“Getting ready to move to an 8-acre farm in Kansas. The spot we picked for the garden is about 2 acres. It’s all sunny. My question is that about 20% is kinda shady and is always wet. Is there anything that can be planted there? Want something that can grow in the damp soil and kinda shady. It gets sun but not like the rest of where we want to plant our garden. Think there might be a natural spring running underground. That’s the only spot on the land that has sun. Mature Pecan trees planted throughout the property. Don’t want to get rid of the trees. Need help with suggestions on what to plant in the wet area if anything. Thank you for your advice in advance.” Question from Carrie in Belton, Missouri
Answer: I will give you two lists of planting options for your spring-fed growing area: (1) edibles and (2) flowers adapted to wet growing areas.
Edibles for Wet Soils
A non-invasive tender edible that grows well in the wet ground and partial sun is taro (Colocasia esculenta); start it at the beginning of the warm season and harvest it before frost. Perennial herbs for wet soils include peppermint (Mentha x piperita) and native wild mint (Mentha arvensis); both are fragrant and delicious. Fruits that grow well in moist to wet soils include Canadian elderberries (Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis) and common serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea). There are also several Asian vegetables that thrive in wet soils, like water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) and butterbur (Petasites japonicus), but these are very invasive in the US, so I don’t recommend growing them.
Flowers for Wet Soils
Cardinal flower is one of many perennials for wet soils. (Image by Jessie Keith)
Beautiful flowers that thrive in wet soils and partial sun include cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), swamp sunflower (Helianthus salicifolius), and crimson-eyed rose-mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos). These are just a few to consider for your 2-acre spot. Click here to read more about Perennial Flowers for Wet Places.
Fresh herbs taste best for home cooking, so why not grow your own indoors this winter? Here are the best herbs for indoor growing plus tips for successful indoor cultivation.
Interested in growing your own edible flowers for cooking? Here are the best-tasting edible flowers you can grow. Each is beautiful and delicious. Be sure to grow them organically!
“The last couple of years that we have planted zucchini, a worm of some sort has eaten to roots and caused the plants to die. We try to use as little chemicals as possible but don’t know what else to do. We have tried 7 dust, diatomaceous earth and this year we even tilled several times before planting but yet our plants still died because of this insect. It doesn’t bother other plants just the zucchini.” Question from Michelle of Copperas Cove, Texas
Answer: You have squash vine borers! These moth pests lay their eggs at the base of zucchini and squash vines. Then their larvae hatch and bore into the base of the squash, eating away at the stem interiors until the vines wilt and die due to lack of food and water. Bush zucchini and squash are most susceptible because they have just one stem supporting the whole plant.
There are several things you can do to keep borers and bay, and none require pesticides.
Tackle Borers Early
The key is getting to the borers before they get to your squash. The half-inch-long moths are gray with orange-red bodies dotted with black. They buzz like wasps and reproduce just once a year. Look for them early in the summer, when they are ready to lay clusters of tiny, flat, brown eggs at the base of squash stems or lower leaves. The eggs take just one week to hatch.
Keep a lookout for adults and egg clusters after you plant your squash. If you find the eggs, gently scrape them away. Continuous checking and egg removal will keep the borers at bay. The moths are also attracted to the color yellow, so another method is laying yellow sticky traps at the base of the stems.
Some gardeners also find success placing floating row covers over squash up until midsummer. You just have to secure the row cover edges to keep insects from getting inside until the borer threat has passed. Then remove the covers to ensure your zucchini flowers get pollinated.
Remove Borers
Here’s what an active borer looks like in a squash stem (cross-wise cut). Look for the tan, gravelly frass at the stem base!
If borers do infiltrate your zucchini stems, you can actually remove them! Look for holes filled with tan, gravelly frass (insect droppings) at the stem base. As soon as you see these borer signs, gently slice open the stem lengthwise, doing as little damage as possible, and remove the yucky borers. This process is a lot easier than you might think.
Plant Zucchini Later in the Season
Lots of bush zucchini will produce fruit in as little as 45 to 50 harvest days. So, if you plant new plants in midsummer, after the squash borers have stopped reproducing, you can worry less about borers.
Plant Borer-Resistant Zucchini
Vining squash and zucchini types require more space, but their stems root along the ground, making them resistant to borers. If one stem is attacked, the others will support the growing vine. Two great resistant varieties to try include ‘Cocozella Di Napoli‘ and ‘Costata Romanesco‘.
