Saturday, July 23, 2016

Hardy Annuals

Most years I grow a fair number of hardy annuals. The point about hardy annuals is that they can be started from seed directly in the garden where they are going to grow.  They often bloom for a very long time and are inexpensive.

In fact after a few years of growing them, most hardy annual plants seed themselves or produce a lot of seeds that can be saved and replanted the next year.


Love-in-a-mist
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) - on the right growing with Dianthus deltoides

In the case of Nigella pictured above, it selfseeds and you normally get new ones without having to do anything.  In the photo on the right they have volunteered among Maiden pinks (Dianthus deltoides). However they are more numerous when you save seeds and plant them outside in the spring (as in the photo on the left above).

California poppies in the garden of my friend Pat
For many hardy annuals, including the Cafifornia poppies above, the ideal is to have some plants that have selfseeded and some that you have seeded. They likely will not  bloom at the same time, and so you will extend the blooming season.

Seeding them indoors a few weeks ahead of transplanting to the outside can give you earlier blooms. However it is more work starting them indoors and, often times, they do not bloom that much earlier.

Although the ones seeded directly outside sprout later, they can catch up with the ones seeded inside some weeks earlier because they do not have to go through the shock of being transplanted.

Iberis umbellata


Candytuft (Iberis umbellata) is one annual I like to scatter in clumps, often in the vegetable garden. In my experience it does not selfseed much. However it is easy to save seeds for the next year.

Unless you want only one specific colour, even when you can save seeds, every now and then it is advisable to buy new ones.  As years go by, the colours tend to be less and less varied, and "new blood" gives you a better palette.




Eritrichium rupestre


 My favorite hardy annuals might be Eritrichium rupestre, an annual I discovered only a few years ago. It might not selfseed, but it is very easy to start outside from seed you have collected the year before.

It is similar to forget-me-nots, but the blue is much more intense and it is not invasive.

Nasturtiums come in a great variety of colours and foliages


Nasturtium is an old standby.   Even if they come back from year to year, I always start a few in pots as they are handy to fill gaps. I do not remember what I was going to grow in the black container in the picture above. Whatever it was, it did not grow, and I just filled the container with some standby nasturtiums I had started in pots in case I needed them.


Calceolaria mexicana
This is another hardy annual which I have known for only a few years, but I would feel sorry to be  without.

Calceolaria is slightly more tricky to grow as the seeds are minute, and the plant takes longer to grow to blooming size. It can be started directly outdoor but it blooms earlier if you start it inside.

Annual batchelor buttons (Centaurea cyanus ) also come in white and pink

I conclude with the king of the annuals that come back year after year in this garden:  the poppy.


20 comments:

  1. You have some great examples of hardy annuals that have done very well! I've tried planting Forget-Me-Nots from seed many times, with no luck whatsoever. I'm thinking maybe the slugs and the shade make them a poor choice for my garden. I wonder if E. rupestre would be any different for me? Nigellas are so magical, especially when planted in a large group. Most of my annuals are in pots, although I do grow some in my cutting garden, along the tuteurs and arbors, and in pots. I also scattered some native Jewelweed seeds around the garden in various spots, and they are doing quite well. Great post!

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    1. You should try forget-me-nots again. I am surprised they did not prosper - they like shade.

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  2. This post is a good reminder that I haven't sown any hardy annuals for a couple of years and the garden is poorer for it. I must sow some more next year as they do bring a certain brightness to the garden.

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  3. I must add some of these annuals to the new garden, next year. We brought one, a balloon flower.I did not realize they were an annual when I first purchased one. They make me smile, they come up everywhere. Even in the cracks in the sidewalk.

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    1. Glad they do well for you. Here they just survive and do not reproduce.

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  4. I'll have to try 'Eritrichium rupestre' . I've been pulling out For-get -me -nots by the dozens …again ! I will leave some though.

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    1. Eritricium rupestre is not invasive fortunately. You have to save seeds in the fall for the next year. In your climate they might come back on their own

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  5. Our candytuft self seeds under the pear trees and produces a capet of colour every year.

    I think once you have grown nasturtiums you will never be without we end up weeding many out.

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    1. Nasturtiums are not as accommodating here. Most do not come back.

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  6. Never heard of Eritrichium, it's a beauty! I have never grown Iberis either, but seeing yours I feel I should give them a try. Nasturtiums are wonderful in the right spot. I have a few that self-sowed in my pots.

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    1. The annual Iberis is very nice and it selfseeds. It has only one drawback, the blooming period does not last all that long.

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  7. I love nasturium as well Alain. Although seeds don't mature year by year and I need to buy them. I also love tagetes by their yellow bright color and shape. Snails love them too :D
    You have nice poppies!

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    1. I think we have rather similar climate, although you are warmer than we are.

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  8. I just wish I had your conditions to get annuals to grow as well, I do get loads of self seeding but not the same as yours. Nasturtiums have become a mainstay surviving everywhere and producing plenty of colour. Eritrichium nanum or "King of the Alps" is one of the most difficult plants to grow and flower, which made me particularly interested in Eritrichium rupestre.

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    1. Nasturtiums will self seed here but not generously. I have to reseed each year.

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  9. I've always wanted to grow calceolaria. Is it hard? I didn't realize iberis was an annual. I'm more familiar with the white perennial. I grow California poppies, too. Love them!

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  10. That particular calceolaria (mexicana) is not difficult at all. I just save seeds in the fall (they are minute) and plant them in the spring.

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  11. Hello Alain, I've seen Calceolaria being sold in the Garden Centre (the first time I have ever seen this plant) and it seemed to be a perennial but the label didn't say. I took a picture of it so I could look it up on the internet, it's very pretty, immediately caught my eye and will be making a feature in the garden if it is herbaceous.

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    1. I have seen some Calceolaria in garden centres but they were not the 'mexicana'. The latter is annual. It is quite a nice plants that once it starts blooming keeps on till the frost.

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