Gardeners often rely on marigolds as a mainstay of the annual planting. There are two types of marigolds. African marigolds are generally tall with large flowers while French marigolds are more compact with more numerous, but smaller flowers. Eight African marigolds and 17 French marigolds rated 2.5 or higher. The top three of each type were Antigua Primrose, Antigua Goldsmith, and Discovery Yellow of the African type and Bonanza Harmony, Bonanza Flame, and Hero Orange of the French type.
Most gardeners think of red-flowered scarlet sage when annual salvia is mentioned.
However, none of the 17 cultivars evaluated in 1997 received ratings higher than 2.0. A better salvia for the Southeast is mealy-cup sage. Two cultivars rated 2.5 or higher, Victoria White and Signum. The verbena cultivar Imagination was another excellent performer that received a rating of 2.5. This plant can be treated as a perennial in South Alabama.