I hope this information helps!
Happy zucchini growing,
Jessie Keith
Squash vine borer drawing by author Mary Foley Benson.
Poppy seeds, dill seed, fennel seed, coriander, and caraway—it’s like having the makings of an everything bagel in the garden. All of these culinary seeds are costly to buy but easy as pie to grow and collect.
Seeds used for seasoning food are technically considered spices, and like most homegrown things, they taste stronger and better when harvested fresh from the garden. The most common, popular edible seed plants are planted in the spring and early summer and set seed by early to midsummer. And many, such as dill, fennel, and cilantro/coriander, are also favorite leafy herbs—making them doubly useful to grow.
Caraway, Fennel, Dill, and Coriander
Coriander seeds are the fruits of cilantro plants. (Image by Sanjay Acharya)
The flower heads of caraway, fennel, dill, and coriander all grow similarly with Queen-Anne’s-lace-like blooms and tend to start blooming by late spring or early summer. By early to midsummer the heads have developed seeds. These plants usually self-sow in summer, offering a second seed harvest by mid fall.
Once dry, seed heads can be harvested. Just be sure to begin cutting them before the heads completely shatter, and the seeds fall to the ground. I generally target mostly dried heads, then cut them above a secure bowl or bag for collection. Once the seeds are separated from the dried heads, I pick through my harvest to remove any unwanted stem or leaf bits.
Poppy Seeds
Breadseed poppies have beautiful flowers that attract bees. (Image by Jessie Keith)
Breadseed poppy (Papaver somniferum) seeds are another matter. The spring flowers are beautiful and attractive to many pollinators. Once mature, they create upright, shaker-like seed heads filled with the familiar round, black seeds. Once the heads are brown and dry, they are fully ripe. At this stage they can be simply cut and shaken into a bowl or bag. It also pays to run them through a fine sieve before storing.
There are some legal constraints to be aware of before growing breadseed poppy. Though a common garden flower and edible seed plant, it is the same poppy from which opium is derived. The trade and consumption of Papaver somniferum seed within the United States is unregulated, and it is legal to grow for garden- and seed-production purposes, but it is illegal to manufacture opiates from the poppies. The Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942 made any Papaver somniferum cultivation illegal in the United States, but it was repealed in 1970. Still, unauthorized farming and processing of this plant is a felony crime, so be sure to grow your plants in small quantities and harvest them for seed alone!
Sesame Seeds
Sesame plants are pretty and produce lots of seed. (image by Franz Xaver)
Sesame (Sesamum indicum) seeds are warm-season crops that thrive in summer sun and fertile to average garden soil. The upright plants are attractive and very easy to grow. Their bee-pollinated white or pink flowers are pretty and bloom all season, creating pods along the base of the stems, which are filled with sesame seeds. By fall, the plants begin to dry. Once they are fully dry, and the seed pods begin to open, cut the stems and shake the seeds out into a bag. Sesame seeds are best stored in a glass jar in the freezer to keep them fresh for baking.
Growing and Harvesting Edible Seeds
These dill seeds have already begun to shatter. (Image by Jessie Keith)
It should come as no surprise that these seedy plants can be weedy plants. Grow them once, and you will never have to plant them again, so long as they are planted in rich garden soil fortified with quality compost, such as Black Gold Garden Compost Blend. It just takes a few escapee seeds for new plants to germinate the following season. Just weed out what you don’t want, keep what you do want, and collect a new seeds each year for cooking.
Once you have collected your seeds, store them in a cool, dry place where they will remain useful and tasty for a long time. For storage, keep them in lidded glass containers kept in a cool, dry place. They generally maintain their flavor and freshness for 6 months to a year. These seeds make great gifts, and can be used to top breads or flavor meats. You can even mix poppy, fennel, and sesame seed together with rock salt and home-dehydrated onion for a garden-grown everything bagel topper.
Well-chosen and placed succulents in picturesque rock gardens can have an underwater, seafloor appeal. The design key is selecting various dryland treasures with anemone-, coral-, and urchin-like forms and textures in shades of blue green, silver, gold and red. When arranged against a setting of bold rocks, lined with a ripple of pebbles and seashells, the effect is cool and inviting.
I created such a garden at my Delaware home to complement a stone and pebble patio being built along the south-facing wall of my 1920s Cape Cod house. The bed was constructed in four steps, and the plants were selected for their seascape appearance.
