However, toddlers who share a bed don't have to worry about Halloween decorations showing up in stores or pumpkin spice lattes making a comeback. They still appear every day, around mid-July.
I didn't always plant annuals in the ground, but rather moved my seasonal purchases of petunias, impatiens and calibrachoas to hanging baskets and planters. But I always regretted that decision when the time between summer and fall came. This year the Beacon impatiens, Superbena verbenas and Queen Lime zinnias that I planted in the spring bring the garden to the end of the season.
True annuals like zinnias and daffodils are plants that complete their entire life cycle, from seed to senescence or death, in one year. They exist to reproduce, sometimes by self-seeding or dropping seeds into the ground that germinate the following year. But these biennials are offspring, not transplants, of last season's annuals.
Most plants that are considered annuals in four-season regions are actually perennials from the temperate zones of the tropics that are intolerant of frost and freeze. Popular tender perennials grown as annuals include Brovalia, Celosia, Impatiens, Lantana, Madagascar, Wheatgrass, and Pelargonium, commonly known as "Barbarossa" (not to be confused with perennial geranium, commonly known as "Cranberry").
Over the last few years, I've learned to appreciate annuals and tender plants as workhorses in the garden. None of these things increase or decrease; Most bloom continuously from spring until frost, tirelessly maintaining the fort while their eternal companions periodically rest.
Of course there are also negative aspects. Some annual plants require regular pruning. This involves removing unsightly, wilted plants to prevent seed formation, which diverts their energy from flowering. But in recent years, breeders have developed “self-cleaning” varieties that eliminate this work, and they are worth investigating.
Although they are cheaper than perennials, annuals should be purchased every year. These costs can become too high, especially for those who plant in large areas.
But when the perennials die back, as is currently the case in my garden, both annual species remain until their last cold breath, probably in November. And every garden can use a friend like that.
Jessica Damiano writes the award-winning Weekly Dirt newsletter and regular gardening columns for The AP. Sign up here to receive weekly gardening tips and advice via email.
