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Annuals: must have or give them a miss?

B3B3 Posts: 26,562
in Plants
I'm going to forego petunias again this year - lovely smell but high maintenance. Begonias  - too in your face for me, but the white ones were ok, so maybe.

If I can find them again, I will grow red marguerites and a cosmos that's a sort of dried blood/rust  colour -I've no idea what it's called , but I'll look out for it.

Verbena, I would definitely grow again, but as many of them are still alive, maybe they're not annuals!

Any recommendations?
In London. Keen but lazy.
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  • Mark56Mark56 Posts: 1,653
    edited March 2018
    Can't beat cornflowers and other wildflowers. Borage & phacelia tanacetifolia/phacelia campanularia for the bees. I'm trying the orange cosmos this year with Tithonia 'Touch' too. Probably some sunflowers to add height to the borders, 15ft last year hit the canopy of the hazel trees. 
  • B3B3 Posts: 26,562
    I've never heard of tithonia, googled it. Like the rusty orange one
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • plant pauperplant pauper Posts: 6,904
    Aaah the annual annual dilemma.
    In my case it's annuals in baskets. Last year I stuck to my miserable guns and really missed them so needless to say my plug plants are ordered! 
    I have some seeds from last year of cosmos and other stuff I can't remember so I'll probably cast those about too.  :D
    You know you want to...  :naughty:
  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,063

    This is whats going into my hanging baskets and containers this year, some from seed, some plug plants and some from cuttings.

    Petunia Shockwave (Pink,Blue,White)

    Pelargoniums (Pink,White, Burgundy)

    Lobelia (Blue and white)

    Verbena (Purple, Blue, White and Pink)

    Bacopa (white)

    Million Bells (Calibrachoa)

    Convolvulus cneorum

    Argyranthemum

    Artemisia schmidtiana 'Nana' white 

    Diascia Pink Bicolour 

    Anagallis Monelli Skylover

    Cosmos white

    Ammi Majus

    Love the excitement of growing them.






    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • Bright starBright star Posts: 1,153
    Sunflower vanilla ice is a beauty, smaller flowers, pale lemon in colour and about 5 ft tall, calendulas, Monty Don grows Tithonia for his jewel garden, I’m trying those this year too. Scabiosa is another favourite, so much choice
    Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.

  • B3B3 Posts: 26,562
    edited March 2018
    Salivating :p can't wait until the weather warms up. Yv, it looks like you're well organised.
    Pp, I was thinking of emptying the loose seeds at the bottom of my seed tin and seeing what happens. Carrots and calendula and cosmos and that's only the Cs!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 22,662
    edited March 2018
    I grow a lot of annuals, some I sow and some I buy online as plug plants. 300 arrived today so I had a happy time in the GH potting them up. I love the excitement of sowing seeds too. I have about 40 large pots to fill. I use annuals, such as tithonia, sage farinacea, cosmos, to fill in gaps in beds of perennials and they add a bit more lasting colour. I also have a cut flower bed in the veg garden.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • FireFire Posts: 17,398
    wow.

     I have put in so many scabious and it all seems to disappear over winter. I have some more plants doing well, large and healthy to put in, but hold out little hope of them being more than annuals.


  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,523
    As an 'experiment' this year I am trying to give annuals a complete miss and going for perennials instead.
    Heucheras,ivies,ferns and erigeron in baskets.
    Erysimum and sedums in containers.
    Just have to see how it goes!
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    I’m hoping bulbs will solve all my needs.
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