Garden colour is a quest for nearly all gardeners and fortunately now we have tons of of choices to select from in the case of this quest.
One of the widespread questions I get from folks seeking to begin a brand new backyard is the distinction between annuals and perennials. The 2 phrases are sometimes blended up and could seem slightly complicated. So earlier than we transfer on let’s clear issues up a bit.
Annuals:
Typically refers to a plant that lives for a single season or yr and doesn’t return. One option to bear in mind them is that they must be planted yearly. Examples embrace: Marigolds, Zinnias, Pansies, and Snapdragons.
Marigolds
Snapdragons
Pansies
Zinnias
Perennials:
Refers to a plant that survives via the winter and returns the next yr. Examples embrace: Blackeyed Susans (Rudbeckia sp.), Coneflowers (Echinacea sp.), and plenty of varieties of Salvias.
Black and Blue Salvia
Coneflower
Black Eyed Susan
Salvia with Monarch
At a look you is perhaps fast to shrug off the thought of planting a flower that solely lasts one season. Why undergo the difficulty planting one thing that can have to be replanted the next season? Nicely, I say there’s plenty of causes however right here’s 7 which may change your thoughts!
1. You get to alter your design annually
Getting a chance to plant one thing new and completely different annually could be precisely what some gardens want. With annuals you get the flexibleness to attempt new choices and colours in your backyard yearly. Altering the look seasonally retains your show wanting contemporary and wholesome.
2. Extra colour extra typically
Individuals typically inform me they’d prefer to have one thing that blooms all yr for them. Though not many crops do, particularly once you don’t stay within the tropics, one nice choice that provides you colour any month of the yr is to make use of annuals. These crops are in bloom longer than seasonal flushes of blooming timber and shrubs in addition to many summer season perennials.
3. Many extra colour selections
If particular colours are one thing you contemplate within the backyard annuals are the only option. Incorporating college colours, working with particular containers, or simply choosing the proper shade of flower to go in entrance of a enterprise or residence, you’ll have much more choices with annuals. Lots of most of these flowers are available in an ever rising catalog of colours that means that you can customise your backyard.
4. New varieties each season
As a result of annuals have a shorter life cycle than a tree or shrub, it permits growers and fanatics to breed new picks rapidly. New varieties carry improved traits like larger flowers, extra warmth tolerance, or higher illness resistance simply to call just a few. These efforts have given us the Bubblegum petunia and Snow Princess Alyssum that are head and shoulders above their generic friends.
5. They make the perfect use of every season
In case you’ve acquired a show of flowers in entrance of a enterprise or signal that all the time must look good, annuals are the only option it doesn’t matter what the time of yr. For particular events that want an on the spot pop of colour or a container on the porch that wants a wow issue, a seasonal annual can be excellent.
6. Mixing into perennial beds or everlasting crops is all the trend
Nicely designed gardens have curiosity all season lengthy. Mixing textures and colours with completely different crops are all part of a nicely thought out design. A plan begins with everlasting planting like timber and evergreen shrubs and grasses. Then, it strikes right down to contemplating which perennials will give a nicely timed seasonal pop of colour. However lastly, don’t neglect so as to add annual curiosity that may tie all of your parts collectively and offer you colour when nothing else can. Planting a combination of all these parts gives you a completed wanting backyard throughout a number of seasons.
7. Nice for teenagers and new gardeners
Annuals are a straightforward develop and supply fast outcomes when pruned, fertilized and common watering. They’re excellent for teenagers or any new plant dad or mum as an introduction to the easy steps essential to rising massive lovely flowers. Most annuals are compact in measurement which makes rising them in every kind of containers quite simple.
Written by Mickey Clickner
Bedding Crops Supervisor at Tallahassee Nurseries
