Springtime is here with hundreds of varieties of annual plants that can be added to your garden. This year, there are several new annuals that you can get and I will give you a brief description of each. Annual plants add life to your garden with a complete season of vibrant colors. You can plant annuals in between your perennials to fill the gaps in their blooming times. You can also plant them in beds by themselves and these will give you plenty of flowers from Spring to Fall.

Just visit your local nursery and find out which annuals will survive in the area where you live. While there, check out the beautiful annual plants listed below.

Begonia Solenia- Botanical name is Begonia Hiemalis Solenia. This new annual is best for bedding in your garden or you can plant them in containers. You can get these in dark pink, dusty rose or salmon colors and they are beautiful. It has double blooms measuring about 3 inches wide which begin in late spring and continues to flower all summer long and into fall. It is considered a very strong begonia which will resist powdery mildew and stand up to heat and high winds. This begonia likes the sun, grows 10-12 inches tall and up to 24 inches wide. Plant these in moist well-drained soil for a beautiful display of flowers all summer long.

Calibrachoa Million Bells- Botanical name is Calibrachoa Million Bells Cosmos Pink but you can get these in dark orange, light brown, red, gold and yellow also. To me, this flower looks like a mini petunia but because it has so many flowers, it is spectacular! The blooms are 2 inches across and the plant grows 12 to 15 inches tall and almost 20 inches wide. I heard that this new annual was first seen in Central Florida during a hot humid summer and while most other plants had withered, this one did not have any drooping blooms and the leaves were full of life. The good thing about this annual is that it keeps blooming in cool spring weather as well as the hot summer months and continues blooming through fall which is ideal for most climates. Maybe a little exaggeration in saying that it has a million bells but it does have lots and lots of flowers. Grows well in full sun and moist well drained soil and it is heat, disease and pest resistant.

Chocolate Plant Black Varnish- Botanical name is Pseuderanthemun Atropurpureum Rubrum. Wow! That is a mouth full and I can’t even pronounce that name. But this is a very different and unusual plant which might be good for mixing with perennials or flowering annuals for a splendid display in your garden. It has huge glossy leaves which never lose their color of almost black and it looks like a tropical plant. The foliage is heart shaped, slightly curled, and has veining going through. The color is actually a dark eggplant purple but in the shade it looks black. The leaves grow in pairs and each new set grows above the previous ones. Tiny studded white and purple blooms appear in the spring for added beauty. Truly a very different plant that you can use to add accent to your flower garden. It grows 10 to 15 inches high and it spreads 2 feet wide. It thrives in sun or part shade in your garden from spring until fall.

Cuphea Totally Tempted- Botanical name is Cuphea Llavea Totally Tempted. This plant has red and purple bi-color blooms with large petals that are shaped like butterflies. It also attracts hummingbirds and butterflies with pointed bright green leaves that serve as a backdrop to the flowers. This annual is ideal for containers, hanging baskets and window boxes. It just continues to bloom non-stop from early summer until frost and it tolerates heat, drought and loves the sun. Totally Tempted grows 10-12 inches high and up to 18 inches wide.

Gerbera Giant Spinner – Botanical name is Gerbera Jamesonii Gian Spinner. I love gerberas and this one is absolutely beautiful. Somehow, gerberas remind me of a large daisy and I really like daisies too. This new gerbera is spectacular because it has large 6 inch double blooms which are great for cutting and placing in a vase. The petals of this gerbera are dark rosy pink with white tips and a frilly orange center. You can plant gerberas in your garden as a flower bed or use a large container. If you plant them in your garden, plan the design carefully as these beauties grow up to 24 inches high without the blooms and 18 to 24 inches wide so it may be best to plant them in the background and not as a border. Grows well on full sun and likes well drained soil. It is recommended to let the soil dry a bit between watering periods.

Petunia Blanke Purple – Botanical name is the same. Petunias are another favorite of mine because they are easy to grow and you can plant them anywhere. However, this new petunia is different in that it only grows to 8 inches high so it is great for bedding and ground cover. You can get these in purple, dark purple and red colors. This petunia is ideal for troubled spots in your garden as it will hide bare soil areas with its rapid 3 feet wide spreading. It flowers from early summer to frost and spreads quickly, resists hot humid climates and grows well in full sun.

Yellow Buttons Flambe – Botanical name is Chrysocephalum Apiculatum. Another name that I can’t pronounce but here is an Australian native flower that is ideal for hot dry garden spots. The foliage of this plant is silvery white and the blooms look like buttons in yellow. You can have a stunning garden if you plant these yellow buttons in between your green or blue leave varieties. It grows 8 to 14 inches high and 14 to 16 inches wide. This is a sun loving plant that tolerates heat, drought, sandy or poor soil. You can get yellow buttons in orange color also and it blooms from late spring until late fall.

So there you have it. All the new annuals in the market today and I am sure there will be more coming in the near future. Remember that annuals are easy to grow and you can plant them just about anywhere in your garden adding life and color with beautiful blooms all season long.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

BBC - Gardening
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Let a Billion Wildflowers Bloom : People.com
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The botanical name for daylilies is Hemerocallis and although there are many varieties in the market today, we all have our favorites. Did you know that daylilies are heat and drought resistance and are in the perennial family? It has been said that daylilies are the perfect perennial because these require little care and they come back every year to add beauty to your flower garden or landscape.

