Looking for ways to add more fullness and color to your gardens? Add annual flowers and more to grow a beautiful garden that will bloom all season long.
I love a garden that looks full like it’s bursting with flowers and more don’t you?
From annuals and perennials to shrubs and trees, there are so many ways to add interest, color, texture, and dimension to the flower garden.
In this week’s garden tour, we are shopping for annual flowers and more to fill in the gardens so they bloom all season long.
Wait until you see how it all comes together!
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Popular Annual Flowers
When gardening with annuals, there are so many pretty options to choose from!
Here are some of my favorites:
- petunias
- euphorbia
- impatiens
- marigold
- nasturiums
- cleome
- geranium
- vinca
Do Annuals Come Back Every Year?
In general, plants that flower and die in the same year are considered annuals. Annuals do not return every year, but some drop seed and germinate the following year.
Perennials are plants that return for more than two years.
To learn more about the differences between annuals vs perennials CLICK HERE.
Do Annuals Bloom All Summer Long?
The answer is YES! Most do.
Annual flowers provide lots of fullness and color to the garden all season long.
And when you want them to specifically bloom during summer, go with these options:
- petunias
- impatiens
- marigolds
- geraniums
- nasturtiums
- sunflowers
Why You Should Plant Annuals in the Flower Garden
In addition to making container gardens with annual flowers, I love to tuck them in with my perennial borders too.
They add color and interest while perennials grow and fade, help suppress weeds and make the garden look more full.
Different colors lend different vibes to a garden.
Blue and purple hues make a garden feel cool and serene, while reds, yellows, and oranges spice things up.
When I pick out annuals at the nursery, I consider the future perennial blooms in the garden and how the annuals I am drawn to will enhance them and carry me through fall.
While perennials provide my gardens with changing blooms, annuals fill in the gaps with season-long interest.
Thus, any annuals added should compliment what’s already there.
As an aside, it is important to feed annuals so they grow, bloom, and look lush through the growing season.
I like to use Osmocote 274850 Plus Outdoor and Indoor Smart-Release Food because it is a slow-release fertilizer that lasts for four months.
I add the granules when I plant and that takes them through most of the growing season.
Flowers and More Garden Tour 2019
During the 2019 growing season, I photographed and documented how the gardens grew weekly.
It was so cool to see how much the garden changed on a weekly basis!
They look so different now.
CLICK HERE to see what they look like now.
Since it’s been a wet week here, I haven’t finished adding annuals to the front beds yet, but am about halfway there.
Let’s tour the gardens…
Front Yard Cottage Garden Flowers and More
This week, I found these gorgeous dahlias at the nursery and bought them on the fly.
To be totally honest, I don’t have a whole lot of room for them but they were too pretty to pass up!
I’ll make room for them somewhere because I have to have them.
I mean, these Dahlias were just begging me to buy them at the nursery!
I don’t have any in my gardens this year so I picked them up because I love the shade of pink with the pretty yellow centers.
When I got them home, I looked closely at the border and realized how little room I have for them.
But since Dahlias are tender in my zone 6a New Jersey garden, I squeezed them in figuring I will dig them up in the fall anyway and replant again next year.
In addition to purchasing some marigolds and petunias, I replaced a Knock-Out Rose and added some Cleome.
Have you ever grown Cleome before?
It is a great deer-resistant plant but be aware, they self sow like crazy!
Super fun plant to grow though.
The Alliums are still going strong but a few toppled over with the torrential rain we had this week.
The Marigolds, Verbena, and Euphorbia brighten up the base of the Echinacea.
The cute lab angel was a gift from my daughter Mackenzie for Mother’s Day.
I love it and gave it a prime location among my cottage garden flowers.
As the garden grows and fills in, colorful annuals help add interest, color and texture to the beds.
They are equally effective as the perennials transition and change through the growing season.
Smokebush, Zebra Grass, and Peonies in the well garden.
The peonies are almost ready to bloom!
I can’t wait to cut a few and bring them indoors!
The mailbox garden is filling in.
Do you remember those Sedums I dug up and divided?
They look like full-grown plants now.
The Clematis is growing like a monster on the ground, I’m trying to train it up the mailbox.
Also, I will add some annuals here to get more season-long colors.
Backyard Garden Flowers and More
The backyard gardens are coming along well this year.
I’m loving this gorgeous siberian iris!
It looks so pretty next to the vegetable garden.
This small garden is outside the vegetable bed.
My Siberian Iris is just starting to bloom.
And I love the large leafy horseradish that sits just past it.
The vegetable garden is doing awesome!
We’ve been harvesting the lettuce daily.
The brussell sprouts and broccoli are nearing harvest.
The Variegated Wiegela is in full bloom.
Hummingbirds stop by often to grab some nectar.
Also pictured are variegated hostas, impatiens, mint, petunias and what’s left of my reblooming lilac.
Side Yard Woodland Garden Flowers
While I started the side yard woodland garden several years ago, I didn’t appreciate it much until now.
Because it is so densely shaded, it was difficult to grow the plants I wanted to here.
But once I figured out I needed to stop fighting the light conditions and go with shade-tolerant plants, this garden started to shine.
I love the chartreuse green of the Cranesbill foliage.
It brightens up the darker side of my garden.
The Bleeding Hearts are almost done blooming.
Also pictured, are Ferns, Rhododendron, and maple that grew from a sapling.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this week’s garden tour and appreciate you joining me. If you missed a few tours or want to see how much the garden has changed, you can see it here:
Do you love to garden too?
I would love to hear what you think! Please leave your ideas, comments & more below or contact me here.
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Thank you so much for following along.
Enjoy a beautiful day! xo
