Annuals......

The other night I attended a meeting with speakers who were speaking about their garden. They announced quite proudly that they grow 'only perennials, no annuals'. The way they spoke it was like they were dissing annuals. Well, I beg to differ. I love annuals with perennials and think that they have a lot to offer the perennial garden. In fact, many people who I respect, who are great gardeners, designers and just the expert woman who likes to get down and dirty in the garden would agree with me.
I think if you restrict yourself to growing 'just perennials' you are limiting yourself, closing the door on opportunities of visual delight and a bounty of fragrance. Also annuals bring a host of pollinators to your garden which is a benefit for any farmer or crop grower.

In their slide show they had a Tiger Eye Sumac, Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger' they had planted one in a bed and cut down every attempt of this lovely shrub to spread and grow. I do understand why someone may do this to say Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' smoke bush. You can keep it to nice height of 3' or cut it back in the spring and let it grow. But do to do this to Tiger Eye Sumac, well, is a disappointment. They were complaining about wind and no shade. If they let the Tiger Eye Sumac grow it would grow to 6' and that one plant would send up suckers and spread to 6'. That is the beauty of this shrub, it only gets to 6x6'. There would be their shade and wind break if they let it flourish.
So in defense of annuals here is my list of 10 favourite annuals to plant.
1. Nicotiana Sylvestris - well I thought I would hit you with a big evening fragrance to start off with. These are great in night white gardens, with grasses, perennials, by the back door or the front door. The trumpet shaped blooms are weak during the day, but it is late in the afternoon that the blooms appreciate the coolness and the fragrance is to die for. Plant it near an entry way and everyone will ask where is that lovely fragrance coming from? They are about 5.5' tall and the flowers are 4" long, plus they will 'self seed' in your garden, so you do not have to run out and buy more every year, just arrange the ones growing from last years seeds.
2. Verbena bonariensis - Another great annual for your garden, these seeds you will have to order from Thompson and Morgan or some 'special' order company. Again an annual that stops you dead in your tracks, it has wiry stems topped with clouds of eye catching rosy lavender blooms. At 4 to 5' it is a perfect compliment to grasses and inter mixed through your border, it is a see through plant. You can see through it, as well like Nicotiana it will self seed.
3. Ipomea Alba, Moonflower - I did a post on this lovely vine in February. A member of the morning glory family this vine blooms 6" wide pure white flowers late in the afternoon and bloom all night until the sun hits them the next morning. They attract Moths and that is their business, my business is to plant them on pergolas, arbours and walkways where they can be enjoyed during a great cocktail party in the garden.
4. Garden nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus, this comes in a bushy form, trailing and vine form. All parts of the plant, seed and bloom can be put in your salads to add colour and a spicy flavour.
5. Papaver somniferum, Opium Poppy, this is one of the most beautiful flowers in your garden and they self seed. The seeds are used in cooking and baking. Get your seeds for this from a friend or look for it in older gardens as the sale of seeds in outlawed in most states and provinces.
6. Texas Blue Bonnet, Lupinus texensis,  a blue lupin that makes for a stunning group with any green.
7. Bottle/Birdhouse Gourd, Cucurbita spp. or Lagenaria siceraria, grow this for the day time flowers they are beautiful and the end result is a large bottle shaped gourd which can be made into birdhouses, dippers for your bird seed.
8. False Queen Anne's Lace Black Knight, Daucus carota var. sativus, an attrative deep maroon flower tops this plant.
9. Helianthus annuus, Italian White Sunflower, a multi branching pale soft yellow sunflower, any sunflower whether yellow, red, orange or soft yellow is an important pollinator for your garden.
10. Cynara - both scolymus, the edible artichoke and  cardunculus the non edible cardoon, are beautiful structural plants for your garden and  not just your veggie garden.They both bloom large thistle like flowers, it is these unopened blooms that you eat in artichokes. I have planted a hedge of these at a clients garden and they look spectacular both on the plant and as a cut flower.
11. Acidanthera, is a member of the Iris family from South Africa, we grow it here as an annual. Most people throw the bulbs away, but I keep mine, I simply lift the bulbs and store them in the basement and plant them in the garden and containers at the end of May.

                                                              Acidanthera
This is enough for now, I think I will talk about planning your veggie garden....