These beautiful robust flowers come in a wide array of colors, different shapes, and sizes. If I was to describe daylilies, I would say that the flowers are clump-forming with fibrous or tuberous roots. The roots of daylilies are long and slender making these an absolutely beautiful addition to your flower garden.

Daylilies are also excellent as cut flowers and a favorite of most florists. I like daylilies too and here are my all time favorite ones.

Paper Butterfly Daylily – This is a huge daylily that has 6-inch blooms and the plants are barely 2 feet tall and wide which is remarkable. The base of each petal is a peach  with melon and gold overtones and the eyezone is bright grape. It has been said that the purple eyezone of this daylily which runs along the veins resembles eyelashes! I also heard that the flowers of this daylily looks like butterfly wings and that is the reason for its name. If you want to steal the garden show in your neighborhood, consider planting Coneflower as a companion or even Shasta daisies which will offset the unusual hues of this incredible daylily. The flowers show up early summer and continue all summer long. Grows well in zones 4-9, requires full sun, and it can be planted as borders, beds or just against a wall or fence. It is cold hardy, and drought and heat resistant.

Navajo Princes Daylily – These have 4 1/2 inch blooms with a triangular eyezone of deep rose and curled back petal tips, a chartreuse throat and a pale powder pink base. An added value to this beautiful daylily is that the flowers remain opened for 16 hours a day. It flowers in mid and late summer. Also, this daylily is considered an extended bloomer meaning that the flowers open the night before giving you a full day of flowering. It grows 18-24 inches tall and does well in zones 4-9.

Formal Elegance Daylily – These are beautiful daylilies that bloom early in the season and again in late summer. The flowers have a light fragrance and are ivory-white with a small but bold maroon eyezone. The blooms are slightly ruffled or crimped and are 4 inches wide. You can use these for border designs or even plant them in containers but keep in mind that these grow 18-24 inches tall and 3 feet wide. Drought and heat resistant and grows well in zones 3-9.

Fooled me Daylily – This is a bicolor daylily but a little bigger, bolder and brighter than the other varieties. The flowers are 5 1/2 inches wide with sort of a curling design around the edges. A cinnamon red eyezone with a yellow stripe going through the center of each petal and the edging of each petal exactly matches the color of the eyezone. No wonder this daylily has been the winner of numerous awards including the 2005 American Hemerocallis Society Stout Silver Medal and the 2003 Waterman Medal. Brilliant! This daylily is a mid-season bloomer and opens the night before for the next days bloom. The plant reaches 2 feet tall and 1 1/2 feet wide, does survive the harsh northern winters and will also do well in the hot southern summers. It grows well in zones 3-9.

You Angel You Daylily – These are forever blooming with gorgeous double flowered 2 inch blooms. This one is ideal for small spaces, containers or for edging in your flower garden. They flower late summer and again in the autumn and you can get these in red, cream or light apricot colors. They are easy to grow and bloom the first year you plant them. Grows to 16 inches tall and does well in zones 3-9.

Hush Little Baby Daylily – If you like pink, this is the daylily for you with its bold rosy pink beatiful blooms. It has perfectly formed petals which will not slump under the pressure of too much heat, humidity or sun. The blooms are 5 inches across and are thick and waxy keeping the blooms fresh which will survive in any type of weather. And, get this, you will get 20-25 flowers per stem on its 22 inches tall and 24 inches wide plants. Blooms from mid to late summer and does well in zones 4-9.

So there you have it, some of my favorite daylilies that will add beauty to your flower garden for years to come. Daylilies are one of the easiest perennial plants to grow and most will survive rough winters as well as intense heat and humidity.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

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There is a new perennial in town and I have heard that this is the only blanket flower like it in the world! Its botanical name is Gaillardia x grandiflora Dakota Reveille. This new blanket flower is so big and beautiful that it almost looks like a big dahlia.

This amazing flower starts as a green cone-shaped bud with short red petals tip in yellow. As the flowers mature, the buds cover themselves in petals forming a giant pompom displaying huge double blooms with bi-color petals in trumpet like form. And get this, they flower heavily from early summer through mid-fall in most climates. (photo courtesy: wiseacre-gardens.com)

They are so beautiful that you can use them as cut flowers and will last a long time in a vase. The stems of the blanket flower are very sturdy and once you cut them, they come back again and start blooming just like any other perennial. As soon as you snip the blooms, new buds will appear quickly.

Blanket flower is considered a hardy Native American perennial which can grow anywhere in the country. It resists cold, heat, humidity or drought conditions. The best part about this perennial is that any well drained soil is all you need. It thrives in any kind of soil and it even grows well on sandy soil.

These flowers are easy to maintain and you can use them for borders, containers and beds to add great color to your garden over a long blooming season. They will grow to 15 inches high and 18 inches wide. Grows well in zones 3-9 and requires full sun exposure. The soil can be any type such as sandy, poor, normal or even clay based and you will still have beautiful flowers in your garden. (photo courtesy: bloomingflowerseeds.com)

In the fall, be sure to leave the final flowers on the plant as these will provide a feast for songbirds to perch on the strong stems and pick out the seeds from the cones once they dry out.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

List of garden plants - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
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Gazebo Gardening
Flower Gardening - Yahoo
For Waterlilies an Odd Refuge in Texas - NYTimes.com
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