From the earliest spring to the first frost, unpretentious annual flowers delight us with their beauty. Their main advantage for gardeners is the ability to compose new compositions every season, transforming the garden or the territory of a country house in accordance with their mood and taste.
Having picked up annuals with different flowering periods, you can arrange a flowerbed or lawn that will delight with a riot of colors throughout the season. For summer cottage, annual flowers are most often grown in seedlings, forming unusual and vibrant group plantings.
Annual Flower Classification
When creating a flower garden, it is important to choose and plant the right plants. To facilitate this process, we will present you the popular annual garden flowers. Names, photos, the time of their flowering - all this will be in our review.
Dwarf plants (up to 25 cm in height):
- petunia (June - September);
- lobelia (June - October);
- Marigolds (July - September);
- fragrant tobacco (June - September);
- Ageratum (June - September);
- Gazania (July - September).
Low species (up to 35 cm):
- Nasturtium (July - September);
- verbena (July - September);
- zinnia (June - September);
- calendula (June - September);
- aster (July - October);
- escholzia (june - september).
Medium-sized varieties:
- matthiola (July - September);
- snapdragons (June - September).
Tall plants (80 cm and above):
- delphinium (June - August);
- dahlias (July - October);
- stock rose (July - September).
Climbing plants:
- morning glory (June - October);
- bindweed (July - September).
Some of the listed annual species differ in height, depending on the variety (for example, the aster is low, medium and high).
Flower garden organization
Now it’s hard to surprise someone with a traditional flowerbed on which annual flowers grow. Today, flower gardens that are diverse in terms of arrangement, method of cultivation and shape are gaining popularity , which, without exaggeration, can be called a work of art. Owners of personal plots and summer cottages sometimes create real masterpieces from these plants.
Amateur floriculture does not require complicated special preparation, physical expenses, on the contrary, it inspires and soothes. No less important is the fact that for starters you will not need serious financial expenses. At the initial stage, you only need a piece of land, seeds and, of course, a desire to grow beautiful annual flowers. But this is only at the beginning of an interesting journey. Such a hobby as floriculture is exciting, and soon the flower beds become insufficient, and experienced flower growers invent the most diverse types of flower beds.
Flowerbed
And we will begin a small review with a traditional flower bed, which is considered familiar and one of the most common types of flower garden design. This is a small plot of land, which is given the right shape, and is limited around the perimeter by a low curb or fence. Unpretentious one-year-old flowers feel great on such an island - they adapt quite quickly and show resistance to local climatic conditions.
However, the selection of varieties and planting have some features. The fact is that flowers are planted on the flowerbed in the form of a repeating pattern or pattern, taking into account the combination of the color palette (shades either contrast or harmonize). The effectiveness of such a planting is achieved not due to individual flowers, but due to group compositions.
Rabatka
This is a plot of regular rectangular shape with a width of up to one and a half meters and a length that is several times greater than the width. Typically, such flower beds are created parallel to garden paths. Unpretentious and beautiful annual flowers of the same height are planted on them. In addition, the discount can be planted with plants of the same variety.
If you want to plant plants of different heights, then higher plants are planted along the central axis of the site. Given the simplicity of arranging such a flower garden and the lack of financial costs, this type of gardeners prefer this type.
Mixborder
A new and more modern type of flower garden design that came to us from England. It is an elongated section. A feature of the mixborder is the ability to combine different annual flowers, herbaceous and woody plants in a limited area. They are located in free groups.
Experienced flower growers believe that the top of the skill of plant selection is the periodic replacement of the center of the composition after the flowering of some and the flowering of other plants. As a rule, mixborders are arranged between the track of the site and the hedge. Curly annual flowers and taller specimens are planted closer to the fence.
Flower containers
This type of design is not yet as widespread as landscape designers would like. Creating original compositions from one-year-old flowers, photos of which can be seen in floriculture magazines, is considered a promising method for designing plots. It allows you to create magnificent floral arrangements that perfectly complement each other, combine them according to the flowering period, the texture of inflorescences and height.
But it is especially important that the containers can be periodically moved, thereby changing the composition - this is a kind of mobile flower garden. To create original contrasts, we recommend combining annual flowers with decorative foliage plants. The decisive role in this case is played by the color of the composition.
And now we present to you the popular annuals, which are very easy to grow on the site, without even having experience in floriculture.
Sweet tobacco
This plant, which came to us from America, is the indisputable decoration of summer flower beds. These one-year flowers are widespread due to various colors and a spicy persistent aroma. Sweet tobacco is thermophilic. Seedlings of annual flowers of this species are planted in the ground in May, when night frosts are already completely excluded.
Depending on the variety, the plant can reach a height of thirty to eighty centimeters. The main advantage of these flowers can be fully appreciated late in the evening, when blooming buds open, and the air is filled with amazing aroma.
Bindweed
A very popular plant, which is a climbing vine with a length of up to four meters. Lovers of ornamental plants most often use two varieties: a three-color bindweed or a Moorish bindweed. Both forms are shrubs with creeping shoots, the length of which does not exceed fifty centimeters.
The color of the flowers is diverse, but blue and violet shades are more common. The plant looks spectacular in rabatka, mixborders or hanging planters.
