Summer Flowering Annuals

Now is the time to change out your winter and spring flowering annuals for the plants of summer. Here are a few observations on common summer annuals. Remember snail bait, fertilizer and mulch for all plantings. Add a pre-emergent weed killer for large installations, otherwise you will be pulling weeds for the life of the display.

Marigolds: small to medium sized marigolds work best for most people. Tall marigolds are dramatic but ugly if not well maintained. Keep all marigolds blooming freely by removing spent flower heads every two to three days. Watch for snails and apply bait as needed. Leave someroom for maintenance by planting 8 to 12 inches on center. Many French marigolds have beautiful but strangely colored blooms. A single flower may feature tinges of brown, yellow and orange. I find these odd but interesting blooms do not work well when massed. Augment their planting, therefore, with plenty of pure yellow or orange marigolds of the same height. You'll get a nice, unusual display that doesn't look like badly done marbled paper.

Petunias: Plant in big masses unless you spot them into baskets. The more plants the better. Use snail bait as soon as you are done planting. Remove existing blooms when you plant. This helps them root. You're aiming for a big show in four to five weeks and not for flowers at the time of planting. Fertilize every two weeks or so. Do not mix and match different colors of petunias. A single colored planting works best. A planting of a single multi-colored bloom, such as white and blue, will work well. Removing spent blooms in a big planting is neither practical nor desirable, instead, plan to cut back the entire stand at one time in mid-summer. You'll get a second, smaller rebloom which will last until fall.

Salvia splendens: Red salvia has long been a staple of the commercial gardener. This easy to grow annual survives and prospers with little attention. It looks best in smaller quantities. Frame plantings with white alyssum for a neat, somewhat elegant look.

Vinca rosea: Another dependable, everblooming annual, these are sunloving and heat tolerant plants. Vinca rosea actually belongs to the genus Catharanthus and is not related to the shady groundcovers Vinca major and vinca minor. Vinca rosea, by comparison with the true vincas, needs full sun and not too much water. I like the white variety with a small pink center called 'Bright Eyes'. Free of most insect problems. The picture shows a mixture of vinca.

Impatiens, pictured below. Standout of the summer shade garden, impatiens are easy to grow despite their fragile, diminutive appearance in a nursery six-pack. Maintain snail bait from day one. I'm convinced that white looks best but the rosy-pink variety is also quite pretty. Avoid orange unless you are bold -- nothing in your garden will go with it.

Annuals to avoid, ones that have given me constant disappointment, at least in this climate, include Cineraria, asters, lupines, and snapdragons.

Next page -->