For many gardeners, annuals are essential for many garden needs. Annual flowers are a quick and great way to fill empty spots in flowerbeds.
Unlike numerous perennials, many annuals prosper in summer’s heat and once they get started, will keep budding right into early fall. With a little preparation you can make annual-perennial partnerships that will keep your flower gardens looking fabulous for a full 5 or 6 months.
Select the correct style of annuals: You don’t want plants that are puffy or too bold in flower or vegetation. The finest friends are vase-shaped, old fashioned flowers with a casual form. The types of annuals that work the greatest are those that weave among the flora of your perennials. Good examples include verbena, nicotiana, salvia, diascia, and heliotrope.
Select heat-tolerant annuals: Except if your perennial border is in the shade, you’ll want to choose sun-loving, warm-weather flowers such as ageraturm, alyssum, cleome, browallia, nicotiana, salvia, verbena and matricaria.
Don’t forget the tropicals: There are many great heat-loving flowers that can be used as annuals. Though many of these are fairly big and perhaps too bold to mix into the normal perennial border, you may want to locate space for them. Good contestants include canna, elephant ear, ginger lily, Mexican sage, and many varieties of plectranthus.
Some of the most popular annuals for your garden:
Matricaria: Is a type of flowering plant in the sunflower family. These are enduring, pleasantly scented annuals, growing along roadsides and in unplanted land rich in nutrients. Matricaria’s are best for rock gardens and herb gardens, and as border plants.
Cleome: Is a kind of plant in the family Cleomaceae. These flowers grow best in full sun, as shaded settings can make them grow too tall and topple over. Cleome flowers flourish in average garden soil, and shrug off flower insects, nuisances and diseases. They are best used for the back of the flower border, where their tall and thin stems can stay behind other plants, but their joyful flower arrangements can sway in the wind above other flowering annuals.
Impatiens: In full or limited shade gardens, impatiens grow more vibrantly than a painter’s palette. Impatiens are carefree, need no pinching and in full shade, slight watering. They come in a variety of colors including white, pink, red, coral, violet, and purple.
Ammi Majus: Is a tall, branching flower, with excellently divided, feathery vegetation. In summer, it creates a wealth of large round blooms consisting of clusters of small while florets on tall, branched, slim stems. The subtle clusters enhance beauty and depth to bouquets and fields alike. The Ammi Majus is really easy to grow on numerous soils. This annual flower is best for drawing valuable insects into the garden.
Russo’s Landscaping can help you to find the best flowers for your garden. Contact us now at 718-727-7914