Gardening Basics For Dummies. Steven A. Frowine

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       To edge a walkway

       To insert reliable color in a perennial bed

       To decorate a vegetable and herb garden

       To cover over or at least distract from a fading spring bulb display

       To add summer color to your flower beds when the perennials are done blooming

       To fill in places where perennial plants haven’t filled in yet — the added advantage of covering ground so opportunistic weeds can’t move in

      If the info you want on annuals isn’t in the upcoming sections, you can get an in-depth look in Chapter 6.

      Caring for and feeding annuals

      Luckily, taking proper care of annuals is not rocket science. For the most part, annuals are easygoing, because they’re bred to be quite tough and durable. Many can withstand some neglect and still be productive — not that I recommend ignoring them!

      

Without a doubt, water is an annual’s number one need. All that lusty growth and continuous flowering requires fuel. A thirsty plant can’t sustain the show for long. Regular, deep soakings are best because they reliably supply water to the roots, which leads to a stress-free life of consistent growth and bud and bloom production. (Note that a drying-out plant favors its roots and, to a lesser extent, its leaves, in a bid for survival, automatically jettisoning its water-hogging buds and petals.) Note that annuals grown in pots, hanging baskets, or window boxes dry out much faster than ones grown in the ground. See Chapter 4 for more info on watering.

You can’t deny that regular doses of plant food or fertilizer significantly boost your annuals (make sure you apply it according to directions). For best flowering fertilize every six weeks with a granular or organic fertilizer or add a water-soluble fertilizer to your sprinkling can every week or so. The leaves become healthier and greener, and you end up with more buds and flowers. Chapter 4 contains information on fertilizer as well.

      The rather unromantic term of deadheading simply refers to the practice of pinching or cutting off spent flowers. Your annuals look nicer when you do this, of course, but removing the flowers also serves another purpose: It thwarts the plant from the energy-intensive process of producing seeds, and the plant responds by diverting its energy back into making more flowers.

      Raising annuals from seed

      Of course, you can raise annuals from seed, which is the most economical approach, especially if you want to grow large quantities for a display garden. Some are simpler to grow than others. Annuals with very small seeds like snapdragons and begonias are a bit more of a challenge because you need to start them indoors in a bright windowsill or under fluorescent lights.

      Just buy the seed packets in late winter and sow them in flats or pots (particular directions are always on the back of the packets). Raise the seedlings indoors until spring weather comes and the soil warms up and all danger of frost is past; then move the plants outside.

      Some annuals are so fast-growing that you can sprinkle their seeds on good soil in late spring, right outside, and they’ll quickly sprout and grow. This group includes popular ones like zinnias, marigolds, and nasturtiums. This process may require you to do some thinning at some point, but otherwise, it’s dead easy. Again, consult the back of the seed packet for details. One advantage to this tack is that you can grow some more unconventional or rare annuals. It certainly makes for a more interesting garden! Refer to Chapter 10 for more about growing plants from seed.

      Beholding a one-time show

      The very definition of an annual — a plant that goes from seed to flowering to death in one season, completing its entire life cycle in short order — states that annuals are a one-time show. When it’s over, it’s over. (Except when it’s not; if you garden in a mild climate, many annuals merely slow down for the winter but survive. Snapdragons and many salvias are examples.)

      If you garden in a cold climate, you can try digging up some favorites or bringing potted annuals inside. Keep them in a nonfreezing place, out of direct sunlight, and let them rest. Cut back all spent growth. Start reviving them with water and plant food when spring returns.

      ANNUALS THAT AREN’T REALLY ANNUALS

      False annuals are plants with tropical origins, or ones whose parents hail from the tropics, which means that they’re actually perennial — more long-lived — somewhere, somewhere warmer, somewhere far away like Costa Rica or Mexico. These pseudo-annuals, sometimes called tender perennials, can, at least in theory, be kept going over the winter and live to dress up your garden again next year. Examples of these tropical visitors include the coleus, geranium, impatiens, salvia, snapdragon, and wax begonia.

      Meanwhile, biennials are plants that only live for two years. They grow their foliage and roots the first year and then flower the following year and then die. The most common examples are Canterbury bells, forget-me-nots, foxgloves, hollyhocks, pansies, stock, and verbascum (mullein). They frequently reseed themselves so some gardeners let them go to seed to ensure future plants. Most garden centers helpfully start these plants for you the season before or in early winter so they’re usually sold as annuals and flower the first year that you plant them.

However, if despite your best efforts, your wintered-over annuals don’t return to their former glory the following spring, accept their fate, pull them out, and replace them with new ones. Some of the annuals like marigolds, sunflowers, and zinnias reseed or self-sow themselves so they’ll sprout and grow plants the following spring when the ground warms. Depending on how aggressively they do this can be a good or bad thing.

      Perennial plants

      For many gardeners, going from growing annuals to exploring perennials seems to be a natural progression. But remember that you don’t have to choose! You can grow both and, indeed, your garden is likely to be the better for the diversity.

      So, what, exactly are perennials? One gardener jokingly defined a perennial as “A plant that, had it lived, would’ve bloomed again the next year.” For the most part, they’re long-lived herbaceous (non-woody) plants — flowers and herbs, mainly. How long they last depends on the plant and the conditions in your garden. But these plants certainly last longer than annuals.

      A typical perennial emerges in the spring, grows and often produces flowers and seeds as the seasons progress from spring to summer to fall, and then slows down or dies back in winter. But the plant doesn’t actually die; it just rests. The following spring, your perennial returns in glory to repeat the cycle.

Unlike annuals, you don’t have to replant perennials every year. Once should be enough — well, if you choose wisely and take good care of your perennials, you ought to get many good years out of them.

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