Most of the hardy succulents I chose for the project were purchased from the online nursery, Mountain Crest Gardens. Not only do they sell lots of hardy hens & chicks (Sempervivum spp.) and stonecrops (Sedum spp.), but they also offer hardy cacti (my favorite for spectacular spring flowers). And their succulents arrive thriving and ready to plant.
Rock Garden Materials
Nestle plants within crevices and gaps, making sure you leaves spaces for spreading succulents. (Sedum SUNSPARKLER® Dazzleberry and Sempervivum ‘Thunder’ shown)
My rock garden required the following materials:
Sharp spade
Trowel
Large plastic tub
Thick garden gloves
Large rocks (my garden is 4’ x 5’ and required 10 rocks)
Once I had my rocks in place, I amended the fill soil and started planting!
Sod and Soil Removal: The first step to preparing my garden was to remove the sod. Thankfully, my soil is high in organic matter, so removing the top layer of grass was relatively easy. I then skimmed a 2-inch layer of natural soil from the new bed layer to use as fill. I put the sod in a wheelbarrow for removal and the fill dirt in a plastic tub to keep the area tidy.
Rock Placement: Then I placed my rocks. The natural dark grey and tan stones I chose are prevalent in my area, so they were a good fit for my yard. They also offered a pleasing color contrast to the plants and pebble. I set the largest rocks high against the concrete and stone base of my home for maximum visual appeal and gradually layered the smaller rocks down to patio level. I placed them close together at the top for a tight fit, so they would hold soil without erosion.
Filling: Once my stones were in place, I mixed a liberal amount of Black Gold Cactus Mix and Garden Compost Blend into my fill. The final fill was pebbly and organic for excellent drainage and good water-holding ability. Then I filled in all the gaps between rocks, leaving enough space for my plantings.
Plant Placement: Finally, I placed my plants, arranging them based on height, texture, and color, and prepared to plant.
Plant Materials
Most of my succulents were purchased online from Mountain Crest Gardens.
Aside from making sure that my plant selections would survive Delaware winters (USDA Hardiness Zone 7), I made sure they met a suite of aesthetic requirements. I chose a few taller textural plants, several cascading stonecrops, and other selections that were mounding and prickly. All are remarkably drought tolerant and tough, able to take the high heat and sun of the garden. My plant picks included:
– Hybrid Prickly Pear (Opuntia ‘Coombe’s Winter Glow’, Zones 5-10). This hardy cactus has smooth paddles that lack the large spines of most, but beware those small spines! It has spectacular magenta blooms in late spring, and its paddles turn shades of rosy purple in winter.
– Rosularia(Rosularia platyphylla, Zones 5-10): This spreading succulent looks like a tiny hens & chicks and creates a mat of sea-green rosettes.
– Hens & Chicks(Sempervivum ‘Bronco’, Zones 5-10): This large hens & chicks has red and green rosettes that turn rich red in winter.
– Hens & Chicks(Sempervivum ‘Thunder‘, Zones 5-10): The summer rosettes of this larger hens & chicks are grey-green tinted with lavender. In winter, they turn shades of deep lavender and rose.
– Cobweb Hens & Chicks (Sempervivum arachnoideum ‘Pittonii’, Zones 5-8): This small hens & chicks has cobwebbed gray-green rosettes edged in dark purple.
– Hens & Chicks (Sempervivum calcareum ‘Greenii’, Zones 5-10): The medium-sized, blue-green rosettes of this sedum have maroon tips.
– Tiny Buttons Stonecrop(Sedum hispanicum ‘Blue Carpet’, Zones 5-9): This low, spreading sedum has tiny buttons of blue-grey foliage.
– Hybrid Stonecrop (Sedum SUNSPARKLER® Dazzleberry, Zones 4-9): Purplish leaves and summer-long flowers of deep rose make this a winning sedum.
– Hybrid Stonecrop (Sedum SUNSPARKLER® Jade Tuffet, Zones 4-9): This small, upright sedum has slender, dark green leaves and summer-long pink flowers.
– Chinese Stonecrop (Sedum tetractinum ‘Coral Reef’, Zones 5-9): This pretty sedum has yellow spring flowers and bright green leaves that turn pinkish with age.
– Adam’s Needle (Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’, Zones 5-10): The gold-striped leaves of this 18-inch yucca are bright and bold.
My seascape rock garden includes stonecrops, hens & chicks, and other dryland succulents with coral-reef looks.
