Annuals are a large group of plants that complete their life cycle in one season.  They are the longest blooming of the plant categories, and as such, are essential elements in most landscapes.  We all use annuals in one way or another.  We have all seen the beautiful tapestries done with begonias at some office buildings and shopping centers.  Impatiens and petunias are used widely, and with good reason.  They fill in quickly, are reliable bloomers and put on a summer-long show. Many annuals can be raised easily from seed, but buying them in flats is a faster way to achieve the effect you want in the end.  This gets expensive, however.  What I do every year to offset the cost is buy a flat of annuals (such as impatiens), with every color that I want in the garden.  I plant them, then fill the flats back up with soil and take cuttings off the originals and root them.  If kept in a moist, dark shade area, within a few weeks you have a free flat of healthy impatiens.  Many of the annuals are conducive to this, and the original lopping actually helps the parent plant to become bushier.  For more information on cuttings, please see the Propagation pages. Most annuals make wonderful container plants - either grouped or as single specimens.  They are essentials in many perennial gardens as fillers for bare spaces, or as masks for the declining foliage of their perennial neighbors.  Massed, they  can and do provide color and form throughout the entire growing season.  Annuals come in sizes ranging from small border type plants to 8 foot giants, and many self seed readily, providing the gardener with a free bonus year after year.  There are both cold weather and hot weather varieties to choose from, making it easy to change a walkway border or container for a different look every season.   As a note, in some cases, individual annuals may also grow as biennials and perennials, especially in the south.  In cases where this is well-known, I have listed them in multiple categories so they will not be overlooked.  This is a large website, and it is very difficult to cross-reference everything and still have room for the subject matter.  I have done my best, but do not forget about the backspace buttons if you find yourself in an In the summertime, when the weather is hot, heat-loving annuals will dazzle your gardens with vibrant colors. They are the sun-bathing beauties of any garden. With so many different flower forms, colors, sizes and foliage shapes, every gardener will have a dozen or two favorite annuals blooming in the garden to brag about. Versatility is their name; garden pizzazz is your gain. Annuals make themselves at home in your garden beds, intermingled with your trees and shrubs, patio containers, window boxes and/or hanging baskets Some annuals are groundcovers, some are perfect for the "middle and marvelous" group, and of course some will stand "tall and sassy" in the rear of the garden bed. For a huge colorful impact, plant in swaths or waves. For example, many people planted their gardens in red, white and blue for July 4th. Perhaps they used 6 packs of blue lobelia in the front row, zinnias (red of course) in the next row, and in the back, lots and lots of white cosmos. The same concept applies to other color schemes. Plant your annuals using planting mix. Most of these annuals need regular water. Fertilize to encourage continuous blooms. Also, to keep your annuals blooming all summer long, deadhead (which means pluck off the spent flowers). This will keep the plant from thinking that it is time to spend all of its energy developing seeds for the next season. Remember that annuals are plants that grow and bloom within one season. Whatever your garden style or colors, we have annuals for you! Hurry in and pick your favorites. Get them in your gardens for a spectacular summer flower color show!