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Growing Annuals For Long-Lasting Color |
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Written by Rose Brickell
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Some gardeners scoff at annuals but they do have many virtues: they
flower over several weeks, they come in all colors, they are frequently
cut-and-come-again flowers, and most last well in water.
Annuals often have the advantage over perennials. The annual gypsophila
is pure white and fast-growing; the perennial variety takes a year or
two to settle down before it flowers. Similarly, although the perennial
poppy Papaver orientalis is a wonderful border plant, it is the patch
of annual Iceland poppies and P. somniferum 'Paeoniflorum' which will
stop you in your tracks. The new P. somniferum 'Hen and Chickens',
which has tiny seed pods hanging around the main pod, is an original
choice for a dried arrangement.
As well as the commonly grown annuals such as antirrhinums and
petunias, broaden your repertoire to include cosmos, nemesias,
cornflowers, clarkia, godetia and penstemon. Penstemon can be grown as
an annual, although some of the perennial varieties do stand the winter
or can be bought like annuals and introduced into a space.
The annuals can be wonderfully rich in color. Rudbeckia hirta 'Rustic
Dwarfs' in gold, brown and mahogany, and 'Marmalade' in rich
golden-orange. They make a bold group in the garden and are excellent
for picking. Salvia farinacea 'Victoria' has suitably regal purple
spikes which look beautiful growing through grey-leaved Senecio
cineraria 'Silver Dust'. Dahlias - not too tall or leafy - come in many
special colors.
We all have our favorites - annuals we want to grow every year.
Love-in-a-mist, Nigella damascena, is one of mine. It looks equally
ravishing in the border and in a vase, where seed heads as well as
flowers are useful. For early summer flowering, sow the seeds in
containers in the autumn and mix them in between spring bulbs or
polyanthus.
The half-hardy annuals are well worth working for. The Paris daisy,
Chrysanthemum frutescens flowers profusely and their small, neat
flowers are well suited to posies.
For constant flowering, the hybrid verbenas, V. 'Silver Ann' in pale
link and V. 'Sissinghurst' in bright pink, are successful space
fillers. Put them between some perennials to intermingle. Very bright
colors, like those of marigolds and nasturtiums, look better in an
English light when softened by plenty of green and subtle shades of
grey. Green is the linking factor throughout the garden
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