowers on 4 foot plants that may require staking.

Nasturtium - edible (pepper flavored) foliage and flowers that come in a variety of warmish colors.

Nigella - airy ferny foliage with blue, purple, and white flowers. They do tend to peter out early, but the seed heads are also interesting. These will likely reseed for you.

Marigolds - a large variety to pick from in red, orange, yellow, or white shades. Some are low growing and others get several feet tall.

Also consider vines like morning glory (look for Heavenly Blue - other types tend to be notorious reseeders), Moon vine, or Hyacinth bean. These will need some type of structure to climb, but it's very easy and cheap to create one from stakes or sticks fastened together to form a teepee shape.

I've had success direct sowing all of these and no issues with reseeding except perhaps for the nigella (but they are easy to pull out if you don't want them).

Thanks to both. These are great posts.

Just in case anyone from cooler temperate climates is reading this, note that ZInnias are half hardy annuals for us, and are not reliable from direct sowing. Soil temps are not hot enough early enough. They need to be started under cover. Or you have to wait until late May-June to sow. The same applies to Cleome.

If you have a mainly bare area I would suggest you cover the area with clear plastic for a couple of weeks to warm the ground before you direct sow. Most seeds will just sit there and not germinate until the soil temperature is right so if you plant in cool soil they just don't germinate.