Taking stock of 2011 annuals

This week I dug up my dahlias and cannas and put them in the sun on these relatively warm to dry for a couple of days, covering them with bedsheets at night to keep the cold off. Wednesday night I am moving them into the basement for the winter before it starts raining on Thursday. I also began cutting down the perennial beds.
Taking stock of the 2011 garden, here are some of the annuals, both old and new, that put on a good show this year:
Archangel Angelonia provided continuous purple spikes without deadheading.
Superbenas where new verbena hybrids from Proven Winners so tough they are still blooming. My fave was Royale Peach Keen
State Fair is an old mix but provided good deer-proof zinnias for cutting.
Superbells were a calibrachoa hybrid from Proven Winners that required no deadheading.
Patchwork is an easy new lavender impatien that bloomed nonstop.
I had less luck with wave petunias, perhaps because they required pinching. They just petered out.
But Wasabi coleus was an excellent lime green color accent for shade. I planted it with red dahlias.
Among perennials, I tried a lot of of heucheras and especially liked Big Top from ball and Tiarella Candy Striper foam flower from Terra Nova, which has dark stippled stripes down each leaf lope and pink flower buds that open into white flowers. I also planted some Actea Simplex Black Negligee from Terra Nova but it is slow growing so it will take a couple of years (if it survives) to show off its purple tinted white flowers.