While you’re waiting for your spring blooming perennials, go ahead and deliver a shot of color to your landscape with cold hardy annuals.
Even though all of these are cold hardy, keep a sheet or frost blanket on hand to cover them, just in case the temps fall below 20 degrees one night. (Around here, you never know!)
- Pansies and Viola are a garden staple that you can count on – to stand up to the cold nights, to bring vibrant color to containers and gardens, and to be easy-peasy to take care of! And check out the new Cool Wave Pansies – that spread out beautifully in garden beds, containers, hanging baskets & window boxes!
- Dusty Miller sports velvety soft silver leaves with scalloped edges with their tiny colorful blooms are the perfect filler plant in a container and just as lovely planted on it’s own, preferably in big numbers! They could NOT be easier to grow!
- Dianthus look dainty but are hardy as all get-out! They are as fragrant as they are colorful and, if you cut back the blooms but let the foliage grow through summer, they will re-bloom in the fall!
- Sweet Allysum is another fragrant bloomer that is tougher than its petite appearance suggests. Plant them in full sun and they will spread in no time at all. They love trailing off containers or growing as garden borders – butterflies & bees love them too!
- Osteospermum is also known as the African Daisy and the colors and bi-colors they come in are so eclectic, they sometimes don’t even look real! They will grow 1-3 feet tall and prefer full sun to partial shade. Cut them back come summer & wait for a re-growth in fall!
- Dwarf Snapdragons are in bloom right now and would be a great addition to your garden bed or containers. Each plant is pretty on its own but they are stunning when planted in masses!
- Sweet Potato Vines come in a great selection leaf colors like purple, bronze, copper and more. They bring interesting shapes and colors to your garden and easily grow in sun or shade!
These will provide you will beautiful transitional color until the weather begins to get hot and it’s time for summer flowers.
