Let's Talk Annuals

For a change of pace, here are some of the annuals I am growing this year!

Barrel planters: I started my "Aladdin Cherry"petunias, "Profusion cherry"zinnias, "Serena"Angelonia (purple and white), and "Violet Queen" cleome from seed for these barrel planters. The Angelonia seed are a novel item, as you could only purchase vegetatively propagated plants until now.

Here are more "Aladdin Cherry" petunias, some ten week stocks (Matthiola incana) - very fragrant, Salvia splendens "Salsa Light Purple", "Serena Purple" Angelonia, and some ornamental sweet potato vines (the vines are the only thing I didn't grow from seed). As you can see, I chose really bright snappy colors, ones that scream "Look at me! Enjoy me! I won't be around forever!"

Pots on my front deck

However, I want to buy some new dark brown pots to match the trim of the house. Hopefully, we'll get to civilization before Wally*mart sells out.

Some sources say this miniature black-eyed susan is an annual and others say it is a perennial. Regardless, it is kinda cute.

A lonely Ruckbeckia hirta "Toto"

Here's my canna "Stuttgart" surrounded by annual flowers. I grew this one in my bedroom all winter and put it out this spring. It really is a bit silly trying to grow one of these big-leafed tropical beauties here, but I'm doing it anyways. Actually, it doesn't look half bad for all that tropical appeal it gives my "subarctic" yard.

Canna "Stuttgart" and annual flowers

Speaking of the tropics, here is Musa acuminata "Dwarf cavendish", a banana plant. The main difference between this one and my indoor ones is the wind-torn leaves on the outdoor plant, which makes it look more like an authentic banana. For a good time, I could pot up a dozen of these on my upstairs deck, sit out there sipping lemonade and think about the only thing that makes this better than a tropical country: the mosquites don't carry malaria. (That's the only thing positive I can say about the mosquitoes). I'll bring the banana back inside in September

Musa acuminata "Dwarf cavendish" (Banana)

Volunteer (annual) blue cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus) and a blue Siberian iris in the perennial bed.

This is a new annual for me: Lantana. It does well in hot, dry conditions in poor soils. Immediately I thought of it for my hanging baskets! It flowers all summer and would be perennial if I lived in Florida. This one is "Bandana pink". Flowers initially are yellow and age to pink.

Lantana Bandana series Pink

July's Colors

The large and bold flowers are the theme of the month. Four-foot pale blue delphiniums bloom around the yard, though I'd like to add some deeper blue and purple ones for next year. (They are started in the basement already).

The containers on the deck are growing well. I started the Petunias, Lobelia, Nicotiana, and Osteospermum from seed. All were quite easy to grow under lights.

Pictured: The large-leafed plants are Nicotiana sylvestris. People visiting the house want to know the name of this giant flower-- "Tobacco", I say..."the ornamental flowering kind". As much as I was enticed by the promise of sweet-smelling flowers, the overwhelming tobacco smell of the leaves doesn't allow you to enjoy any flower scent.

Pictured: Bright blue Delphinium grandiflorum "Blue Elf" and pink Malva Moschata. I am wondering why I put these in the rock garden, because they are both almost 3 feet tall and require staking. Hmmm. Resident-lawnmower-man says they look fine, but I think this situation may keep me up at night...

Not just perennials

I confess that I am growing ANNUALS up here. Yes, I am not a perennial purist. However, I do know one of these types, who wanted to know if I grew perennials or annuals before taking up a gardening friendship.

Pictured: Yellow pot liles "Lemon Pixie", white zinnias, Snapdragons, and Pink Lilies "Farolito".

Sometimes I even feel bad for growing annuals, yet I justify this act by emphasizing that almost nothing else will grow in containers left out over winter! Those pampered gardeners in Toronto and Vancouver can flaunt their Tiarellas, Tulips, and English Ivys flowing from ornamental containers. Unfortunately, the rule for plants in containers is that they must be hardy to a climate two zones less than your present zone. That is, if you live in Zone 6, the plants in containers must be hardy to zone 4. This might work in warmer places, but technically, it would leave us in negative numbers.

Remarkably though, the snow cover does wonders here and I actually have some yellow pot lilies ("Lemon Pixie") that made it through the winter in whiskey barrels. I intended to leave them there, thinking they would die and compost away. I was quite suprised to see them back this year, especially since our dog's brother ATE all the flowers off those lilies last year. I since found out that lilies are very poisonous to animals, but he was fine except for the yellow pollen "mustache" that gave him away!

The doggie picture is our fine friend in all her sleek summertime glory, without the heavy undercoat. She looks much smaller in the summer! The wild blueberries are growing in her backyard habitat though I don't think she has been eating any of them.