Many of gardeners have seen annuals in beautiful pots and hanging baskets that grace our yards an cities streets, but what about adding them into our perennial flower beds? Today I’m going to talk about how you can use annuals in perennial flower beds as well, if fact some flower beds are nothing but annuals and are replanted year after year. When describing an annuals, it can be multiple things which includes tropical and flowering bedding plants, in the case of my beds I have both. In the photo above are Zinnas and Balsam flowers.

There are multiple ways annuals can be added into flower beds as well. A couple reasons could be is for a fill in plant that can be planted over the top of where spring bulbs use to be. Annuals can be planted right over the top of where spring bulbs are and they will fill in those holes with flowers that will last all season. In my flower bed where I have many spring bulbs its a welcome sight to see the green and flowering annuals take over the spot where tulips and daffodils are fading. In this photo, To the left is a purple leafed elephant ear, followed by Zinnas and wax begonias

Annuals can be used as a boarder plant as well and what I find I like about the addition of annuals into my flowerbeds is that they add color that fills in between the perennial cycles so there is always something blooming. Annuals with proper care will bloom from planting time to frost and will add a constant pallet of color. The marigolds above were seeded by me earlier in the spring and then added to the garden

Annuals and perennials complement each other. Above lilies can be seen blooming along side marigolds and petunias. My plan here was to allow the marigolds to take over the areas where large clusters of tulips used to be. So what kind of annuals can be used inside of a perennial bed? Anything that can be in a container will be great used in a flower beds. You can use any color and style you want, Petunia’s, Marigolds, Zinnias, Wax begonias, Saliva, Impatiens, Coleus are just a few selections that would do great. When choosing annuals make sure you pick site appropriate plants. In conclusion annuals are great for multiple reasons including fill ins for spring bulbs, added color in between perennial blooms and as border plants. Take a look at multiple plantings around Des Moines and Central Iowa and you can see just how useful adding annuals into flower beds can be.