I put on my garden gloves and started planting the largest plants at the top, then moved down. During planting, I gently loosened the roots of any pot-bound plants, and dug a hole just big enough to ensure each plant’s roots were just at soil level. Then I sprinkled a small amount of slow-release fertilizer into each hole before planting. Once all of the plants were in the ground, I covered the soil with light pebbles and placed seashells here are there for a complete seascape look.
Garden Development
In just a couple of months my bed was blooming and growing, just as anticipated.
Within just a couple of months, my new garden started to take shape. The prickly pear put on new pads, the stonecrops and hens & chicks started to spread, and the SUNSPARKLERS began blooming beautifully. Come next summer, the full seascape effect should be in full sway, adding sunny, succulent interest to my new patio!
Nature favors carefree meadow gardens, and once established, they’re effortless—allowing gardeners to simply sit back and enjoy. Their airy flowers and grasses blow in the wind, creating ambiance and habitat for a suite of welcome pollinators and wildlife. And, their untamed nature does not mean they have to be untidy. Well-placed meadow plantings defined by mowed edges or pathways can be garden showpieces.
Meadows Gardens Gain Popularity
Public gardens have embraced meadow gardening, making well-designed meadow plantings a more common garden feature in American landscapes. Longwood Gardens designed an expansive, ecologically sound, 86-acre meadow garden that has inspired many visitors. Likewise, Chanticleer garden has created a jewel of a meadow planting near their elegant house garden (image below) as well as dry meadow plantings in their Gravel Garden and along their Elevated Walkway. New York’s Highline offers and elegant merging of industrial urban infrastructure and American prairie. And, the American Horticultural Society has maintained the André Bluemel Meadow garden since 2004 (a garden that I had the honor to help plant!). These inspirational, carefree gardens are more than meadow-in-a-can plantings and take design work and time to plant to perfection.
The noted Pennsylvania landscape designer, Larry Weaner, has also been a champion of naturalistic perennial meadow design, having created over 100 perennial meadows across the country for both commercial and private clients. Noted landscape designer, Piet Oudolf, and the landscape architect firm, Oehme, van Sweden, have also dedicated themselves to meadow design and elevated the creation of a simple meadow garden into an art form.
Despite their beauty, meadow gardens may not be welcome in neighborhoods with grass-height limits, but you may find space for one in a more concealed enclave of your backyard. Or, you can simply plant garden beds with pretty meadow plants for a more traditional landscape look.
What Makes a Meadow?
The American Horticultural Society’s André Bluemel Meadow overlooks the Potomac River and is filled with grasses and seasonal forbs for wildlife. (Image thanks to AHS)
Your meadow garden should contain plants fit for your yard and region. Mid-westerners favor prairie meadows, while those with wet lawn patches may plant a wetland meadow. You can even plant meadows that favor specific pollinators, like bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds.
All meadow plantings have two key elements: 1. native grasses, sedges or rushes, and 2. forbs (flowering meadow plants). The forbs are what give meadows big color and high wildlife value, while the grasses provide height, airy visual appeal, and wildlife cover. The grass-to-forb ratio may vary from design to design, but it is generally safe to create meadows using a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio of grasses to forbs–that’s 50% grasses and 50% forbs or 66% grasses and 33% forbs.
Prairie Meadow Gardens
Pale purple coneflowers glow in the twilight of this prairie planting.
Unlike other grasslands, a prairie is a specific grassland ecosystem that exists across the Great Plains of North America. Prairies were home to herds of buffalo, and their grasses and forbs varied depending on whether they were dry shortgrass prairies, common tallgrass prairies, or wet prairies. But, prairie grasses and flowers are beautiful and at home in many temperate gardens in the US.
Shortgrass prairie plantings are often a better fit for home plantings. Favorite dryland perennial shortgrasses include sideoats gramma grass (Bouteloua curtipendula, 1.5-2′), tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa, 2-3′), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum, 3-6′), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, 1.5-2′), and Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis, 2-3′). Vanilla sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata, 1-2′) and Bicknell’s sedge (Carex bicknellii, 1-3′) are good choices for wet prairie gardens.
Prairie forbs are often long-stemmed, colorful, and supported by the grasses they grow among. All attract pollinators with their bright blooms. Some of the most garden-worthy and colorful upland perennial prairie plants include:
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
This summer bloomer reaches 1.5 to 2 feet high and attracts butterflies.
