There is a soul-satisfying pleasure in the simple process of poking a seed into the ground, patting it down, watering it and watching it grow. And it really can be that simple.

If you are itching to get out into the garden now, then you'll find our easy-to-grow, easy-to-sow annuals will quench your thirst with their quick growth and beautiful blooms.

All our selections have large seeds that are easy to handle, will germinate (sprout) within two weeks and thrive in average garden soil and our hot and dry summers. You'll probably spend more time choosing what to plant than actually doing it. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Hillary T. Gant is a certified landscape professional and a Dallas freelance writer.

These classic summer annuals bloom their heads off all summer and are drought- and heat-tolerant. Newer varieties like 'Profusion' and 'Zowie! Yellow Flame' are disease resistant, so they perform well in our long, hot, humid summers. Zinnias' large seeds, rapid germination and bright colors make them naturals for gardening with kids. (Full sun. Germination in 3 to 5 days.)

Zinnia elegans x angustifolia 'Profusion' develops into tidy mounds 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide that are covered in 2-inch blooms. Available in many colors.

Z. elegans 'Zowie! Yellow Flame' (pictured above) has 4- to 5-inch double blooms that are perfect for cutting and containers. To encourage more blooms for any zinnia cut the flower stem just above a pair of leaves.

Flowers are bright flags waving in the breeze amid lacy foliage. 'Bright Lights Mix' (Cosmos sulphureus 'Cosmic') has semi-double flowers in bright sunny shades of red, yellow and orange with some bicolors in between. They reseed freely and attract butterflies. (Full sun. Germination in 5 to 7 days.)

C. sulphureus 'Cosmic' series grows only 12 inches tall and is more heat-tolerant than the taller C. bipinnatus, which blooms in shades of pink and white. C. sulphureus does better in our long, hot summers.

Four o'clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) open in the afternoon (hence the name) and are sweetly perfumed. The plants will open their flowers earlier and do better if they get some afternoon shade. Four o'clock seeds are as big as peas and can be pushed into the soil with a finger. When the plants reach about 6 to 12 inches, pinch back the tips to a set of leaves to encourage branching. (Morning sun, afternoon shade. Germination in 5 to 10 days.)

M. jalapa 'Tea Time'grows quickly into a shrubby 3-foot mass with yellow, white, mageneta and pale pink flowers – all on one plant.

Gomphrena or globe amaranth (Gomphrena haageana) is a super-easy annual that's tough to beat in the heat or in a vase of cut flowers. It blooms for months despite neglect and lasts nearly three weeks as a cut flower. The globes attract butterflies to the garden. (Full sun. Germination in 10 days.)

Gomphrenas also keep their color in dried arrangements and are a favorite with crafters. To dry the blooms, cut long stems in the morning, remove the foliage and hang upside down in a cool, dry place for several weeks.

'Strawberry Fields', the first true red globe amaranth, has large bright flowers that stand out against the thread-like leaves. 'Mardi Gras' (pictured above) is a mixture of apricot, carmine and scarlet-orange.

Celosias grow in different forms, but all are easy to start from seed and offer vivid color in the garden. They last for nearly a month as cut flowers and keep their color well in dried arrangements. (Full sun. Germination in 10 to 14 days.)

Crested celosia (pictured above) is a plant gardeners love to hate. Thinking they look like brains, many gardeners pass on their crinkled blooms. But 'Bombay' celosia (Celosia argentea cristata 'Bombay') wows with 18-inch velvety flowers on plants 3 to 4 feet tall. Pop one in a container for its surprise factor.

C. spicata 'Glowing Spears' grows 24 to 30 inches tall and blooms in shades of purple and white. The spiky plumes are similar to ornamental grasses and add movement and texture to the garden border in late summer.

Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are easy and now come in a broad range of colors and sizes – from 12 inches to 14 feet tall with flowers from 3 inches to dinner-plate size in yellow, red, lime green and bicolors. There are even double sunflowers now. All attract birds and bees, and children will love planting the large seeds. (Full sun. Germination in 5 to 7 days.)

'Soraya' (pictured above) is more like a sunflower shrub, because it self-branches, creating a 5-foot bush that doesn't need staking. A single plant can hold more than 20 flowers at once, held high above the foliage on long stems.

Sunflower 'Elf' grows just under 2 feet tall so it will fit into any garden – even a container. Its blooms are sunny 4-inch disks with bright centers. Leave a few standing for the birds.

If the marigolds your grandma grew aren't your cup of tea, try their single-flowered cousins, Tagetes signata 'Signet Starfire' (pictured at right) or T. tenuifolia 'Gem' series. These tidy beauties have citrus-scented, lacy foliage. They are covered summer to frost with dime-sized, edible flowers that taste like tarragon. If the blooms slow down in midsummer, shear the plants back by one-third to encourage new growth. (Full sun. Germination in 5 to 7 days.)

Tithonia rotundifolia 'Fiesta Del Sol' sparkles during the dog days of summer with 3-inch orange, daisylike flowers set against deep green foliage. Deadhead (remove spent blooms) to keep the blooms coming until frost. No staking is required for this dwarf sunflower relative that butterflies love. The seeds are large and easy to insert into the ground with your thumb. (Full sun. Germination in 7 to 10 days.)

Size ­ How tall and wide the plants will be when they are mature, meaning blooming size. Choose plants to fit your space. You don't have to plant the whole packet in one place. Tuck two to four seeds in a pocket of your rock wall, or slip in a few in front of your shrubs.

Light requirements ­Full sun means at least 6 hours of direct sun per day. Partial sun means 4 hours of direct sun. Morning sun and afternoon shade are best in our intense heat. Don't fool yourself: Even shade plants need indirect or filtered sunlight.

When to sow ­ Usually indicated by the last frost date (mid-March in North Texas) or soil temperature, which requires a special thermometer. As a rule, it is safe to sow when the temperature is halfway between day and night temperatures.

Where to sow ­Look for plants that specify "direct sow," or "sow after all danger of frost directly in the garden." Save the seed trays and grow lights for another time.

Seed depth ­If this information isn't given, sow seeds about 2 to 3 times the size of the seed. This means about ½ -inch deep for a seed the size of a pea or just patted into the soil surface for a seed the size of a grain of sand.

Thinning and spacing ­Thin, or remove, seedlings once they are a few inches tall so your plants receive proper light and air circulation. If you leave all the seedlings crowded together they will grow leggy and may not thrive.

Days to germination ­The number of days before the first sprouts poke through the soil.

Days to maturity ­This is most relevant for edible plants. In North Texas, the growing season is long; you have no worries your plants will have time to flower if you plant your seeds at the correct time. You may even like to time successive sowings. This gives you a longer period of bloom for cut flowers.

Flowering time ­Give a wide margin to these dates. Remember, the seed packet is printed for a national audience, and gardeners in northern states might not even transplant tender selections outdoors until June, whereas you are sowing seed now. Most annuals will flower within 4 to 6 weeks of germination.Seed sources

For less than the cost of a single 4-inch bedding plant, you can have a whole bed's worth of flowers. And you'll have so many more choices compared to the bedding plants at even the best nursery. Mail-order seed companies offer the greatest selection, but seeds are sold at retail nurseries and even grocery and hardware stores.

W. Atlee Burpee & Co.

Renee's Garden

Park Seed Co.