Wendy’s Garden
Annuals seem to get a very bad rap from some gardeners. Currently they are coming in by the pallet full at your nurseries and big box stores. You know what these plants are. You have seen them at the entrance to gated communities, developments, shopping centers, and public buildings. They are usually in geometric beds and lined up like little soldiers – tallest in the back and shortest in the front. They might be swapped out twice a year. Fall plantings include Pansies (Viola wittrockian), Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus), Dusty Miller (Senecio cineraria), and ornamental Kale (Brassica oleracea). Ummm. Is Kale an annual or a vegetable or an annual vegetable? Soon, you will see new plantings of Begonias (Begonia semperflorens), geraniums (Pelargoniums), and annual red Salvia (Salvia splendens) to last through the late spring and summer.
What exactly is an annual? An annual is a plant that grows, flowers, and sets seed in one year or season. Historically, annuals, also known as “bedding plants,” were pretty much all you saw in yards before the 1990’s. I remember marigolds, petunias, geraniums, blue ageratum, and annual red salvia, but little else. And they were planted in geometric shaped beds or in lines. In the 1990’s gardeners discovered or rediscovered perennials and the annuals seemed to fall out of favour.
This a shame because you cannot beat annuals for their ability to bloom all season long and provide a great pop of color for your garden.
They might be fall flowering annuals or spring flowering annuals, but they bloom for a long time until they just wear themselves out. Some will re-seed and there are hardly annuals that will occasionally live for several years such Pentas (Penta lanceolata) or Angelonia (Angelonia augustifolia). In Florida, these plants are considered tender perennials. A hard freeze here might kill them or damage them. My geraniums die back late summer and revive in the cool Fall temperatures with a little judicious pruning by me and lots of fertilizer. Annuals in containers are heavy feeders. The constant watering in our hot summer leaches out the nutrients pretty quickly in container planters.
Do not be afraid to use annuals as a great filler plant in your garden. I plant seeds of Zinnias (Zinnia elegans) and Marigolds (Tagetes spp) between my perennials. Pollinators love them and when they are done, I just pull them out and compost the remains. By that time, they do not owe me anything. There are new colors and new varieties that come out every year. Absolutely try Tithonia (Tithonia rotundifolia) if you wish to attract pollinators. Also known as Mexico sunflower, this plant comes in a tall or a shorter variety (Fiesta del Sol) and the orange flowers are a butterfly magnet. One small packet of seeds and you will be on their most favored list.
There also annuals that I plant from seed in October. They come up to around six inches and stay dormant
Tithonia
until spring and then they grow to full size and bloom for about two months. I plant sweet peas in October as well as Borage, love-un-the-mist, and two annuals that have flowers like Queen Anne’s lace, Orlaya, and Ammi majus. They start blooming in April faithfully. Borage is particularly interesting. It is considered an herb, but the beautiful blue flowers are bee magnet.
One annual that you can buy as a plant at a garden center that beats the heat and appears to be resistant to deer is vinca or Madagascar periwinkle. These little darlings come in many colors and seem to be imperious to drought and hot sun.
Blue daze plant (Evolvulus pilosus) also takes our heat and is a great creeping ground cover with bright blue flowers. Is it an annual or perennial? Mine did come back this year, but other years it has died in the cold. Profusion Zinnias are true annuals, but they are such a great addition in the front of a border, that I buy them every year. Coleus are grown mainly for their colorful foliage but can be a welcome addition to any garden. They are very cold sensitive and can get “leggy” towards the end of summer. You can cut them back and root the cuttings in water for more plants.
For color and interest at a very low cost, do not “pooh-pooh” annuals. Buy them either by the six pack or in seed form. You will get a lot of bang for your buck.