Purple Prairie Clover* (Dalea purpurea)
This summer bloomer reaches 1 to 1.5 feet high and attracts bees and butterflies.
Coneflowers (Echinacea spp.)
These summer and fall bloomers reach 2 to 4 feet high and attract bees, butterflies, and songbirds eat the seeds.
Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris spp.)
Blazing stars are summer bloomers that reach 2 to 4 feet high, attracts bees and butterflies, and its seeds feed songbirds.
Prairie Sunflower* (Helianthus maximiliani)
This bold late-season bloomer reaches 4 to 8 feet and attracts, bees, butterflies, and seed-eating songbirds.
Beebalm (Monarda fistulosa)
This midsummer and fall bloomer reaches 2 to 4 feet high and attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Oswego Tea** (Monarda didyma)
The red flowers of this summer bloomer attract hummingbirds, and plants reach 3 to 4 feet.
Grayhead Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
This midsummer blooming daisy is loved by bees and butterflies and reaches 3 to 5 feet.
Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp.)
These 2 to 5 foot midsummer- to fall-blooming daisies are loved by bees and butterflies and seed-eating songbirds.
For moist prairie plantings or wetland meadows, try planting:
Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum)
Blooming in late summer, this 5- to 7-foot, moist meadow bloomer is visited by bees and butterflies.
Queen-of-the-Prairie*** (Filipendula rubra)
This 4 to 5 foot early to midsummer bloomer attracts bees and butterflies.
Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)
This 4- to 6-foot summer and fall bloomer bears huge bee- and hummer-pollinated blooms of white, pink or rose red.
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
4- to 5-foot-tall spikes of red flowers that attract hummingbirds are produced in summer.
White Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
This free-flowering fall bloomer reaches 4 to 5 feet and has clouds of flowers that draw bees and butterflies.
Pollinator Meadows
Chanticleer’s house meadow garden has neatly mowed edges and contains a suite of perennial and annual forbs for bees and butterflies. (Image by Jessie Keith)
Choose local grasses and wildflowers as well as any one of the plants listed above that appeal to general or specific pollinators when planning your meadow. You might also add native or non-invasive annuals with big color and pollinator impact. Some of the best options are colorful, warm-hued annual sunflowers [click here to learn all about growing sunflowers], purple cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), or colorful tall zinnias (Zinnia elegans). All of these flowers appeal to bees, butterflies, and seed-eating songbirds.
Wetland Meadows
Sometimes nature can lend the best design help. This natural wet meadow shows spikes of cardinal flower rising from clouds of white boneset.
Low spots in the yard are hard to mow, so they are great contenders for moist meadow plantings. Plant any of the moist prairie plants listed, or any sedges or wetland flowers native to your area. The best time to plant moist meadows is in spring. The cool grasses and attractive flowers of a moist meadow look much nicer than muddy grass, and mowing or edging the perimeter will keep it looking garden-like and tidy.
Avoid Canned Meadows
Most canned meadow seed mixes contain native and non-native annuals that won’t return year after year.
Canned meadow seed mixes usually contain native and non-native annuals that will look great for a season or two before disappearing. Most lack the grasses and lasting perennials needed to make a meadow sustainable for any length of time. Investing in a good suite of meadow plants that will return each year will save you time and pay off in the end.
Planting a Meadow
A full-sun site is required for your meadow. When it comes to planting, it is smart to start with grass and forb plugs/seedling starts as opposed to seeds. This will result in faster, better establishment and allow you to lay out a more precise design. Starts can be purchased directly, or you can grow your own indoors in spring in OMRI Listed®Black Gold®Seedling Mix. [Click here to learn more about growing flowers from seed.]
Direct sowing is a less expensive and less time consuming for some species, but germination is also less reliable. Some forbs, like sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, and grayhead coneflower are your best bet for outdoor seed starting, so you may opt to plant a mix of plugs and easy-to-start seeds, depending on your time and budget.
To prepare the site, clear the ground of existing lawn and weeds from 50 to 75%. This can be done by weed whacking the area, lightly tilling, and then raking the loosened weeds and grass away. Smooth out the area and add a light topdressing of 1:1 ratio of OMRI Listed®Black Gold® Garden Compost Blend and Black Gold® Garden Soil to ensure better establishment. (Two 2-cubic-foot bags of compost and two 2-cubic-foot bags of garden soil will add 1 inch of amendment to 100 square foot or a 10′ x 10′ area.)
