Favorite Annual Flowers

[so lucky]

I know we have discussed this before, but we have lots of new members who probably have some more good ideas. What are your favorite annual flowers to grow, and what is their appeal to you? For instance: for cutting, for fragrance, for color, to attract pollinators, for borders....And do you plant seeds or buy starts? While we are at it, what are your special suggestions for best growth of your favorites?

 

[Nyboy]

impatiens nothing flowers more or easier. I buy starts usually I pick 1 color and go crazy planting them. They flower nostop from spring to fall in sun or shade. The only down side is they needs lots of water.

 

[catjac1975]

I love yellow marigolds. They tuck nicely into a border in the springtime and give you lush full color until the first hard frost. Very easy to grow from seed.

 

[aftermidnight]

I have several but the one that has the most meaning for me is the nasturtium. It is the flower that opened the wonderful world of gardening for me. It reminds me of all the frustration when first starting out but also the satisfaction felt with finally succeeding, not in growing things but life itself. I grow these every year to remind myself if not successful don't give up the ship, try, try again .

Annette

 

[digitS']

So many people completely miss out on China asters.

Many, probably think that they are the same as perennial asters. Well, no - some plants are in the family but different.

They bloom quite late. There are no flowers to entice customers while they are still in flats at a nursery. THAT'S likely to be the reason so few people have them.

I start some early in the greenhouse and others can go in, directly sown in the garden. That will extend their season of bloom. The early transplants grow quite a bit larger than the others but are all finished before the frost.

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

Moss rose-not sure of correct name. Reminds me of my grandmother.

Annual here, perennial for south-4 O’Clocks—my mom when they retired in KY.

 

[Collector]

My favorite annual is marigolds, we plant them in several spots around the house and in the garden. DW likes the wave petunias and starts enough to fill her hanging baskets and pots. We start a few others but those two and sunflowers are our favs.

 

[journey11]

Cosmos, especially the various pink ones. I love their feathery foliage and their seed heads are a big draw for the gold finches. They are light enough to perch on them without weighing them down.

 

[thistlebloom]

Cosmos for me too. Last summer I direct sowed some that were an antique rose color, and also some yellow ones. They just had time to bloom, but not enough to ripen seed, so I'll start them inside next year.
Also sunflowers, of course.

New to me this year were fleabane, (Erigeron )picked up at the little local nursery.
I don't know which variety it was, but it was a good stuffer for containers, as it's spindly little stems threaded easily through the other plants and the little daisy heads popped out among the other blooms. I thought it was charming, but I found out later in the season that my client absolutely loathed it. Not so much the ones in the pots, but I had a couple of flats of them left and stuffed them in the borders also. I found several of those pulled out and lying on the ground. I blamed the deer, and stuffed them back in the ground.
Why she didn't let me know her dislike for them is a mystery. All she had to do was mention it once and I would have cleared them out (and adopted them for my beds). But it wasn't until they were ready to leave in the fall that she clued me in. Now that I know, I'll just buy them for my own gardens next year.

 

[thistlebloom]

I think I found the variety Erigeron karvinskianus, aka Mexican fleabane, Santa Barbara fleabane...

Looks like this.