# Annual Plants
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Growth Habits
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Pansies often bloom right through unseasonal snow. Traditionally, annual plants have a full life cycle packed into a single year. They sprout, flower, produce seed and die from spring to fall, when most new perennial plants are just establishing. Nurseries sell some tender perennials as annuals, knowing that the frost-tender plant will not survive the oncoming winter, but these are not true annuals.
Categories
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Begonias are tender annuals. Karen Russ of the Clemson Cooperative Extension describes three general categories for annuals, based on their temperature tolerance. Hardy annuals thrive in cool spring or fall weather and dislike hot temperatures. Pansies, a staple of nursery selection in both spring and fall, are hardy annuals. Half-hardy annuals, such as allysum, fill the gap between spring bulbs and summer bloomers. They tolerate some cold and do not flower well in hot gardens, often reappearing in fall gardens. Frost kills tender annuals, but this heat-loving third category often contains the showiest flowers.
Uses
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Use annuals for inexpensive experiments in color and design. Most gardeners love annuals for their instant impact in the spring landscape. A single species, threaded through the emerging perennials, unifies the garden and brightens up winter-weary flowerbeds. A low-growing petunia makes an ideal border along highly visible areas, such as entryway flowerbeds or patio container gardens. Beyond these basics, however, you may use annuals as a floral testing ground. If you are unsure of a color choice or simply undecided on a garden plan, plant annuals. If the experiment doesn't give the right impact, you simply redesign the area next year.
Care
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Because annual plants sprout, flower and die so quickly, they require more nutrients than the more adaptable perennials. Enrich poor soils with 2 inches of compost or other soil amendment to a depth of 12 inches to ensure a ready supply of growth-boosting nitrogen. As the annuals flower, remove faded blooms to encourage more flower production. Some annuals, such as snapdragons, become tattered in the summer heat -- cut these plants back, and they regrow with healthy foliage in time for a fall flower show.
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