Meadow plants can be naturalistically interspersed or planted in colorful blocks or sweeps. It’s up to you. Keep final plant size and spacing needs in mind when designing your meadow, and be sure to include lots of different forbs that will bloom from summer to fall. Finally, don’t be afraid to add more forbs and select grasses to an established meadow to give it more color and interest as it progresses.
Keep your meadow watered and lightly weeded in the beginning while it gets established, and it will become a lovely, natural feature in your landscape in no time!
*Images by US Park Service, ** Image by JM Schneid, ***Image by Bruce Marlin
These tips will help gardeners yield giant beefsteak tomatoes!
Big, beautiful beefsteak tomatoes are what every avid tomato grower wants. Large yields of monster tomatoes are not difficult to achieve if you follow a few basic tips. Good growing practices will give you enough fruits to enjoy all summer and share with your friends.
Flats of garden flowers are costly, but you can grow a whole garden’s worth with just a handful of seed packets and a few inexpensive supplies. Petunias, geraniums, impatiens, marigolds, and salvias are several of the common annual favorites easily grown from seed. Choosing award-winning varieties will ensure good garden performance and consistent summer color. This how-to will help you pick the best seed-grown varieties (for sun or shade) and grow them to perfection.
What are Annuals?
Most bedding plants for long-lasting color are annuals. They are distinguished by their single season of flowering. Once the frosts come, they die, but their consistent colorful blooms make them worth the effort. Annuals are the best plants for containers and empty spots in front beds where bright color is desired. Most attract pollinators, too.
Plant Awards
In the United States, the primary organization that tests and awards plants for performance is All-America Selections (AAS). Fleuroselect is an international organization dedicated to awarding outstanding ornamental plants, and The Royal Horticultural Society is a UK-based society that awards excellent plants with the Award of Garden Merit (AGM). Plants marked by these awards have been repeatedly tested for good performance in a variety of locations and growing conditions.
Award-Winning Annuals
Hummingbird Mint
Agastache Arcado Pink ( Fleuroselect)
When it comes to consistent color for high-heat areas, few bedding plants can beat hummingbird mint (Agastache spp.). This everbloomer for summer also has highly fragrant foliage and flowers. The 2010 Fleuroselect winner, Agastache Arcado Pink is easily grown from seed and produces wands of fragrant pink flowers. Bees and hummingbirds visit the blooms, and plants will sometimes survive the winter as short-lived perennials.
Cosmos
The colorful, delicate daisies of cosmos also attract bees and butterflies.
Cosmos Cupcakes Mix (AAS Winners)
Common cosmos (Cosmosbipinnatus) has rose, pink, or white flowers that may be single or double. Cosmos Cupcakes mix is a 2014 Fleuroselect winner with cupped flowers of white, pink, and rose produced on 3- to 4-foot plants that bloom for three months. The 2015 Fleuroselect award winner Cosmos ‘Rubinato’ bears large, single rose-pink flowers on sturdy plants that reach 18 inches.
Sulfur cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) has orange and golden flowers and thrives in high heat. Of these, the super short ‘Cosmic Orange’, a 2000 AAS award winner, is one of the best for the garden.
Marigolds
Marigold ‘Super Hero Spry’ (AAS Winners)
Whether you prefer tall African marigolds or short French marigolds (Tagetes hybrids), there are award-winners for you!
For compact French types, try the single-flowers, primrose yellow marigold Alumia™ Vanilla Cream, which was awarded the 2012 Fleuroselect Novelty award, or the 2018 AAS award-winning ‘Super Hero Spry’, which is super compact and has double flowers of maroon and yellow.
For tall African marigolds, the 2010 AAS winner ‘Moonsong Deep Orange’ produces huge fade-resistant flowers of tangerine on sturdy, heat-tolerant plants. The classic 1977 award-winning ‘Primrose Lady’ is another superb variety with big, pale-yellow blooms.
Petunias
Petunia ‘Evening Scentsation’ (AAS Winners)
Petunias thrive in hanging baskets, window boxes, and front beds—blooming the summer away, even in hot summer weather. Bees and hummingbirds visit their flowers that come in a huge array of colors to fit almost any planting scheme.
The 2017 AAS-winning Petunia ‘Evening Scentsation’ is a beautiful seed-grown lavender-blue hybrid with large flowers that emit a sweet scent that attracts bees. Another for big color and endless bloom is the 2015 AAS winner, Petunia Tidal Wave® Red Velour, which bears deep red flowers on spreading plants. The smaller-flowered Petunia ‘Opera Supreme Pink Morn’ has deep pink flowers with white and yellow throats and was given a 2007 AAS award for superior bloom and performance.
