Annuals

Annual flowers are used primarily to brighten the landscape with abundant amounts of color. They are unsurpassed for adding interest to beds or borders or in pots or containers on the patio or deck. They may also be used for cut flowers, rock gardens, window boxes, hanging baskets, screens, temporary fillers and ground covers [ text: University of Missouri Cooperative Extension].

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Resources

Flowering Annuals: Characteristics and Culture, University of Missouri Cooperative Extension publication. Offered as a free pdf download, this site includes chapters on how to define an "annual"? types and special uses, starting seeds or buying plants, soil preparation, seeding outdoors, setting started plants, maintenance, insects & diseases, and uses of annuals.

Annuals - this PDF on the website of the University of Montana Extension includes information on designing with annuals in the landscape, planning the flower border, starting and setting out plants, caring for them through the growing season, and includes a 5-page matrix on the ornamental and cultural characteristics of flowering annuals.

Growing Annuals In Containers from Iowa State University Extension is a 2-page pdf that covers how to choose a container and growing media, recommended annuals for flowering or foliage, as well as fertiling and maintaining your container garden.

Annual flower trials at Cornell University includes images and data for hundreds of flower varieties.

Home Gardening on the Cornell Home Gardening website includes flower growing guides with detailed handouts on 269 annual and perennial flowering and foliage plants, as well as basic techniques for effective garden design.

Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance from Rutgers University Cooperative Extension. List includes both annuals and perennials that have shown resistance to deer pressure in their trials.

Last updated August 23, 2023