Annual Flowers to Plant in Full Sun
While only living one year, annual bedding plants brighten the garden with prolific flowers, adding a longer season of blossom color when shrubs or perennials remain green. A wide array of annual flowers grow in full sun conditions -- at least six hours of direct sunshine daily -- in the garden. As long as the garden soil remains fertile and evenly moist but well-drained, any number of annuals grow in both cool and warm to hot seasonal temperatures. Does this Spark an idea?
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General Plant Groups
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Horticulturists group annual flowers according to their opportune growing times and design flower beds accordingly. Cool-season annuals are those that prosper in the chilly temperatures from fall to spring, often tolerating light frosts. When daily high temperatures reach the 40- to 70-degree Fahrenheit range, cool-season annuals prosper. They begin to decline in the 70- to 80-degree F range. Conversely, warm-season annual flowers grow much faster and better when day temperatures exceed 80 degrees F. These plants falter in chilly weather and are quickly killed by frost.
Sun-Loving Annual Flowers
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Among the cool-season annual flowers that prosper in sunny conditions are the pansy, Johnny-jump-up, wallflower, calendula, sweet alyssum, pink, snapdragon, sweet pea, larkspur and California poppy. In the warmer, frost-free months, the list of potential annuals becomes quite large in comparison. Petunia, celosia, cosmos, zinnia, moss rose, salvia, marigold, butter daisy, four o'clock and sunflower grow easily from seed or as small seedling transplants. Some plants regarded as annuals persist as perennials if frost never harms them, such as geranium, pentas, impatiens and Madagascar periwinkle.
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Regional Considerations
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The climate across North America varies considerably based on latitude and elevation. Contact your local Cooperative Extension office or botanical garden to speak with a horticultural agent or master gardener about when to grow cool-season and warm-season annuals in your region. Across the northern U.S., a cooler summer may allow both flower types to grow in tandem. In the southern states, however, the hot summers may cause some warm-season plants to wither after awhile. Frost dates, rainfall, humidity and number of average cloudy days differs from region to region and affects which annuals perform better at different times of the year.
Establishing Plants
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Whichever annual flower plant species are grown, ample soil moisture is needed to get young plants to establish a deep, expansive root system. Flowers grown in full sun warm up faster and increase their need for water to stay turgid and continue flowering and remain healthy. Some annual flowers naturally tolerate hotter, drier soils. Madagascar periwinkle and moss rose, for example, remain in flower and don't tend to wilt as quickly in hot sun and dry soil compared with pentas and zinnia. Use liquid fertilizer according to label directions to boost the growth rate and production of blossoms.
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