Annual flowers - Annuals - Horticulture - Flower

Defines annual flowers and illustrates many uses in the landscape, including container growing. Discusses choosing kinds and varieties for different growing conditions, starting from seeds or plants, times of planting, and seasons of bloom. Pictures 20 common Minnesota annuals plus several varieties. Length: 104 slides

Torenia

If you've become impatient with impatiens, there are alternatives. Torenia is one of the few annual flowers that, like impatiens, grows well in shade. Commonly known as "bluewings" or "wishbone flower," its flowers are colored an eerie and yet attractive blue-purple. You can even make wishes on it: inside its corolla tube are two wishbone-shaped stamens that pull apart once the flower is pollinated. Torenia should be planted in early spring or started indoors.

Another colorful shade-blooming impatiens alternative from the world of annual flowers is viola avalanche bronze-lavender. Though better known in the UK than the U.S., we like viola avalanche if only because its name makes us imagine famous violist Lionel Tertis starring in a sports drink commercial.

Melampodium

The frilly blooms of marigold can look a little old-fashioned when surrounded by other annual flowers, but melampodium's yellow daisy-like flowers are extremely bright, and cheerful, and youthful. Think of Judi Dench as marigold and Samantha Morton as melampodium. And yes, melampodium sounds like skin cancer, but these little annuals are as low maintenance as it gets: they're drought-tolerant and don't require deadheading.

Phlox

There's nothing wrong with petunias exactly. It's just that as annual flowers go, phlox sounds so much more contemporary than petunia. It’s even got the slangy "ph" at the front. As the kids would say, "Phlox areis phat." Phlox's colors are also much more intense, including bright red, hot pink, and luminescent blues and purples. Phlox is the Greek word for flame, and annual flowers don't get much more fiery than phlox.

Gazania

Skipping past the zinnias and begonias in search of half- hardy annuals, we stop at gazania. This African daisy looks right at home among annual plants. What's most impressive about gazania is its color variety, with flowers blooming in various combinations of pink, yellow, orange, bronze, and white. Like most annuals, gazanias like full sun, but this tender perennial flowers better in mild summers rather than hot and humid ones.

Annual flowers by color

It's often said that uniformity is essential for a successful flower garden. We beg to differ. Fortunately there are annual flowers to be found in most every color.