Home Improvement : Heat-Loving Annuals Come in Many Colors

Are your garden plantings looking weak and straggly as we head toward summer? It’s the perfect time to replace spent spring flowers with heat-loving summer bloomers.

Review your gardening needs. Do you want flowers that bloom in the sun or in shade? How tall do you want them to become? Are there particular colors you want, to accent your patio and home? Are they to be planted in containers or in the soil?

Now you’re armed and ready to go to the nursery and make your selections. If you’re looking for oranges, consider using marigolds, nemesia, gaillardia, nasturtium, cosmos, rudbeckia, gloriosa daisy and more.

For blues there are ageratum, lobelias, phlox, annual statice, petunias and salvias.

Reds will catch your eye if you plant petunias, phlox, nasturtiums, dahlias, salvias, impatiens and begonias.

Annuals are versatile. You can use them for filling flower beds, lining a walkway, edging a planting bed and spilling out of hanging baskets and containers.

Planting a rainbow of color is easy and fun to do with annuals. Do it now and your summer garden will brighten those sun-drenched days of simply relaxing, barbecuing or swimming.