I often feel the need to defend maturate annual whenever the topic comes up in conversation . Most of the ornamentals in my garden are perennial , but there are always some annual raise alongside them .
Even in a small space , I pick out to plant a few annual for a multitude of reason . The early - blooming annual attract pollinator to the garden early in the season , at a time when my perennial are still bud . Some annual , such as genus Nasturtium , do as sacrificial plants if you intersperse them around crops in the kitchen garden . Others , such as calendula , are edible .
But it ’s not a sinning to admit that most annuals I grow are simply have in mind to provide me with beautiful flowers to depend at and pick . horticulture may be about function , but that does n’t mean it ca n’t also be about dish and serenity .
A border of annuals (cosmos, snapdragons and marigolds) provides an early summer pop of color in the garden.
Here ’s a short list of unremarkably grown one-year ornamental , or so grouped by the season in which they start to flower in the garden .
Spring and early summer
primrose ( Primula )
perfumed pea ( Lathyrus odoratus )
Cornflower ( Centaurea cyanus )
Snapdragons ( Antirrhinum )
Love in a mist ( Nigella )
Lobelia
A border of annuals (cosmos, snapdragons and marigolds) provides an early summer pop of color in the garden.
Knight ’s acantha ( Consolida ajacis )
Pincushions ( Scabiosa )
Poppies ( Papaver )
By mid-October, the lobelia is looking a bit worse for wear.
Mid- and late summer
Mexican helianthus ( Tithonia rotundifolia )
African daisies ( Osteospermum )
Zinnias
In the fall, I collect some of my calendula flowers, but also allow some to go to seed.
Petunias
Calendula
Busy Lizzie ( Impatiens walleriana )
Marigolds are a long-blooming fall annual that will happily self-seed in situ.
Million bells ( Calibrachoa )
Four o’clock ( Mirabilis )
Celosia
This self-seeded calendula will probably survive the winter if we don’t get extended frost.
Fall and late fall
Marigolds and tagetes
Cosmos
Nasturtium
Poppies need cold-stratification in order to improve germination. It’s better to let them self-seed in the garden.
China aster ( Callistephus chinensis )
What should we do with annuals when the flowers finally fade away?
Here are a few things to consider .
1. Allow them to self-seed in place
In my view , the main advantage of self - seeding is that it saves me money because I do n’t have to grease one’s palms the same plants again the undermentioned year . But perhaps more importantly , it saves me time and energy . So next springtime , when I ’m meddlesome set forth tomatoes and other kitchen garden staple fiber from seed , I do n’t have to worry about starting one-year flowers too .
A third advantage , that will mostly calculate on the type of mood you ’re garden in , is that by allowing ego - seeding , you ’ll get earlier flower next class . We run to guess of annuals as going from seed to ejaculate within the same year .
We plant the seeds , the plant raise , flower , goes to seed and dies within the span of a few month . commonly this physical process start in spring and ends in tardy summer ( for some annuals ) or late fall . But there are some audacious yearly that will mature really well begin the previous fall . annual such as calendula , larkspur , nigella and phacelia can winter as baby plant in the garden in milder climates . The advantage is that you ’ll get blooms much before the undermentioned bound .
I’m waiting for the Celosia seed pods to finish drying before I collect them.
Some yearly seeds , such as poppy , benefit greatly from being depart in the cold . They need a period of cold stratification to germinate decent .
The main objection to allowing plant to self - seed is that they will take over and crowd out other plants . That ’s a valid objection , but it ’s more potential to happen with perennials . Annuals usually have a imperfect root system that choke back every year .
2. Collect and store the seeds
“ So what ’s the gunpoint of gather the seed if you ’re already letting annual self - seed ? ” I hear you expect .
It ’s never aneither / orfor me . It ’s always a combining of the two . There were geezerhood when none of the marigolds I ’d allow to self - seed get along out . I still do n’t acknowledge why . They may have been eaten by birds or they may have been buried too deeply under a layer of dry leaf mulch . There were also days when a prolonged spring Robert Frost killed the annual baby plant that had ego - seed . In both of these case , the seeded player that I had collect and stack away came in W. C. Handy .
Another ground to collect the seed is if you want to start your annuals in a different stain next year . I ’m plan to add bright pinkish celosia under some of my taller perennials next year .
The roots of this nasturtium will be fully decomposed before I’m ready to use this space again next spring.
I ’m also giving away heirloom saved seeds to friends or read them to set swop and plant life library .
Finally , as I ’m thinking about moving house at some point , I ’m thinking ahead of future gardens that I will plant with the seeds of today .
3. Chop down the stem, but leave the roots in place.
Where potential , we should just cut off the bow at ground level and leave the roots of yearly plants to break up in the ground . In doing this , we ’re just mimicking what nature does when a works conk .
Root biology and function is still a relatively novel theatre of operations of study . * But the symbiotic kinship between plants and the microorganisms in the soil shows us that solution assist meliorate and enrich the dirt . Even dead roots help keep the soil aerated , provender bacterium and wait on as a server to fungi while they decompose .
Usually , because annual are so short - lived and focus their energy on flowering and going to seed , you ’ll find that their solution system is rather shallow and light . So leaving it in topographic point does n’t take up too much space ( what do you need it for in the wintertime , anyway ? ) . By the metre I ’m planting thing in bound , I often ca n’t narrate where the annual roots used to be because they have already break up .
Chop and drop annuals such as phacelia (purple) to improve the quality of your soil.
- If you have a free afternoon , here ’s an interesting discipline onthe affair and structure of rootspublished in theAnnals of Botanyin 2016 .
4. Chop and drop the entire plant.
To take it a stair further , once you ’ve cut the ironic flora at footing level , you could chop the dead topic and use it as mulch over the wintertime months . This will not only dissemble as a mantle for the roots of your perennials , but it will also serve as an overwintering hotel for beneficial insect such as ladybugs .
Over the coming month , this annual mat will also burst down and add to the richness of the soil .
5. Bring some of them inside to overwinter.
permit me make this clean . I do n’t believe that you may bring all your annuals inside to overwinter . You would n’t see me repotting a patch of cosmos and relocating it to my bread and butter room . However , there are some annuals that you may winter indoors .
genus Pelargonium geranium , in use Lizzies ( Impatiens walleriana ) , million Vanessa Stephen ( Calibrachoa ) and coleus and begonia are the annual that we can bring indoors once they ’re done flowering . If you do n’t have room indoors for the entire works , an easier way to do it would be to take a cut ( like Idid with this genus Pelargonium ) to keep the common mullein going for next yr .
In my experience , it ’s easier to overwinter yearly that have already been growing as potted industrial plant . Again , this only utilize to a select few that we spring up as yearbook but are , in fact , tender perennial . Here are a few point onhow to successfully move your garden plants indoors .
Million bells is one of the annuals that you can overwinter indoors.
Overall , I consider include annuals in my gardens is very satisfying . If perennial – that take a while to get prove – are an exercise in longanimity , annual with their rapid flower habit allow me to coddle in instant satisfaction .
