seedboy, I don't know that there are 'best' annuals. But there is a very long list of great performers under a wide range of conditions. You'll need to evaluate the locations on your property for such factors as sunlight (how long and how much), soil conditions, and drainage. In Florida, you'll have plenty of options for the warm and hot months (spring and summer) as well as the cooler times (fall and winter). For example, this is not the time of year, in your location, to buy a flat of pansies. Though they may look wonderful at the garden center, they will only perform well for a very short time due to the heat. Fall is the time to plant them, for an all winter-long dispay. If you visit the Florida Forum, be sure to ask what their FAVORITE annuals are. I'm sure that people are likely to list such plants as marigolds, zinnias, gomphrena, Catharanthus roseus, portulaca, and lantana (which is a tender perennial but used as an annual.) And MANY more.

I'm trying a coconut liner hanging basket this year. Besides the normal issues with containers, with this coco liner, I noticed the water drains out very fast, contrary to what I had thought about the liner. Another problem that others have said is that, what water does remain in the soil, gets wicked by the liner itself, so that the soil gets drier than usual. You could try some purslane or moss rose or a kind of sedum that has some bit of trailing, such as sedum autumn joy. You can also have more traditional plants in hanging baskets, but just know that you'll need to water in more regularly with this liner basket. The direction of sun exposure also can play a factor, and morning sun would be quite different from afternoon or evening sun.

Maybe tie a ribbon on the hanging basket handle till they are done nesting? My mom's neighbor ties shiny little blue ribbons to an area on her porch that she wants to keep birds away from. (Ribbon like you'd wrap a gift with.) The movement of the ribbon in the breeze keeps them away. On the flip side, my late MIL used to keep a moss basket hanging right off her back door. One year she left it out all winter and a dove found it. Every year after that dove came back to nest there, so MIL just left it there for her to nest in, no plants. We'd walk right past that basket to get in the house and it didn't even phase that dove! Sometimes they are stubborn and they want that same home every year! ;D

Preamble: My gardening style could be politely termed 'semi-organised chaos'. (The neighbour warns his kids about lofting their tennis balls over the fence - 'it's a jungle in there!' Ha!) So the daffodils hang out with a sequence of perennials, mostly: Hosta, Astrantia, Saxifrage, Libertia, Clematis integrifolia, polite Tradescantia, Origanum, Athyrium, Thalictrum, and bulbs that flower later such as Tritonia, Freesia, Ixia, Albuca, and the occasional calla. The 'worst' leaf problem comes, for me, from the very earliest - such as 'Erlicheer' - whose leaves linger until nearly Christmas and they're too big to disguise, so I pretend they're not there and let the Aquilegias, miniature roses, and true Geraniums divert the eyes. (It mostly 'works'...I hope.) If I use annuals I tend to go for plants such as petunia, verbena, and Impatiens because I am a lazy waterer for the in-ground plants. The plus, for me, is that the perennials are well-established now and quickly cover the daffodil sites with leaves without encroaching on their actual space; so the soil stays protected and slightly damper - which suits several of the cyclamineus sorts. And they're at rest when the daffs are heading toward the sun. The annuals usefully provide colour spots and continuity. I'd propose using both.