A few years ago, cars around town sported bumper stickers that said “Friends Don’t Let Friends Plant Annuals”, the catchy, clever marketing slogan of a local perennial nursery.

While I would certainly agree that perennials, along with biennials, bulbs, trees, tubers and shrubs should be the backbone of a good garden design, annuals – and plants considered annuals in our climate- also play an important role in carrying color and flowers throughout our long growing season.  I cannot image a Maryland flower gardening life with out them – especially during the late summer ‘dog days’ when so little else is in bloom!

Many of the most charming annuals – the ones that bloom in mid-to-late summer with casual exuberance – are not just easily grown from seed but actually prefer it that way. Zinnias and Chinese asters; morning glories and moonflowers; cosmos and cleome. Sunflowers.

Depending on the variety, color and height, self-sow warm season annuals can be used effectively in almost any garden from formal to casual.  They can be planted in a vegetable garden in rows for cutting. They attract beneficial insects, birds and butterflies. The heirloom and old- fashioned varieties look marvelously appropriate with old houses. Children especially love sunflowers and they are an easy to grow introduction to gardening.

Taking the bumper-stickered advice I might indeed dissuade a friend from planting a mixed row of neon-hued impatiens while at the same time recommending they try planting some seeds of the following annuals:

Sunflowers: These days you can find sunflowers in many heights, flower sizes and colors from the classic yellow to red and even near-whites. Some produce the seed loved by birds and some not. All grow well from seed.  I have abandoned growing the old classic sunflower as a bedding plant, because it grows so tall I often need to stake it and seems too large proportionally for a flower bed. Instead I grow dwarf and interesting Italian varieties.  Most seed companies now sell nice mixed varieties of sunflowers.

Cosmos: The delicate flowers and feathery foliage of cosmos is a welcome addition to almost any garden design and butterflies love them. I am especially fond of the white varieties- like all white flowers they look wonderful at twilight- and can be incorporated well into even formal garden designs. Good whites are the tall Purity and the petite Sonata.  For those who like ‘hot’ garden colors there is an AAS winner called Cosmic Orange which sometimes self sows for the next year.  The Gazebo variety is usually sold as a mix of pinks in many hues.

Zinnias: Newer varieties of zinnia’s are easier to grow and more resistant to disease than the older types were. Seeds of Change’s  Purple Dahlia Zinnia is my personal favorite -a spectacular variety with magenta-purple blooms as large as man’s fist that really do resemble a dahlia. The 3-4 foot plants are vigorous and healthy. The Profusion series also seems to be largely resistant to the powdery mildew that appears on many of the older zinnia varieties in our humid climate.  Pinching out the center of your zinnia plants as they grow will result in larger, many branched plants with more flowers. If powdery mildew appears on your zinnia leaves, spraying with 1 teaspoon of baking soda mixed in a quart of water every 5 days or so often takes care of the problem.

Cleome: Like Jefferson, who grew it at Monticello, I have grown to love the tall ‘spider flower’ cleome for it’s interesting flowers carried on tall stalks in mid- to- late summer and for it’s proclivity to self-sow. Once you plant a few cleome you will probably never have to buy seed again.  Beware however that once you plant it you will have it growing everywhere next year!!

Chinese asters: An old-fashioned favorite that I rarely see grown anymore, annual or Chinese asters (Callistephus chinensis), look very different from the perennial varieties, are wonderful cut flowers, provide welcome shots of cool soft blues and purples to the garden and are very worth growing. The plants themselves are short-lived, only blooming for 3-4 weeks so succession plant asters seeds every 2 weeks to extend the garden show. Asters like a rich soil and appreciate being fed more than most of the self- sow annuals.

Morning Glories and Moonflowers: Last but certainly not least consider the beloved old-fashioned annual vines – Morning glories and their evening- blooming counterpart, Moonflowers, which will clamber up a trellis, gazebo, fence or arch or anything else vertical. The seeds benefit from being soaked overnight before planting them. Don’t fertilize them too much or you will get mostly leaves and few flowers and may just end up with an unwelcome huge monster of a plant. “Heavenly Blue’ is the classic and ‘true blue’ morning glory but there are many other unusual varieties and colors now available, including some very interesting striped and variegated varieties.

Now is the time to plant your summer self-sow annuals. Though not particularly fussy, most will do best in a mostly sunny spot with well drained soil and benefit from the application of a general purpose fertilizer once or twice during the growing season.  For a riotous cottage garden affect I mix together my seeds and scatter them across the soil rather haphazardly and lightly rake them in, letting chance and nature take care of the design.

Tips:

1. Plant warm season annual seeds after April 15th
2. For an informal ‘cottage garden’ effect mix varieties of annual seeds and scatter
3. Dress up your vegetable garden with flowers. Having a ‘cutting garden’ in your vegetable garden also means lots of flowers for the house without disturbing a flower garden’s design
4. Consider creating a small sunflower garden for children. Studies show that children who garden often develop a life-long love of it and sunflowers are an easy and fun way to start!
5. Soak Morning Glory and Moonflower seeds overnight before planting

Sources:

Meyer Seed Company of Baltimore, Inc. – 600 S. Caroline Street – Baltimore, MD 21231; (410) 342-4224

Seeds of Change ( Greenfield’s Nursery carries a selection of their seeds)

Renee’s Garden

Summer Hill Seeds (a great selection of rare and unusual varieties of Morning Glories)

Books:

Annuals for Every Garden (Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide) – Scott Appell (Editor)

Annuals and Tender Plants for North American Gardens – Wayne Winterrowd

English Cottage Gardening: For American Gardeners, Revised Edition – Margaret Hensel

Tasha Tudor’s Garden – Tovah Martin (Author), Richard W. Brown (Photographer)

Mt Washington resident Elizabeth Hopkins is a journalist and gardening consultant with a passion for all things plant related. She can be reached at glowsgarden@gmail.com.

Photos: http://www.freeflowerimages.com/; except purple zinnia is by Audreyjm529 and white cosmos are by pattym

Related articles:

Remember Your Roses When Forsythia Blooms

Daffodils in May – Late Bloomers – Fading Glory

Know Your Neighbors – Larry Kloze

Canning and Freezing the Summer’s Bounty—A How-To Class

Demonstration and Educational Rain Gardens Coming! Volunteers Needed this Weekend