Not knowing what zone you are located in, it's difficult to comment on the effect of more afternoon sun on the Victoria Blue salvia. I am in zone 8a (hotter than he!! zone in August) and the VB salvia does best for me in the spring and fall in terms of blooming. Your Profusion zinnias should do well with more sun in the afternoon. They do much better for me than any other zinnia I've tried growing and they're very easy to grow from seed. What zone are you in?

Robin

Sorry Robin, I forgot to put my zone in. I'm in 7, central OK. where it's been hotter than the dickens this year. This flowerbed gets sun from morning until night. But since the sun is moving now, this particular flowerbed is in full shade at the moment, almost 5:30pm.

I'll keep the Profusion in mind, thanks! I'm in love with the Victoria Blue's though. Next year I'm going to plant a lot more of them.

Your VB salvias look much better than mine do right now. Mine get sun all afternoon. They tend to get a powdery mildew after the initial spring bloom, otherwise I really like them. One of my favorite salvias is Mexican sage and another is Augusta Duelberg which is white.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mexican sage

I love Profusion zinnias! I have an orange bed in the courtyard, a pink bed in the kitchen garden, and a white bed in the hummer/butterfly bed. Zahara zinnias are similar to Profusion. They both take the heat, don't mildew, don't need to be deadheaded, and bloom all summer into fall.

Natal, I'd love to see a picture! Do they get pretty tall?

Oakley, they're the same as yours. Profusion and Zahara both get about a foot tall.

I am in zone 6-7 and your salvia will do just fine with the extra sun. I have my vb salvia planted in partial shade and full sun beds. In the normal august drought heat my vb salvia in the partial sun bed looks a little better but the one in full sun still looks good. Though my vb salvia comes back in my full sun beds when I do not cut it back when in my partial sun beds it sometimes comes back and sometimes does not. The year it doesnt I always split some off of the plant in the full sun and plant as i need it.

Oakley,

I also live in Central Oklahoma. Zinnias are very easy to grow from seeds and do best in full sun. The taller varieties tend to get powdery mildew in mid to late summer. The flowers continue to look great, but the stalks and foliage look terrible. The shorter zinnia varieties, like the Profusion you are growing, are less likely to get powdery mildew.

However, if you are careful when watering them, not to get any water or splashes from the ground up on the leaves, they might not get it.

Dreamland zinnias are another very pretty Zinnia, as are Liliputs, but these are also both short varieties. Dreamland has a small to medium-size blooms in earthy hues of crayon colors and Liliputs bright colored pompom-like flowers (cute!), usually mixed colors in a package of seeds.

I have always grown all my annuals flowers and plants from seed and with very good success. I direct sow right where I want them to grow. When they come up and get two or three sets of true leaves, I thin them out, usually transplanting the 'thinnings' to some other location.

The only problem I ever have in growing flowers from seeds is if mice or other rodents get the seeds or small seedlings, but that is not too often and they are so inexpensive and grow so fast, that there is always time to replant if for some reason they don't grow.

I grow the tall California Giants regardless of the possibility of powdery mildew. Butterflies love them and I love their bright happy colors. I even grow them in my vegetable garden.

So far this year I do not have powdery mildew on any of my zinnias. When it is dry, they don't usually get it. Same thing with Bee Balm. Dry summers, no p. mildew. If we get ample rain and hot temps, they develop p. mildew. If so, I strip all the leaves off. They will continue to bloom and eventually make new leaves, usually with no mildew. Burn or bag and trash the infected leaves. Keep the ground underneath them cleaned of any that fall off. Mulching with pine straw or pine mulch seems to help as it prevent the dirt from splashing up on the leaves.

If they do get it, do not grow zinnias in that spot the following year or the next. Rotate where you plant them, as you would with tomatoes (for the same reason). For color, you just can't beat zinnias in my mind.

Grasshoppers and Katydids can be a particular pest some years, chewing holes in the leaves and ruining the flowers. So far this year, they seem to be focused on eating up every one of my cannas. :(

Here is a photo of one of my tall white California Giant Zinnias, taken on July 26th this year. This was the first bloom and now it is making multiple blooms. I think the white is striking next to the foliage of surrounding plants.

Both of these are growing in full sun, about 8 hours of direct sun in two different locations. The orange gets some late afternoon shade. I have pine mulch under them to prevent dirt splashing up on the leaves which I believe helps prevent powdery mildew.

~Annie

I am zone 6 in southwest Missouri and I completely agree with Annie. They will both do fine in full sun.

There are other shorter varieties of salvias which might be nice and you could plant the taller zinnias behind them which would hide the foliage in case of leaf diseases. Usually the leaves are not zinnias best feature!

I think you have picked two wonderful easy-care annuals that will bloom until frost.

Sweetannie, those are beautiful flowers. I didn't know my dwarfs were "profusion." lol

I'll give the taller variety a shot next year but will definitely grow the Profusions too. I wish I had bought more of them, I thought they'd be hard to grow which is why I only bought a few.

gldno, I think I'll stick with the taller VB Salvia. My garden needs more height, and this does the trick.

What's funny is I ordered Carpet Roses from QVC last Spring, I had my doubts because it was from ...QVC. lol. But boy are they growing like weeds! I have them in the front of both beds.

As a profusion zinnia flower turns brown, snap that head off. Pull each petal out. You will see a small black seed at the end. Just scatter them (the whole petal) on the ground where you want flowers next spring.
At least that was my experience.

Kathy

Annie,
love the color of that orange flame zinnia!!!

Cindy

I'm zone 7 in North Carolina and my salvia and zinnias get south-facing sun for 10 hours a day. I'm growing perennial salvias and the tall zinnias together.

Cameron

Speaking of zinnias ... is anyone growing Zowie! Yellow Flame? It's so pretty! On my list for next year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zowie! Yellow Flame

Here are my zinnias from last year.They didn't do so good this year.I grew these from seed!!
Kathi

I like the shorter Zinnias, but my favorites are the tall, colorful varieties like California Giants, Cut & Come again, and State Fair. The Hummingbirds and butterflies love these types of Zinnias.

They are easy to start from seed. I like big patches of the tall ones so I direct sow them, usually around June 1st in this zone (Zinnias like hot weather and it doesn't usually warm up until then).

Most years powdery mildew doesn't seem to be a big problem, but it was pretty bad one year (grew the Zinnias in the same spot as previous year, maybe that made a difference, even though they didn't have mildew the year before).

Here's a question......I grew the giant benary zinnia from seed on my balcony.

After waiting all summer they finally began to bloom and the flowers Im getting are REALLY small. Pretty, but only about 1-2 inches in diameter.

Anybody know why this would happen?