Annual Garden Plants

Sun and Shade

• One of most important factors in growing annuals is sunlight. The greatest number of annuals, such as petunias, dahlias and snapdragons, are sun annuals, needing six to eight hours of sun a day. Popular shade annuals for shaded areas include impatiens, with small, single-petal blooms in many colors; tuberous begonias, with huge, single or double blossoms in all colors except blue; and wishbone flowers, with small, delicate blooms in white, rose, purple and blue.

Spring Annuals

• Far fewer spring annuals are available than summer annuals. They are the first annuals to appear and are usually planted toward the end of March. Those requiring full sun include pansies with large flattish blooms and available in a multitude of colors; the pink baby's breath; sweet alyssum with diminutive, irregular flowers in white, rose and lavender; and lobelia erinus, an edging plant in light to dark blue, white and wine red.

Summer Annuals

• A variety of bloom shapes and colors exist among summer annuals, usually planted in late May or early June. They include the geraniums with thick, rounded flower in a wide range of colors; salvia, a dwarf, medium or tall bushy plant with scarlet the favored color; zinnia, with numerous strains and bright, rounded flowers in all colors but blue; and French marigold in yellows, oranges, reds and bicolors.

Foliage Annuals

• When combined with floral summer annuals, foliage annuals create well-designed plant groupings. Some of the best known for a sunny location includes dusty miller, soft-textured and silver-colored; coleus with colorful foliage in many colors; New Zealand flax with upright leaves, sword-like in form and either variegated or in bronze, yellow of purple; and sweet potato vine with large trailing leaves.