...and then a big box of plants showed up

Here's what was inside that box...
It looks like a bunch of tasty boxed salads for a catered lunch, don't you think? But when you lift one of those plastic (recyclable plastic) trays out, this is what you see...
Coleus Down Town™ Port Fairy | 71086, Scaevola Scala Cappello White | 72985, and Coleus Down Town™ Dallas | 71172
Petunia Potunia®  Black Satin (Intrinsa®) | 39918
Petunia DuraBloom® Red 2025 | 41740
Are you a little perplexed by those names? I know I was. Since I'm not really an "annuals" kind of gardener (more on that in a minute), I immediately took to the internet to learn more about these plants. And I hit a bit of a wall. The names are kind of an alphabet soup with numbers attached. Take Dipladenia Flordenia™ White Halo | 51176. I eventually found reference to this as a Mandevilla hybrid...ah. Okay, yay, I know what a Mandevilla is. There are so many words in each name, most of which mean nothing to me (Bloomtastic, DuraBloom®, Intrinsa®, Big EEZE Pink Batik) it's hard to know which ones are referring to the actual plant and which ones are company-specific lingo.

This is the first time I've ever agreed to receive a shipment of trial plants like this. Why? Well because I'm picky. I don't like most garden center flowering annuals meant to go into a mixed container plantings for the summer. I didn't want to receive a box of plants that I didn't like and then feel like I was honor-bound to write about and grow them. So what made me say yes this time? Honestly it was only because someone I know, and have met in-person (and grows the only lavender that I have in my garden), recommended me. 

So were there any plants in the shipment that I'm excited about? Yes actually. Out of the 12 different kinds they sent there are 3 that I'm definitely going to keep and grow in my garden, that's not a bad showing really, a 25% success rate! One of the winners is this Begonia I’Conia® Portofino Dark Orange | 50882. I love the foliage...
And that bright orange flower will be a fun pop of color in the back garden.
Sadly the only plant that was trashed in shopping was the second begonia (remember they sent 2 of each). Hopefully it will bounce back.
I'm also keeping the mandevilla hybrids, I've always wanted to grow a mandevilla so this will be my opportunity to experiment.
I wish I'd got the red velvet (visible at the bottom, below) instead of the white halo but heck, you get what you pay for right?
I am most excited about this one, the  Cuphea Lavender | 71901. Those little leaves on the dark stems and tiny purple flowers... I love it, although again I wish I knew more. From the wiki: "Cuphea is a genus containing about 260 species of annual and perennial flowering plants native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species range from low-growing herbaceous plants to semi-woody shrubs up to 2 m tall." 

The information Dümmen Orange has available tells me nothing about how hardy this plant is. Is it a true annual? Might it live over in my zone? I am perplexed by how hard it is to learn more about these plants. I appreciate the chance to grow them, but I want to really know what it is that I'm growing.