Best Annuals To Try in Your Garden

Canna 'Toucan' series

If you are designing your spring/summer flower garden, here are some of the very best annuals that you should shop for at garden centers. Most bloom heavily through late spring through the summer months. They are very heat tolerant and demonstrate exceptionally good disease resistance.

                                                                                    

Alternanthera 'Purple Prince', 'Plum Dandy'

Angelonia Serena™ series 

Begonia Megawatt™ - whole color series were impressive

Begonia Whopper® series green and bronze leaf types 

Canna Toucan™ series

Canna Cannova™ series

Celosia 'Arrabona', 'Fresh Look', 'Dragon's Breath', 'Prestige Scarlet', 'Intenz'

Coleus FlameThrower™ Habernero, Salsa Verde

Hypoestes Hippo™ Rose

Impatiens New Guinea Divine™ Red, Lavender Improved, Orange 

Lantana Bandana™ series

Lantana Luscious® series

Marigold Taishan™ series Gold, Orange

Salvia 'Mystic Spires Improved'

Marigold Antigua Gold

Marigold Dune Gold, Yellow 

Marigold Moonstruck Orange, Yellow 

Marigold French Bonanza Bolero Improved, Orange, Yellow 

Ornamental Pepper Midnight Fire

Pelargonium (Geranium) Pinto series

Pentas Lucky Star™ series

Petunia Supertunia® Bubblegum, Vista Fuschia, Lovie Dovie 

Petunia Red Velour

Petunia Headliner™ Banana Cherry Swirl

Salvia Rockin'™ Playin' the Blues™

Salvia 'Mystic Spires Improved'

Scaevola Whirlwind™ series 

Thunbergia A-Peel® Lemon, Orange, Tangerine Slice 

Vinca Titan series 

Vinca Vitesse

Zinnia Profusion™ series 

Zinnia Zahara™ series

Zinnia Profusion Double™ series 

Zinnia Zahara Double™ series

Growing Pentas To Attract Pollinating Bees And Butterflies

Want to attract more butterflies to your garden this summer? Pentas (Egyptian starflower) (Pentas lanceolata) is what you should be planting. Pentas are one of the best pollinator-attracting plants around. Flower colors range from red, pale lavender, pink and white. 

Pentas blooms all summer long, even during the hottest weather conditions. The large clusters of star-shaped blooms attract butterflies, bees and an occasional hummingbird. These annual flowers perform well both in garden beds and in large containers. Keep plants deadheaded and remove any spent blooms to encourage constant flowering.

Pentas plants are annuals in most U.S. climates (zone 10 hardy). The overall habit of these plants is neat and compact. If plants get too long and woody, cut them back by one-half and feed them with a water soluble fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro™, Jacks™, or Schultz™. Tall leggy transplants should be tipped back to develop more branching.

Overall, pentas are very easy to maintain. Newer varieties have improved disease resistance and grow shorter, e.g. more compact in habit. Pentas are troubled by few diseases and should be inspected for insects like aphids (in cool springs) and spider mites (dry hot summer periods).

Pentas prefer to be planted in full sun and in moist, well-drained soil. Pentas will dry out in hot summers and should be irrigated weekly during these times.

Leading cultivar series are Graffiti™ and Kaleidoscope™ (compact growers); Butterfly, Starla, and Northern Lights (taller growing).