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Petunia

Petunias appreciate rich soil or media.

Most popular modern petunia are hybrids of two primary species, and a few others. They classify collectively and simply as Petunia X hybrida. Although popular as warm season annuals, some can be short term perennials. They are only uncommon as such because they get shabby through winter. Yet, with a bit of trimming, they can regenerate for spring.

Petunia are impressively diverse. Their floral color range lacks merely a few colors. Also, flowers can exhibit spots, speckles, stripes, blotches, haloes or variegation. Flowers can be quite small, or as broad as four inches. Some are mildly fragrant. Some are quite frilly with double bloom. Cascading types can sprawl three feet while most are more compact.

Petunia are perhaps the most popular warm season annual. They can bloom from spring until frost, though they can get scrawny after a month or so. Trimming of lanky stems can promote more compact growth. Deadheading might promote fuller bloom for some types. Petunia enjoy sunny exposure, regular watering and rich soil. They perform well in pots. Cascading varieties are splendid for hanging pots and high planters.

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Annuals Change With The Seasons

Several perennials are useful as annuals.

Winter continues. It will not end until March 19. Wintry weather is unconcerned with such dates though. It could end at any time, or continue a bit later. Vegetation is more aware of this than we are. It wants to be ready regardless. Cool season annuals linger as long as they can. As they no longer can, warm season annuals should be ready to replace them.

Warm season annuals, or summer annuals, include both bedding plants and vegetables. They perform seasonally as cool season annuals do, but through warm seasons instead. They perform for only one annual cycle, although several have potential to be perennial. Removal of perennials is necessary only because subsequent annuals need the space.

All sorts of annuals are available in cell packs from nurseries. They become available as they become seasonable. Those that bloom for late winter and early spring are available now. More of those that bloom best during warm weather should become available soon. It is still a bit too cool and early for most of them. It is not too early for their seed, however.

Although plugging cell pack seedlings into a garden is easier, some prefer to sow seed. Those who do so should begin about now so that the new seedlings are ready by spring. Many seedlings require the warmth and shelter of a greenhouse to grow. As they mature, and the weather warms, they relocate into their garden. Other seed prefer direct sowing.

Many more varieties of annuals are available as seed than as seedlings from nurseries. Even if only a few varieties of seed are in nurseries, countless more are available online. Also, some flowers from previous seasons provide viable seed for subsequent seasons. There are a few reasons to justify the extra effort of growing annual seedlings from seed.

Sunflower and nasturtium are among the warm season annuals that prefer direct sowing. Their roots dislike confinement within cell packs. They recover slowly from transplanting. Cosmos and alyssum do not mind transplanting, but also grow easily from direct sowing. Seed for many varieties can start now because the weather will be warmer as they grow. Petunia, impatien, zinnia and lobelia are easier from cell packs later.

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Richmond Begonia

Richmond begonia is very easy to propagate by cuttings.

It is difficult to say whether Richmond begonia, Begonia ‘Richmondensis’, is grown more for unusual waxy pink flowers that bloom throughout the year, or rich glossy green leaves with bronzy red undersides. Perhaps it is the distinctive combination of both characteristics. Perhaps it is because Richmond begonia is so easy to grow in partial shade near porches or atriums where other flowering plants would want more sunlight. It only wants relatively rich soil and regular watering, and is quite happy in pots. Mature plants eventually grow to two feet tall and broad. Lanky branches that get cut back to promote dense growth can be rooted elsewhere in the garden.

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Warm Up To Warm Season Annuals

Sweet alyssum can seem to be perennial, but bloom best during warm weather.

The common and almost stigmatized nasturtium has always been my favorite of the flowering annuals. It is technically a warm season annual that gets its seed sown at the end of winter so that it can grow and bloom with bright yellow, orange and sometimes even red flowers all spring and summer and into autumn. However, because winters are so mild here, the foliage is appealing even while bloom is inhibited by cool winter weather. By the time older plants die out, seedlings are already maturing to replace them; so they function like perennials. Nasturtiums are so easy to grow that many garden enthusiasts consider them to be weeds, or too cheap and common to bother with. Yet, their carefree nature is precisely why so many of us enjoy them so much.

Sweet alyssum shares the same reputation that causes it to be shunned by some but appreciated by others. It can be white, pink or purple when initially planted, but eventually reverts to white as it naturalizes. (Pink and purple types produce white blooming seedlings.) Like nasturtium, it blooms less over winter, but never really goes away, since seedlings are always there to replace older plants. It is easy to grow from seed sown late in winter, or can be planted from cell packs after winter for more immediate results.

All sorts of warm season annuals that are now available in nurseries are ready to replace the cool season annuals that bloomed through winter. Busy Lizzy (impatiens) and petunias are the most popular as well as the most colorful. French marigold has the best yellows and oranges, as well as bronze. Lobelia is a classic companion for sweet alyssum or marigold, providing all kinds of blues, as well as purple, purplish rose and white (although white is rather redundant to alyssum). Cosmos blooms in many shades of pink, from very pale to almost red, as well as white. Most varieties stay quite low while others get a few feet tall.

The less popular warm season annuals are sought by those who like their unique colors or other appealing characteristics. Floss flower blooms pale blue or lavender with funny fuzzy flowers. Cockscomb are mostly the colors of marigold as well as red, but with unusual plume-like blooms. Verbena and moss rose may not fill in soon enough to work as bedding plants, but have rich colors that look great with other assorted annuals or perennials. Although statice, pincushion flower (scabiosa) and zinnia can function as bedding plants, they are more often grown singly, in small groups or as borders around more homogenous bedding plants.

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Warm Season Bedding Plants Begin

Alyssum grows very readily from seed.

Annual bedding plants are surprisingly more popular among those who enjoy gardening less. Those who procure the services of gardeners appreciate the rich colors and simple efficiency of annuals. Many who are more directly involved with their gardening consider them to be decadent. Nonetheless, warm season bedding plants will soon be in season.

Cool season bedding plants should perform well until the weather becomes too warm for them. There is therefore no rush to replace them yet. Besides, it is likely still a bit too cool for mature warm season bedding plants to be out in the garden. However, seed for warm season bedding plants takes time to grow. Some should start now to be ready for spring.

For example, petunia, impatien and zinnia are some of the most popular of warm season bedding plants. Almost all of them arrive at their respective gardens as somewhat mature plants within cell packs from nurseries. Presently, such plants may be vulnerable to frost. However, seed of these plants that begin now should start to grow after the threat of frost.

Not many of even the most avid of garden enthusiasts grow these popular warm season bedding plants from seed. Yet, a few do so. Some unusual or rare plant varieties are only available as seed. Many common wildflowers and ‘true to type’ annuals provide seed for subsequent generations. Such seed generally start in flats with shelter from frost indoors.

From flats, seedlings may graduate to cell packs or small pots prior to transitioning into a garden. Some should actually begin within cells rather than flats. Seedlings relocate into a garden when adequately mature, whether from flats, cells or pots. Seed for many warm season bedding plants perform best directly in the garden though, without transplanting.

Nasturtium seedlings do not grow well within the confinement of cells. Then, they remain somewhat pekid for a few days while they recover from transplanting into a garden. They grow so much more efficiently from seed sown directly into a garden. Marigold can grow about as well from seed directly in the garden as they can as seedlings that grew in flats.