Unusual Annuals
by Marcy Stewart-Pyziak

ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED: 1995 Summer

TWG Editor: Okay, "K-Mart" shoppers, forget the petunias and impatiens and geraniums. I know they're the #1 American sellers, but why? There are so many alternatives which are far more satisfying. Break out and plant something creative! To give you some idea of the great annuals which are in the Chicagoland marketplace and which will give you a summer and fall garden full of color, I asked landscape designer Marcy Stewart-Pyziak, a horticulturalist with eighteen years of gardening and teaching experience, to fill you in. Her firm is called The Gardener's Tutor, through which she consults on landscape design and provides horticulture programs, garden tours and workshops. Ms. Stewart-Pyziak lives in Manhattan, IL and can be reached at (815) 478-5125.

And just in case you don't want to take Marcy's word for it, I asked several other great gardeners to contribute their ideas. I thank Mary Dunham, Ingrid Rosenfeld, Pat Schiltz, Susan Curd Schmitz, and Mary Ann Underwood for taking time out to lend their opinions. Now you have no excuse not to enliven your garden with something other than the same old discount-store annuals. Go for it!

Flowering annuals are tough, dependable plants that bloom continuously even under conditions that are less than ideal. Traditionally they were used in formal gardens laid out in symmetrical beds with geometric shapes. However, not many homeowners are interested in creating this type of look in today's landscape.

A better use for annuals is to tuck them in among perennials and shrubs in a mixed border that creates a more relaxed look, and extends the flowering season from from early spring through late fall. Rather than massing these annuals in large groups, use annuals as "pop-up" plants among other perennials or annuals. They can be used in small clusters of one to five and repeated through the garden as a way to move the eye from one area to another. They are excellent to combine with pcrcnnials that don't have a long blooming season.

Here are some suggestions that I have tried or friends have tried and liked:

Old-Fashioned Flowering Tobbaco (Nicotiana alata) is an evening bloomer with incredible fragrance. It has two inch creamy-white tubular flowers borne on plants that are four feet tall. The hybrid nicotianas are bred for shorter size and uniform color, but unfortunately they have lost all their fragrance. Since this plant blooms at night it is one of the best plants to use to attract sphinx moths (also called hummingbird moths). I have mixed Flowering Tobacco among Gayfeather (Liatris) for a great white and pink flower combination in midsummer. This annual self-sows freely and so once it is planted in the garden you will always have a supply from year to year.

Another fragrant annual to use is Heliotrope. The most common cultivar sold is 'Marine'. This plant is still cultivated in Europe for perfume making. The one and one-half foot tall plants have purple-blue flower clusters 4-6 inches across and will thrive in full sun to light shadc. Use one or three plants interspersed among blue or white annual Salvia. Heliotrope also mixes well with perennial Catmint (Nepeta) for a great combination of flower and foliage color.

Fennel is an annual in our climate and serves double duty as an herb with fragrant licorice-smelling and tasting leaves and seeds as well as an attractive flowering plant with light green flowers. The light green color of the foliage, flowers, and seeds mixes wonderfully with the pastel shades of Cosmos or 'Flamingo Feather' Celosia. As cut flowers all three of these plants combined together are fantastic.

Bronze fennel with its bronze plumy leaves is a great foliage plant that can be planted even as late as mid-summer to provide wonderful color through early November in the garden. A combination idea for this plant is to use a fcw as a backdrop against 'Autumn Joy' Sedum or fall blooming asters.

Of all the "pop-up" annuals my favorite is Verbena bonariensis. The purple-blue flowers grow on stems that reach four feet, and make a great display growing up and over the tops of plants like purple basil or purple coneflower. The foliage on this plant stays small and therefore it can be used in and among other plants without overtaking them. It is also a great nectar plant for butterflies.

As a cut flower and garden plant one of the most delicate looking is 'White Lace Flower' (Ammi majus). The flat flower heads of White Lace blossoms look like Queen Anne's Lace but are softer, more refined, and whiter in appearance. Unlike Queen Anne's Lace which is a biennial, White Lace Flower is an annual and won't become weedy in the garden. Try starting them indoors from seed and setting them out as young transplants in the garden at intervals throughout the summer.

"Everlasting" armuals can also be quite attractive in the garden. One of the nicest that combines good form, foliage, and flowers is Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena). The 1" ball shaped flowers come in colors of pink, white, purple, and orange, and resemble large clover blossoms. These plants generally reach three feet tall and wide by the end of the summer. It's great to cut the entire plant at its base just before the first frost, hang it upside down to dry, and once dried to use one or two to fill large basket for fall or winter decorations. Cultivars can be chosen to grow specific colors such as Globosa pink, Globosa white, or mixed. A friend uses a few plants clustered with roses for a nice combination. The orange or red varieties sold as 'Strawberry Fields' by Park Seeds, or 'Apricot Aurea Superba' and 'Red Embers' from Shepherd's are a little floppier than the other varieties but are still attractive. I've used a few of these as a backdrop with chili peppers in the garden. Put out Globe Amaranth as a transplant after all danger of frost has passed (circa Memorial Day).

Love-In-A-Mist (Nigella damascena) is an everlasting that is grown for itsinteresting rounded seed pods. The pink, white, or blue flowers are equally attractive and float above feathery green foliage that stands two feet tall. This plant should be direct seeded for best results, and can be sown several times each season. I've seen this flowering at the same time as peonies, delphiniums, and pinks in an old-fashioned cottage garden and it looks wonderful. If you let some of the seed pods mature and drop their seeds in the garden this plant can easily become a self-seeding annual.

One of the most attractive annuals with edible flowers is the Signet or Gem series of marigolds. Plants grow in neat low mounds reaching twelve inches with lacy foliage. In full bloom each plant may have over one hundred yellow, orange, or gold flowers depending on the variety. Both foliage and flowers have an aromatic lemon verbena-like scent much different from the strong odor of common marigold. Flowers can be used to add a bright touch of color to vegetables, pasta or salad. The yellow color of the blossoms would look wonderful mixed with 'Red Rubin' purple Basil or the purle-leaved Perilla.

If you want a long season of bloom than Cosmos are a must for your garden. Their lacy foliage and silky owers give an airy touch to the garden as well as idoors in cut flower fouqets. 'Sonata' is a dwarf white Cosmos that grows to only twenty inches tall. This is a perfect size for coniners on a patio, or in a narrow border where taller Cosmos would be much too big and rangy. The white flowers would be a beautiful addition to any garden, and there is also a 'Sonata Fairy Mix' that contains pinks and magenta. Shepherd's Seeds offers an unusual variety of novelty Cosmos such as 'Candy Stripe', 'Psyche', and 'Sea Shells'.

After seeing Hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab) in several gardens last year, I'm sold on using it in my own garden. This twining tropical-looking vine has distinctive purple stems and large purple-veined green leaves, At midsummer it is covered with gorgeous spikes of one inch violet blossoms. The flowers are followed by four inch flat shiny purple pods. Plant hyacinth beans outdoors in mid to late May as young transplants. Try using it not only as a vine on a trellis but mixed with other annuals. Letting it wrap around a mixture of purple and white petunias and white snapdragons in a large container creates a wonderful jumbled look for a patio or deck.

What's great about all these annuals is that they can be used in small numbers to achieve the look of a garden that appears free, flowing, and "unplanned". They not only provide great looks but when used in combination provide fragance, the ability to be used as cut flowers or in cooking, and are great for attracting butterflies.

(TOP OF PAGE)