Award Winning Annuals for Summer Color

A landscape boasting wonderfully blooming flowers does not have to end when the weather turns hot, and flowering shrubs and bulbs finish. Annual flowers represent a tremendously versatile group of plants that can quickly add wonderful color and texture to any landscape. Much of the impact of annuals in the garden is due to their vibrant colors that last throughout the growing season. There are many annuals to choose from that will bloom all summer long, tolerate our summer heat, and still look spectacular. A program called All-America Selections helps in choosing annuals. Plants chosen for an All-America Selection Award have been extensively tested and have proven their superior performance at independent judging locations across North America.

For those of you that cannot wait to get into the garden and start planting early in the season, pansies are the perfect answer. The pansy is considered a cool-season annual and does best in cool soil and the mild temperatures of fall and spring. Pansies thrive when planted while the snow is still on the ground, and they bloom wonderfully throughout spring until the temperatures rise above 85 degrees. Planting pansies in the fall rewards you with magnificent blooms before spring bulbs start blooming, and they are hardy enough to get through the Missouri winter with minimal injury. This year, the pansy ‘Ultima Morpho’ was chosen as a 2002 All-America Selection Award winner.

This year, two petunias were selected as All-America Selection Award winners: ‘Lavender Wave’ and ‘Tidal Wave Silver’. If you desire a trailing ground-cover plant that will thrive in a full sun location, the ‘wave’ petunias are worth noting. They are spectacular when planted in mass or as an edging ground cover. Petunias bloom throughout the growing season, and neither ‘Lavender Wave’ nor ‘Tidal Wave Silver’ requires pinching or pruning for optimum growth. Another petunia class that has shown superior performance is the supertunia, which is available in a range of colors.

Another excellent annual for the hot, sunny location is verbena. Verbenas are low-growing and make excellent plants for the front of a bed or border, and I enjoy using them in containers.

Many annuals bloom profusely throughout the summer and add striking color to the summer landscape. They also produce wonderful cut flowers including annual sunflowers and several Black-eyed Susan (R. hirta) varieties such as ‘Indian Summer’ and this year’s All-America Selection Award winner ‘Cherokee Sunset’. Both sunflowers and R. hirta varieties bloom profusely well into the late season and are very long-lasting as cut flowers. They make great container plants and are very well adapted to heat and drought conditions. Another All-America Selection Award winner that is very heat and drought tolerant is ‘Sparkler Blush’ Cleome. ‘Sparkler Blush’ flowers freely all season and is more refined than previous Cleome selections which allows gardeners to grow this annual in gardens with less space, and it will not overwhelm the garden as previous Cleome had a tendency to do.

For those of you who enjoy growing annual vinca, Catharanthus roseus, ‘Jaio Scarlet Eye’ was chosen this year as an All-American Selection Award winner and has a distinct rose-scarlet flower with a small white eye, which is unique to vinca. This plant has wonderful heat and drought tolerance and offers season-long color with minimal care and prefers a sunny location for best performance.

New varieties come along each year and are fun to try. It is always enjoyable to try new plants; however, don’t hesitate to rely on old favorites as well to guarantee the summer garden you desire. In the fall it is best to discard annuals and start anew the next year. The majority of annuals will be killed with the first hard frost and can be disposed of at that time. It is also best to discard the potting soil in which your annuals were potted and buy new potting soil for the next season.

Mary Kroening, Missouri Master Gardener Coordinator and UMC Horticulturalist, (573) 882-9633