For Fast Color and Easy Growing, Choose Annual Flowering Plants
Annuals look great in mass plantings as well as in mixed beds. Annuals will also hold their color long after being picked, making them a perfect choice to brighten your home in indoor arrangements.
Here's why you should choose annual plants for your garden.
Among the easiest flowering plants to grow.
Most are not too fussy about soil conditions. Just give them the basic requirements: plenty of water and sunlight.
You can feed your annuals every two to three weeks with a liquid fertilizer or, to make feeding easier, apply a controlled-release fertilizer to the soil before planting.
Annuals come in an excellent variety of shapes, colors, and growth habits.
Shapes range from the stately spires of foxglove (a biennial) to the compact, spreading mounds of lobelia. The color choices are staggering. Virtually all of the colors of the rainbow are replicated in the expansive array of annual plants.
Annuals are adaptable to many conditions.
If you are choosing plants for a hot and dry site, you might try marigolds, cosmos, verbena, or gazania. Choices for a shady area include impatiens, monkey flower, and wax begonia.
If your growing space is limited, try planting annuals in a container for a fast dash of color in an otherwise drab location.
Annual plants are economical.
You can pick up seedling or starts for relatively low cost at your local garden center, or you can grow them from seed for almost nothing.
On top of that, many varieties will re-seed on their own or you can collect seeds from the spent flowers at the end of the growing season and plant them the next spring, providing endless years of enjoyment.
Copyright © 2002 Kim Noblin used with permission
About the Author Kim Noblin is the editor of Found In A Garden, a gardening information and resource website. See what you can find in her garden! http://www.foundinagarden.com
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