Tips on what to plant for novice gardeners

If your silver bells and cockle shells are wilted and bug-eaten, maybe you should give marigolds or zinnias a try. For a novice gardener or a rueful plant-killer, planting easy-growing flowers is a good way to start creating a luscious garden space. Bob Hill, a staff horticulturalist for Park Seed in Greenwood, S.C., suggests that new gardeners start out with one or two varieties of seed, and then add new kinds each year.

"I am just fascinated, and I have been since I was a kid, to watch a little seed germinate under the right temperature and moisture conditions," Hill says.

Annuals will bloom 75 to 85 days after they germinate, so if you start your seedlings in April or mid-May they will flower.

Here are Hill's ideas for five robust annuals to try:

•Marigolds: These golden, orange or yellow flowers have a long flowering period and grow everywhere but the coldest climates.

•Zinnias: Sun-loving Zinnias bloom in many colors and they attract butterflies. They won't really grow until temperatures are above 50 F.

•Blanket flowers: Blanket flowers are dense colonies of red, yellow-rimmed flowers up to four inches across and two to three feet tall.

•Cosmos or Mexican Aster: This bushy two-foot-tall plant produces masses of colorful blooms from midsummer until autumn.

•Gazanias: Rosette-formed pastel or bold-colored Gazania blooms tolerate poor soil, dry climates and heat.