Over the years I’ve noticed some snobbery in the gardening world toward annuals. “Only new gardeners use annuals.” “Why would you want to grow something that you just have to replace next year?” “The colors are so loud!” I often feel like I have to defend myself for growing them.
There’s a place in the area that only sells perennials. When a new, unassuming customer makes the mistake of asking where the impatiens or marigolds are (and I’ve seen it happen several times while shopping there), you nearly have to take cover from the response that follows: “We don’t sell ANNUALS! The HORRORS!” Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, but they are clearly not fans.
I think people that brush off annuals are missing a lot. If you want plants that bloom until the first frost, annuals can’t be beat. And they are great for attracting insects and birds. There are hundreds of different cultivars to choose from in every shape, size and color, and it’s not hard to sprout your own plants from seed if you want more variety than you can find for sale at garden centers. If you grow something you end up hating, you can just yank it out at the end of the season and try something different next year. When I look at my perennials right now I see a lot of green. Most plants, including the daylilies, have been done for weeks. Other than the mums and sedums which only began blooming a couple of weeks ago, coneflowers are really the only other perennials still in bloom. But my annuals are still going strong this late in the season, and that’s why I have a garden full of happy bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.