These annuals which are easily grown can be sown in the open and have flowers the same season.

Alyssum

A white variety can create a “Carpet of Snow” and is one of the annual varieties that are so valuable for bedding and edging. In bloom the entire season and into late autumn. Lift a few plants and pot them up for the indoor window garden. Masses of white blossoms on compact 4 inch plants.

CandyTurf

So delicate is its perfume, so modest its flowers. Under average soil conditions Candytuft provides a fortune in white and in pink in lavender and in rose, for a mere monetary pittance. Grow it in beds, along the walk, in the rockery and by the shrubbery. Make several sowings in a season.

Dianthus (Annual Pinks)

Growing from 10 to 14 inches high and bearing in profusion; beautifully colored flowers, either single or double, here is a group of subjects that will thrill you with their exotic brilliancy. Just a little fussy, they like a moist loam. Mass them in such soil and they will form a magical matting of curious color combination.

MARIGOLDS

They are truly the amateur gardener’s best friend and what a host of personalities. You can have tall ones, or dwarf kinds, singles or doubles, some with collars and others with blossoms that resemble great lemon colored and orange colored sponges. Carnation-like flowers, chrysanthemum-like flowers and flowers that are incurved are now common. And all are so valuable for cutting. Were you to let your imagination run wild you could have a garden of Marigolds exclusively. They can even be produced with or without incense. Keep up with the marigold trend. The seed catalogs describe many wondrous kinds.

Portulaca (Sun Plant) Grown under lights, on sunny embankments, on sunny rockeries and along sunny walks, Portulaca is astoundingly effective outdoors rather than indoors under no light. Make sure when you sow the seeds that you keep the soil moist until the seedlings commence to grow. Once established care can be confined to weeding as the plants are succulent in habit and will revel in the hottest sun under drought conditions that few other plants could survive.

Portulaca is a dwarf plant only 6 or 7 inches in height. Its colors are numerous and on sunny days dazzlingly brilliant. You can purchase in mixed packets single varieties or double varieties to suit your whims and fancies. Many interesting semi-double variations will be found in the double strains.

5 Easy Grown Annuals is a post from: The Grow Garden

Any plant that must be replaced every year and only has flowers one time, is an annual. Annuals are grown from seeds and the major advantage of an annual is the lower cost. Thousands of plants may be grown from just one seed packet.

Being decorative, annuals provide some very wonderful flowers for cutting.

The season for their bloom can be long, as well. The chief advantage is that the late day the bloom. If they are used alone or along a border, for a good part of the season will pass and you will still have color.

Annuals can also be used as a filler in between shrubbery and set some distance apart. This is so the shrubs can grow and not appear to stark.

To grow annuals, of course will be dependant upon which class they are a member of. The heartier flowers such as a larkspur or cornflower, can be planted in the late fall. The ground must be prepped just the same way it is in the spring time. Fall planting is advantageous because it gives you a leg up on spring planting. Certain other types of hearty annuals can also be sown in the spring time as soon as the ground thaws and warms up enough.

It is good to start some of the less hearty plants in seedling pots, or in a cold frame, you can start as early as March. These plants can not be placed out of doors until the danger of frost has passed. Outdoor planting must only be done after careful and complete soil preparation has been done. The flower bed must be pulverized and raked after it has been prepped and before planting, so all the lumps can be eliminated.

Seeds can be sowed broadcast in the part of the patch you select. Then they need to be lightly covered with soil. The soil should be gently stamped after is completely covered. The patch will need to be IDd with a stake and some sort of simple sign. Flower seeds need to be planted near the surface and in no instance should seeds be put more than one inch deep. The seeds from larger plants have strong growth potential (think sunflowers), need to be planted in mounds spaced about 2-4 feet apart.

Foliage plants are planted by color. But several people plant their outdoor annuals in rows, because it is easier when the garden is to be used for cuttings. To accomplish this, dig a shallow trench in the soil no more than an inch deep using a trowel or your fingers. Place the seeds in the trench and sow more seeds than you think you actually need and them trim out the rows after plants begin to grow. Thinning is most often required and is good for annual crops, because it makes each plant have sufficient room to grow.

One of the most shocking things one can do is transplant a plant, unless it is carefully done, the plant may be killed. It is a great idea to expose coldframes and potted seeds to the outdoors prior to transplanting, this prevents shock. All the soil in the coldframe or pot can then be used when its time to transplant.

The best time to transplant is when its cloudy and damp outside. If the soil is a bit dry, then simply watering before and after transplanting will suffice. If doing the transplant on a sunny day, then you will need to provide shade for the new transplanted plants. As soon as the plants have been established, the protective coverings can then be removed.

The Best Way Of Transplanting Your Annuals is a post from: The Grow Garden