Gardening
4 annual blooms that will provide your garden with colour all season
Image: Proven Winners
Gardening
4 annual blooms that will provide your garden with colour all season
While perennials bloom for only a few weeks, many annual flowers bloom in a rainbow of hues for months. Useful for filling in garden gaps left by spring-flowering bulbs, they're perhaps at their best in pots and hanging baskets, where they provide reliable colour all summer long. Here are four we love.
Superbena Royale verbena
(Verbena ×hybrida [Superbena Royale Series] cultivars)
Image: Proven Winners
We adore the new Superbena Royale Series cultivars for their multicoloured flowers and their mounding, trailing habit. The perfect fillers and spillers for container plantings, or for massing together in flowerbeds, they bloom continuously from early summer to autumn when sited in full sun and attract butterflies. Unlike older varieties, they aren't susceptible to powdery mildew and are deer-resistant. To encourage better branching, give plants a light trim at planting time (cut back growing tips by one to two centimetres).
Superbena Royale cultivars grow 20 centimetres tall by 40 centimetres wide and will trail up to 60 centimetres over the edges of containers. Both heat- and drought-tolerant, they perform best in average garden loam and don't require deadheading. Feed container plants with an all-purpose fertilizer (such as 24-8-16) at half strength every three weeks. Our favourite cultivars include deep merlot Royale Red ('AKIV5-4'), violet Chambray ('AKIV571-1'), rich purple Plum Wine ('RIKAV14704'), gleaming Whitecap ('RIKAV17805'), orange-apricot Peachy Keen ('RIKAV36504') and burgundy-red Romance ('RIKAV38602').
Browallia
(Browallia speciosa cvs.)
Image: Proven Winners
Browallia was introduced to Canada years ago as a flowering houseplant. Today, the lovely blue or white blooms are more commonly seen in partly shaded flowerbeds and containers. This plant blooms continuously from late spring to early autumn. Encourage a bushy habit by pinching out growing tips, and avoid rich, highly fertile soils.
Browallias grow about 30 centimetres tall and wide. Indoors, they should be placed in a south- or west-facing window. The original cultivar, 'Blue Bells', bears violet flowers with a white eye. Also available is pale blue 'Heavenly Bells' and pure white 'Silver Bells'. Newer cultivars include compact blue-flowered Endless Illumination ('UNHBR12') and white Endless Flirtation ('UNHBR18').
Superbells Star calibrachoa
(Calibrachoa [Superbells Star Series] cvs.)
Image: Proven Winners
New Superbells Star Series cultivars are both disease-resistant and heat-tolerant. Modern calibrachoas reward gardeners from early summer until frost with nonstop clusters of small, multicoloured petunia-like flowers that attract hummingbirds. Particularly well suited to containers and hanging baskets, they never need to be deadheaded. Feed container plants with an all-purpose fertilizer at half strength every two weeks.
Superbells Star Series calibrachoas grow 25 centimetres tall and wide and will trail up to 50 centimetres over the edges of hanging baskets. All cultivars in the series bear conspicuous star-shaped yellow centres. Look for rose-pink Hollywood Star ('BBCAL26702'), blush-pink Morning Star ('BBCAL27801'), purple Evening Star ('BBCAL87705'), brand-new hot-pink Rising Star ('KLECA16006') and red Cherry Star ('USCAL91001').
Bright Lights osteospermum
(Osteospermum [Bright Lights Series] cvs.)
Image: Proven Winners
These large daisy-like blooms come in a variety of colours, often with contrasting centres. We're especially partial to some of the latest yellow-flowered varieties in the Bright Lights Series. Flowering best in a full-sun location, these new cultivars are both cold- and heat-tolerant and bloom from late spring until frost, without deadheading. Avoid wet, soggy soil, and feed with an all-purpose fertilizer at half strength every three weeks. Bright Lights osteospermums, which grow about 25 centimetres tall and wide, can be transplanted into individual pots and then brought indoors to overwinter on a sunny windowsill.
Bright Lights Yellow ('INOSTYELLOW') bears yellow petals with gold-and-black centres, while 'Double Moonglow' produces semidouble flowers with cream-coloured outer petals and oversize golden central florets that prevent the flowers from closing at night.
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