Ball Horticultural Company ‘Serenita Pink’ angelonia
Angelonia
Angelonia angustifolia
Also called summer snapdragon, angelonia has a similar upright habit reaching a foot to 2 feet tall in full sun. Blossoms have a more open face in white, blue, purple, or pink colors. Angelonia blooms all summer long in hot and humid weather.
Why we love it: Relatively maintenance free, angelonia is drought tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant, and does not need to be deadheaded.
Courtesy Mary Hulett
Blanket Flower
Gaillardia pulchella
Blanket flower blooms daisy like flowers in sunset colors of red, gold, orange, and maroon. This full sun plant pumps out flowers from summer to frost and thrives in dry summer heat. Although deadheading is not necessary, it encourages the plant to produce more blooms.
Why we love it: Easy to start from seed, this versatile native plant tolerates poor soil. Grow it in your sunniest garden beds or in rock gardens.
www.provenwinners.com Sunbini III creeping zinnia
Creeping Zinnia
Sanvitalia procumbens
Creeping zinnia is a low growing plant, about 6 to 12 inches high, that blooms in full sun from summer to frost. The green mound of foliage is covered with inch-wide yellow flowers with brown centers that look like mini sunflowers. For a different look, try Proven Winners’ Sunbini , an award-winning cultivar with orange yellow flowers and green centers.
Why we love it: This drought tolerant annual plant spreads to form a blooming ground cover, ideal for low borders, hanging baskets, and window boxes.
Courtesy Stephanie Schick Gulf fritillary on globe amaranth
Gomphrena
Gomphrena globosa
Annual gomphrena (commonly known as globe amaranth) is a familiar summer flower with its round clover like flower heads in pink, purple, red, or white. Blooming summer to frost, the 1-to-2-feet-tall plants prefer full sun and tolerate heat and drought well.
Why we love it: The colorful “flowers” are really bracts (modified stems). They retain their color and shape when dried, making them perfect for dried flower arrangements.
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Marigold
Tagetes spp.
Marigolds flower in the yellow, gold, orange, and red color range but height varies from 6 inches to 2 feet tall. Gardeners can grow small varieties in containers or use marigolds as a ground cover. Tall varieties provide interest in the back of the garden bed and hold up well as cut flowers for arrangements.
Why we love it: Marigolds are deer resistant, bargain plants — easy to grow from seed and easy to save the seeds for next year.
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Annual Vinca
Catharanthus roseus
Annual vinca has large green foliage and simple, five petaled flowers. Flowers are available in every color but blue with a contrasting color in the center. Often used as a ground cover, vinca can also be planted in containers.
Why we love it: Relatively maintenance free, vinca thrives in hot and humid summers, is deer and rabbit resistant, and does not need to be deadheaded.
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Portulaca
Portulaca grandiflora
Annual
Also called moss rose, portulaca is a low growing mat of small succulent green leaves and daisy-like flowers in red, orange yellow, and white. Grow these drought tolerant annuals in full sun, as the flowers open on sunny days and close on cloudy days.
Why we love it: You can use portulaca as a ground cover, in rock gardens or draped over containers, hanging baskets, and window boxes as a spiller.
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Lantana
Lantana camara
Annual in most growing zones, lantana blooms 2-inch-wide discs comprised of individual tubular florets in yellow, orange, white, red, or purple from summer to fall. Drought and deer resistant, lantana thrives in the summer’s heat and does very well in containers. There are tall varieties that can serve as small woody shrubs.
Why we love it: If you plant lantana in a container by the kitchen window you can watch hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees zip around the nectar-rich flowers.
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Love Lies Bleeding
Amaranthus caudatus
This old-fashioned cottage garden plant grows several feet high and blooms tiny wine-red blossoms in long drooping tassels up to 2 to 3 feet long. To best enjoy the tassels, grow this plant in front of the border or in large containers so they can drape over the rim. Check out the new cultivars with lime green, coral, or bronze-red tassels.
Why we love it: The tassels make unique cut flowers for fresh floral arrangements. But if you don’t cut the flowers and let them go to seed, the goldfinches will thank you for it.
Ball Horticultural Company Elegant Hot Mixture zinnia
Zinnia
Zinnia spp.
Cheerful zinnias bloom from summer to frost in a wide range of flower colors and sizes. These full sun plants prefer dry conditions and once established are drought resistant. Although zinnias are usually grown in garden beds, also look for short varieties that you can grow in containers.
Why we love it: Easy to grow, zinnias attract butterflies, bees, and pollinators in the summer and birds in the fall for the delicious seeds.
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