Annual and Perennial Picks for 2007

Impatiens and petunias are reportedly the most commonly planted annuals. What’s not to love about petunias? Several of our Master Gardeners got tired of doing the “Wave” and tried the “Ramblin” petunias with excellent results. They are more compact, stand up to the weather, bloom all season, and are tidier plants. An impatiens from Burpee, “African” was described “like little lady slippers” and would do well on a shady deck. Both are easy to start indoors from seed although the seeds are incredibly small. Don’t sneeze! You can also find them at nurseries.

Another showy favorite annual is the zinnia. ‘Magellan,’ a bushy fully double-flowered variety, and ‘Profusion’, a dwarf zinnia, were noted as long blooming and dependable. ‘Zowie’ is a bold, yellow and orange combination with a prominent center. It has great mildew resistance, so important with our cool nights. ‘Dreamland’ from Park is a smaller plant with good size dahlia-like flowers that makes a great border plant. It is early, blooming six weeks after sowing.

Other favorite annuals include ‘Blue Mink’ ageratum, a one foot tall winner. It is a long blooming plant that keeps on until the first frost. ‘Foxy’ is an annual foxglove with spectacular blooms. We grew ‘Candy Mountain,’ a biennial foxglove, with up-facing blooms that even bloomed the first year. Hot, sunny spots do well planted with portulaca. Moss rose, its other name, seeds back readily. Sweet peas bring back fond memories of grandma’s wonderful smelling garden. Here are some older varieties that are known for their fragrance :’Old Spice’ and ‘Elegant Ladies’ smell great and bloom profusely.

Grasses and grass-like plants are becoming the hottest new plants in the bed! Some of the most impressive looking beds we visited last year highlighted grasses as the foundation planting. Smaller grasses can be used as a border to define a large bed. ‘Elijah Blue Fescue’ starts easily from seed. This variety forms a compact, 15-inch blue mound, adding cool contrast to companion plants. Two container grasses include ‘Live Wire,’ a sedge, described as a “fiber optic grass” due to the silvery flowers at the tip of each blade, and “Bronze Carex” a 15” clumping grass that adds another color to the pallet.

Two annual showy millets, ‘Purple Majesty’ and ‘Jester’ grow three to four feet tall and have colorful foliage as well as flower spikes that are great in fall arrangements. There are numerous varieties of sorghum that can be very impressive in a garden. Growing eight to ten feet tall with corn-like leaves and spectacular 8-12-inch seed heads, this plant is not for the faint of heart! Many of the tall perennial grasses not only look good in the summer, but also lend interest to beds in the winter.

‘Indian Summer’ rudbeckia, although an annual, often seeds itself back. Another favorite includes baptisia (wild indigo), a large shrubby perennial with pea-like flowers that form deep purple pods in the fall. Two other blue-flowered favorites are ‘Rocky Mountain’ penstemon and Siberian iris. A plant we would not be without is ‘Southern Charm’ verbascum whose multi-tonal flower spikes dance with the slightest breeze. Many sedums were also favorites mentioned.

Shade garden perennial favorites included numerous hosta varieties, rodgersias with their tropical-like leaves for moister areas, bleeding hearts, pulmonarias, and astilbes. Often, these gardens are brightened by annual beauties, ‘Bonfire’ or ‘Dragon Wing’ begonias, fibrous begonias, or caladiums.

Frankly, you can’t stop these Master Gardeners from talking about flowers. All you need to do is ask . . . if you have a few hours.

Wally Peck

Beltrami County Master Gardener