Some plants are both annuals and perennials, depending on the exact species. Annuals are among the most colourful flowers and grow for a season before producing new seeds and dying. Many annuals make excellent cut flowers for the home. Perennials flower all season, then die down and grow again, often for several years.
Cosmos Plant
With around 25 species, including annuals and perennials, the cosmos produces large, showy flowers in a variety of colours, from red, pink or white to orange and yellow. Annual cosmos, such as the cosmosbipinnatus species, are excellent plants for late summer bedding, often flowering well into autumn. Dead-heading will prolong flowering, but it is best to leave a few flowers on annuals so they can produce seeds for new growth.
Lobelia
With around 370 species of annuals, perennials and shrubs, there is a lobelia plant to suit most gardens. Hardy and profuse, annuals such as lobelia erinus, are ideal for hanging baskets, or for edging along a flower bed. The flowers bloom from mid-summer through to autumn and come in a variety of bright colours. The cascade species is mostly a compact, trailing variety, with blue, lilac, pink or white flowers that will brighten up patios and boxes.
Poppy or Papaver
The tall poppy plant produces colourful, saucer-like flowers right through to October. Hardy and wide-spreading, they make excellent flowers for a mixed border, although some of the smaller poppies are suitable for a rock garden. According to the Reader’s Digest Wild Flowers of Britain, field poppies shed their flowers after a single day but can produce more than 400 flowers in succession. The distinctive seed pods are an attractive feature of poppies, providing plenty of seeds for new flowers. It is best to allow the plants to self-seed, or sow the seeds where the new flowers are to grow.
Pot Marigold or Calendula
A hardy bedding plant with pale green leaves, pot marigolds produce bright yellow or orange flowers over a long season, well into autumn. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, marigolds make excellent, long-lasting cut flowers for the home. Dead-heading the blooms regularly will prolong flowering. The calendula officinalis produces daisy-like orange, gold, apricot or cream blooms.
Sunflower or Helianthus
Instantly recognisable for their distinctive giant, daisy-like flower heads, sunflowers are available in over 70 species. The very tall yellow sunflower with a brown centre disc is popular for growing as a single flower in individual pots. The helianthus annuus species which is known as ‘Teddy Bear’ is a smaller variety with compact double flowers and is ideal for containers. Although they require plenty of sun, many of the species flower into autumn. Sunflowers are good for cutting to make a showy display indoors.
Sources:
The Royal Horticultural Society A to Z of Gardening Plants, Dorling Kindersley, London, 1996
Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Great Britain, Reader’s Digest, London, 1981
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