Snapdragons, Verbena and Zinnias in a Vibrant Bed

Snapdragons - some planted, some volunteers - are blooming cheerfully among zinnias, verbena and African daisies (Osteospermum) in the northwest corner garden at the Spokane Temple.  Last year the flowers in this area were kind of blah - I can say that since I made the design - but this year we used more colors, watering issues were solved, and the area looks better.

Tall salmon-colored 'Senora' zinnias (above) and shorter 'Zahara' Cherry zinnias are happy about the hot summer we've been having.  In cool years zinnias don't grow as well.

'Magenta Ribbon' snapdragons reseeded last year and were welcome surprises this year.  'Arrow Orange' snapdragons are the main filler in the bed.  I love their sunset shades.

'Imagination' verbena provides the purple color you see above.  This area experiences deer pressure, so we are limited in what we can plant.  Last year voles ate many of the plants, but this year we've avoided that damage so far.  Sometimes rabbits nibble here as well.  Deer seem to leave geraniums alone, but we learned a couple of years ago that rabbits seem to like them.  So there aren't any geraniums in the mix this year.

'Purple Prince' fountain grass (Pennisetum) adds some linear texture toward the back of the bed.  I was hoping for a darker purple grass, but this is what the grower had.  Designing flower beds at the temple always involves last-minute substitutions when requested plants aren't available.

We planted a bunch of vibrant orange African daisies, which made a great addition to the color scheme, but they stopped blooming right after planting and many haven't started again.   You can't see any in the shot above.  I know they don't enjoy hot temperatures, so perhaps they will perk up and start blooming again in September.

Here is a last shot taken just before sunset.  I don't plant hardly any annuals in my home garden - just cosmos ('Cranberry Double Click') and laceflower (Ammi visnaga) this year - so it's really fun to get to work with annuals at the temple.  I have more photos of this year's annual beds to post over the next few weeks.