Morning glory
Annual flowers, photos of which you can see below, belong to the family of bindweed. This is a thermophilic vine, which grows to 2.5 meters. The funnel-like large inflorescences painted in blue-violet tones give a magnificent appearance to the plant. On a green background of foliage, they look great.
This plant is planted with seeds in the ground or seedlings in the northern regions. Ipomoea prefers brightly lit areas protected from drafts. It is necessary to think over supports for weaving.
Petunia
Well, in our opinion, these one-year-old flowers do not need special advertising. Petunia, undoubtedly, is one of the most commonly used plants for decorating not only gardens, but also flower beds in urban squares and parks. Flowers differ in various colors, can be simple and terry. The plant is characterized by unpretentiousness and long plentiful flowering almost to frost.
Seedlings are planted in a permanent place. Looks great in containers, mixborders and hanging planters. The disadvantage of many decorative species, including petunias, is the loss of parental qualities in the collected and sown seeds.
Chinia
Often these annual flowers are summer residents and gardeners called majors. The most common are two varieties: pompon (Liliput) and dahlia. This beautiful annual is quite compact, but some varieties are distinguished by high branches. Inflorescences are a magnificent basket with a diameter of up to fifteen centimeters of various colors.
Flowering ends with the first autumn frosts. It is appreciated by gardeners for unpretentiousness in leaving and attractive appearance. It is preferable to plant these plants with seedlings, although seeds can also be used in the southern regions.
Ageratum
A semi-shrubby herbaceous plant with pale blue or white flowers. It should be planted in well-lit areas in nutrient soil. The plant is heat-loving, therefore it is not recommended to sow seeds directly into the soil: it is more advisable to grow by seedling method.
After planting, the plant does not require special care. Ageratum is used for planting in containers or mixborders.
Marigold
Magnificent annual flowers: unpretentious, non-sprouted grown marigolds belong to the family Asteraceae. The bushes are medium-sized, their height depends on climatic conditions and varieties. The foliage is dark green, flowers can be of various shades - from yellow to brown.
Sown seeds in the ground after the completion of spring night frosts and sharp drops in temperature. The first shoots appear in ten days. In early July, the plant blooms actively. It easily tolerates the transplant, so you can plant too thick shoots.
Verbena
You are probably interested in which one-year flowers are preferred by professional flower growers? One of them is verbena, which, thanks to its amazing decorative qualities, is an exquisite addition to floral arrangements. Inflorescences come in various shapes: panicle, carpal, corymbose with small flowers of different shades.
In addition to open ground, you can grow this plant in containers and hanging flower pots. Without problems, it suffers short-term cooling and drought, but loves sunlight very much.
Nasturtium
These flowers come from America. They prefer good lighting and warmth. The height of the dense fleshy stem reaches fifty centimeters. The flowers are distinguished by a round regular shape and a pleasant delicate aroma. This plant should be planted with seedlings. It is sensitive to spring cooling and quite difficult to transplant. It is better not to fertilize the soil, otherwise there will be more greenery than flowers.
Calendula
This is a bushy compact plant of medium height, with inflorescences, which are round baskets of orange, red and yellow. Seeds are sown directly into the soil, seedlings appear after a week. Calendula is unpretentious, growing in open areas and in partial shade. In addition to decorative qualities, it is appreciated for its medicinal properties, which are successfully used in medicine in the form of various drugs.
Snapdragon
Shrub medium height. It depends on the selected variety. Spike inflorescences are located on long stems. Flowers can be yellow and white, pale yellow and pink, numerous shades of red. For more active branching, it is necessary to pinch the tops of the stems at the growth stage.
Gazania
A short plant, the basal leaves of which are saturated with a green shade. Inflorescences are single baskets in diameter up to ten centimeters, consisting of reed flowers. The flowers are red and orange, yellow, with dark spots at the base. It is used to create decorative compositions. Gazania is a thermophilic plant that is planted on open flower beds.
Lobelia
Very delicate one-year-old flowers (we posted a photo in this article) belong to the bell-family. Hanging or creeping stems no more than fifteen centimeters high. The flowers are small, purple, white, red, but more often a blue-blue hue.
The plant does not tolerate drafts and shaded areas, prefers loose and sandy soil with a high level of moisture, not very saturated with fertilizers. It is grown by seedling in boxes or containers. In open ground should be planted in early June.
Features of growing annuals
Although these plants are undemanding in care, each of them has its own characteristics that should be considered. For example, the order of planting - some species can be sown with seeds in a permanent place, while others need seedlings. In this case, seedlings can be grown from seeds on their own or bought in specialized stores.
If you want to grow annuals from seeds, you must understand that the success of growing depends on their quality (decorativeness, germination). A feature of annual flowers is the exactingness of soil quality and sunlight. In this regard, the flower garden must be created in well-lit areas on the leeward side.
Prepare light soil - a mixture of black soil with peat and sand. Usually it is prepared in late autumn, when the flowering period ends. Fertilizers are introduced in the spring during digging, or this can be done right before planting.
Caring for a flower garden usually does not cause problems even for people who are inexperienced in floriculture. Watering is carried out in accordance with climatic conditions. In dry and hot summers, watering is carried out in the mornings (before sunrise) or in the evening. After heavy rainfall, the soil must be loosened so that a crust does not form.
We must not forget that flowers, like other cultural plantings, are susceptible to various diseases and pests, therefore experts recommend periodically spraying the plant with special drugs for preventive purposes.