The Best Annual Plants

2011 AAS Winners

• Two annuals won AAS awards for 2011. The bright red Salvia coccinea 'Summer Jewel Red' blooms in 50 days from seed sowing and flowers reliably until fall. The plants are a uniform 20 inches high and should be planted 10 to 12 inches apart. Red salvias are good plants for attracting hummingbirds. The second AAS winner for 2011 is the ornamental kale 'Glamour Red'. It has 10- to 12-inch heads with bright pink center leaves surrounded by rings of bright green and gray leaves. Kales are cool-season annuals for fall displays. Seeds should be started 90 days before cool weather is expected.

2011 and 2012 Fleuroselect Winners

• Fleuroselect chooses its winners a year ahead of AAS, so its 2012 selections have already been announced. Summer Jewel Red salvia was honored by Fleuroselect as a winner for 2012, as was an annual hollyhock (Alcea rosea annua) named Spring Celebrities Crimson. This 2-foot red hollyhock blooms in 14 to 16 weeks from seed, and unlike traditional, taller hollyhocks, doesn't need staking. One of the 2011 Fleuroselect winners is an annual sweet-pea (Lathyrus odoratus 'Villa Roma Scarlet'). A mounding type of sweet pea, not a vine, Villa Roma Scarlet makes 10-inch mounds covered in dark red flowers from July to September. The organization also awarded a gold medal to Zinnia marylandica 'Double Zahara Fire', a disease-resistant zinnia with doubled orange-red flowers. The plants grow about 12 or 13 inches tall. Zinnias make long-lasting cut flowers.

Other Sunny Annuals

• If money talks, then petunias are one of the best annuals, since they've been best sellers for years. The Wave petunias have won numerous awards from both AAS and Fleuroselect and are highly recommended by university websites such as Texas's AgriLife Extension Service. These free-blooming petunias come in a wide range of colors and are self-cleaning, so no deadheading or cutting back is required. Geraniums (Pelargonum) are also popular with gardeners, as are marigolds (Tageta) and flowering vinca (Catharanthus roseus).

Other Shade Annuals

• Impatiens or busy Lizzies (Impatiens spp.) have been a top-selling shade bedding plant for years, rivaled only by pansies (Viola). The pinkish-red, double impatiens Victorian Rose is just one variety to be honored by Fleuroselect and AAS. Impatiens are heat-lovers and fade at the first sign of cool weather. Pansies and their perennial cousins violas (Viola spp.), on the other hand, are reliable cool-weather plants for shady gardens.