Annuals Add Color and Beauty to the Garden

One of the nicest parts of working in your garden in the spring is planning and planting flowering annuals. They add color and beauty to any garden.

An annual is a plant that completes its entire cycle in one growing season. Many plants that are considered annuals in the north can survive for years in Florida and thus are perennials. Perennials are plants that live at least 3 years under local conditions. The plants grown as annuals in the USA come from all over the world. A few favorites include ageratum, zinnia and marigold from Mexico, petunia and verbena from Argentina, four o'clocks from Peru and California Poppy and phlox from North America.

Annuals are bright and cheery additions to any garden and can be used in many landscape situations. The splash of bright color makes an excellent focal point. When annuals are planted in containers, either stationary or hanging from trees or eaves they add color to accentuate the surrounding area.

Zinnias, marigolds and petunias are the most popular annuals. All of them are sun lovers and provide a massive display of color. The colors available seem limitless.

Perhaps the best loved shade tolerant annuals include impatiens and bedding begonias. Both can provide bright splashes of color in shady areas. They also make excellent hanging baskets to add color to a tree overhanging your patio.

Flowering annuals are continually bred for disease resistance, size, color, and flower shape. Each year new and better varieties are released. New selections are tested in All-American Selection gardens which are located throughout the United States. The functions of the trial gardens are to demonstrate the fitness of the new varieties and to recognize the most outstanding new varieties. The panel of judges select the best new varieties and the public is informed of their choice, which are labeled All-American Selections.

There is a flowering annual to fit anyone. Here are just a few that can be planted in March and April -- ageratum, aster, balsam, celosia, cone flower, cosmos, crotalaria, cypress vine, dahlia, floss flower, globe amaranth, gourds, marigolds, morning glory, nasturtium, petunias, rose-moss, salvia, sunflower, torenia and zinnia.

Plan a focal point or an annual garden. Place the taller plants in back, and mass your colors for a striking arrangement that will provide joy and beauty for you and your neighbors.