Planting Annuals

Gardening is a subjective art. There are those who swear by annuals for their glorious bounty of continuous color all season long and those who pick perennials every time. Each has its merits and shortcomings, but when you consider them together, you get the best of both worlds.

Annuals last a single season, bloom prolifically, have showy and colorful flowers or foliage and usually cost less than perennials. Perennials magically reappear each spring, coming back bigger and stronger each time, and while their bloom time is short-lived compared to that of annuals, they offer interest through form, foliage and size that you don't get with annuals. They also usually cost a bit more. So the question remains, which is a better value? The answer is both.

Perennials
Ornamental grasses add sound when the wind blows, and their seed heads, if left intact, add height and color to an otherwise drab winter landscape. The stems of some plants and shrubs can add a splash of color where there isn't likely to be any otherwise. Red and yellow twig dogwoods have a shrubby growth habit, and their colorful stems rising up amidst a snowy backdrop make a welcome sight. Black bamboo offers even more variety. The bamboo canes are green the first year and turn to black during the second year of growth. The mixture of green and black vertical lines in the garden is a surprise that pleases the senses. Autumn Joy sedum is a perennial that truly offers four-season interest with its large and interesting seed heads that overwinter well.

Trees offer the same kind of interest, even deciduous types that lose their leaves. Some, like dogwoods, have an almost sculptural quality with their characteristic upturned branches. These dashes and splashes of color and form dot the autumn and winter landscape, serving as a reminder of spring's bounty.

Annuals
Annuals make a spectacular show in a short period of time and offer a wide variety of leaf shapes, flower shapes and sizes and nonstop color from spring through frost. Whether you plant them in the ground, containers, hanging baskets, window boxes, old wheelbarrows or boots, annuals add instant and constant color to any corner. They brighten up shady areas and make the landscape pop with excitement.

Impatiens light up the dark recesses of many gardens and do so with pizzazz. Blooming continuously until frost, they require little in the way of care other then regular watering. Marigolds offer choices in height and hue from orange to yellow and are said to keep some insects and small animals at bay. Prolific petunias are a tried-and-true favorite and are easily grown with the same rewarding results. From the Wave petunia to the double-flowering and hanging varieties, it seems there is a type to fill any sunny spot you can find. They come in vivid reds, pinks, purples, yellows and pristine whites, not to mention an array of striped combinations that make a stunning statement. Geranium blooms are bold and the leaf shapes and variegation are delicious. There are scented-leaf geraniums that give off the fragrance of mint, lemon, chocolate, rose and others when the leaves are rubbed. These add a new dimension to gardening. They encourage a tactile response as well as a visual one. They grow upright in pots, they free-fall over hanging baskets and window boxes and they beg to be touched.

How to choose perennials
When buying perennials, I make them do double duty. I buy them on sale even if I don't yet know where they'll end up. I place the inexpensive liner they come in into a favorite pot and use them along walkways, steps, the porch or patio and contemplate where they'd best like to live in my landscape. In the fall, I plant them in the garden where they can settle in for the winter. This gives me container plants all season long and a new addition to my garden the following spring. Twice as nice.

I keep an eye on my garden perennials and if I see one in need of dividing, or one sending off shoots, I dig them up, pot them up, and place them in interesting containers in groups. Often I leave these in pots to overwinter and they come up just fine the following spring. If I need them in the garden I plant them out, and if I don't I group them again or I trade them with friends for perennials I don't have. It pays to keep an assortment of pots and some potting soil on hand. Hostas, daylilies, ferns, lirope, coralbells, black-eyed susans, yarrow, lambs' ears, ornamental grasses and countless others can be divided or send off shoots that you can pot up and grow for later use.

How to choose annuals
When choosing annuals, especially for hanging pots, I try to pick the ones I know are prone to reseeding themselves. This way they drop their seeds into the pot or even into the garden and often come back the following year. I might end up with 10 or more hanging pots that I didn't plant or pay for. Portulacas almost always come back for me. Snapdragons, petunias, impatiens and marigolds will do the same. You can also help them along by waiting for them to produce seeds and then opening the pods and scattering the seeds in the soil yourself or collecting them and tossing them out in the spring when planting time comes. If they come back, great; if they don't, that's fine too. Mother Nature is gracious and forgiving when it comes to flowers.