Salvias
Salvia Summer Jewel Red (AAS Winners)
Flowers of red, lavender, pink and white appear on the Summer Jewel™ salvias (Salvia coccinea Summer Jewel™ series) in the hottest heat of summer. All members of the Summer Jewel™ series were given All-America Selection awards, Summer Jewel™ Pink won the 2010 Fleuroselect Novelty Award, and Summer Jewel™ Red won the 2012 Fleuroselect Gold Medal! Their blooms are favored by hummingbirds, and the compact, bushy plants bloom until fall.
Fairy Queen mealycup sage (Salvia farinacea ‘Fairy Queen’) is a stellar variety that bears wands of blue and white flowers. It was awarded the 2008 Fleuroselect Gold Medal for its compact habit and excellent flowering. The purple-flowered Evolution® Violet is another great selection that was given 2006 AAS and Fleuroselect awards for its nonstop color.
Zinnias
Zinnia ‘Profusion Red’ (AAS Winners)
Zinnias come in low-growing forms fit for sunny border edges or containers. Tall forms are better for cutting gardens or larger flower beds.
The low-growing Zinnia ‘Profusion Red’ is an effortless low-growing bloomer that was awarded the 2018 Fleuroselect Gold Medal and a 2017 AAS award. It is both heat and drought tolerant and loved by bees and butterflies. A great tall zinnia for cutting gardens and borders is Zinnia elegans ‘Benary’s Giant Lilac’, the AGM winner has big pastel purple blooms on 2.5-foot plants.
Impatiens
Impatiens Florific® Sweet Orange (AAS Winners)
Impatiens are everblooming annuals that give shade gardens a burst of color. There are quite a few award winners to choose from. Of these, the New Guinea Impatiens Florific® Sweet Orange is a 2015 Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner with pale pink flowers blotched with orange-red. The large-flowered Impatiens walleriana Accent Red is a classic red Impatiens that’s easily grown from seed and achieved an AGM award. Both of these classic bedding plants bloom beautifully in full shade. Just be sure to keep them well fed and watered, especially when summer weather heats up.
Seed Starting
Harden off homegrown bedding annuals before planting them outdoors.
Start your seeds in seed trays fitted with five-count, six-pack flats; these give growing annuals enough space for root growth before outdoor planting. Fill the flats with finely textured Black Gold Seedling Mix, which holds moisture and drains well. This seed-starting mix is also OMRI Listed for organic gardening. Lightly moisten the mix before planting.
Read the seed packet for complete planting details and expected germination times before seeding. Most should be lightly covered with mix and kept slightly moist. Plant each cell with two to three seeds to ensure germination in each cell. Seedlings grow best if there is only one plant per cell, so move or pinch off extra seedlings that may sprout. Maintain a warm temperature of at least 68-73º F for best germination. Annuals that like hot weather often germinate faster if flats are placed on heat mats.
Strip shop lights fitted with broad-spectrum grow lights will ensure good seedling growth and provide trays with even light. One shop light will illuminate two trays. Keep trays 4 inches from the grow lights for good germination and to keep seedlings from getting leggy. Raise the lights as your plants grow. Once seedlings have emerged and their new leaves have begun to grow, feed them with half-strength Proven Winners Premium Water Soluble Plant Food.
Before bringing your seedlings outdoors in late spring, slowly get them acclimated to natural sunlight and wind by placing them in a protected spot with partial sun for one week. This process of “hardening off” allows tender seedlings that have been grown indoors to toughen up before outdoor planting. After this step, they will be ready to plant!
Learn how to grow beautiful amaryllis (Hippeastrum spp.) and keep them from year to year. These winter-blooming favorites are commonly sold during the holidays but will continue to bloom for much longer, with good care. Watch this video to make the most of your amaryllis.
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) 
Purple Prairie Clover* (
Coneflowers (Echinacea spp.)
Prairie Blazing Star (
Prairie Sunflower* (Helianthus maximiliani) 
Beebalm (Monarda fistulosa)
Oswego Tea** (Monarda didyma)
Grayhead Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp.)
Joe-Pye Weed (
Queen-of-the-Prairie*** (Filipendula rubra)
Rose Mallow (
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
White Boneset (
In the United States, the primary organization that tests and awards plants for performance is 
