The simplest way to get started with annuals is to buy healthy seedlings from local nurseries or garden centres — you can even buy full-grown plants for an instant garden.
However, even though nursery saplings transplant easily and bloom early, your choice is limited to a handful of popular annuals.
If you wish to grow anything out of ordinary, you will have to start from scratch by growing plants from seeds, which is not always an easy thing to do.
It will take plenty of time, devotion and patience to coax delicate seeds and seedlings to become robust plants in your yard.
Once the saplings have been planted, they will need regular maintenance to keep them in good shape.
Use the following guidelines to keep your annuals blossoming for the entire season:
The saplings must be acclimated — you need to harden them off by gradually exposing them to outside conditions, before planting them in your yard. Do not transplant in full sun — wait till it gets cooler in the evening.
Watering: Make sure to water thoroughly after transplanting the annuals. Except drought-tolerant species, most annuals need plenty of water.
Deep watering will encourage the roots to grow deeper. While watering, try to keep the foliage and flowers as dry as possible to prevent disease.
Soaker hoses and drip irrigation are more efficient methods of watering because plants remain dry and there is less water loss through surface evaporation.
However, if you use overhead sprinklers, make sure to water plants early in the day to allow the wet leaves and flowers to quickly dry in the sun. Watering late in the evening makes the plants more susceptible to moulding and other infections.
Fertilisation: Fertiliser should be added to the soil at the time of bed preparation. Always check the application directions on the fertiliser label — excess fertilisation often causes many annuals to produce more foliage at the expense of flower production.
Deadheading: Faded and spent flowers must be removed before they go to seed — this practice encourages plants to bloom more profusely and for longer duration. Deadheading keeps annuals such as marigold, zinnias, salvia, geranium, cosmos etc blooming till the very end of the season.
Staking: Use stakes to support tall plants such as cosmos, sunflower etc, which tend to fall over, especially when they become top-heavy with flowers.
Weeding: Regular weeding will keep the weeds from becoming a problem in the garden.
