How To Add Annuals To Lawn Border

When you want a splash of color effectually your mailbox or a cheerful summertime garden brandish, annuals are surefire winners. Just in drought-prone lawns, you lot want the all-time drought-tolerant annuals to requite you color in your water-wise mural.

Considering annual roots don't establish equally deeply as perennials, y'all'll still need to water them weekly, but these drought-tolerant annuals don't need nearly as much h2o equally other annuals (many of which need daily watering) and they won't wither and die as soon as dry weather hits.

With the aid of a hose or watering can, these beauties will thrive through the summer months.

1. African daisy (Gazania rigens)

With bright orange daisy-like flowers and long cascading stems, African daisies (also known as treasure flowers) will fill your hanging baskets or container garden with cheer all season long. These long-lasting bloomers boast sleeky, narrow leaves and large, three- to half-dozen-inch flowers that flower from spring to autumn, endmost at night and on cloudy days.

An excellent companion establish to California poppies, African daisies love sun and sandy soil and will abound as perennials in the warm, frost-free regions of California, southern Texas, and Florida. They're beautiful additions to cottage gardens and around borders and patios. Because African daisies stand strong confronting erosion, they're ofttimes grown as footing cover on steep slopes.

To encourage new blooms, deadhead spent flowers and leaves through the summer season and prune the plant if information technology gets as well bushy. Leaves that aren't exposed to sunlight tin develop diseases and attract pests.

Found type: Low-growing flower
Hardiness zones: Tender perennial in zones nine-11, almanac in zones two-8
Sun exposure: Full sun
Soil needs: Loamy, sandy; well-draining
Mature size: 6-12 inches alpine; half-dozen-12 inches broad
Flower color: Orange or yellow (with other colors bachelor)
Special features: Pollinator-friendly, long blooming season

2. California poppy (Eschscholzia californica)

California poppy is the land flower of California for a reason. With silky, vibrant orange loving cup-shaped flowers and feathery bluish-green leaves, California poppies volition certainly make your eyes "pop." As native plants, they require very little maintenance. They're onetime pros at standing up to drought in the W.

This cool-flavor almanac rapidly forms a mound in bound before 1- to three-inch flowers blossom in tardily jump through summer, attracting beautiful bees and butterflies. Flowers close at night and when it's raining or overcast, then it's of import to plant your poppies in an area that gets plenty of sun.

California poppies are popular additions to rock gardens and meadows, effectually footpaths and borders, and in container gardens. Though poppies are annuals, they're excellent self-seeders: If you lot exercise not deadhead the flowers, the plants will form capsules that release thousands of tiny black poppy seeds for a sea of flowers next season.

Plant blazon: Upright flower
Hardiness zones: 6-10
Dominicus exposure: Full sun, partial shade
Soil needs: Well-draining, can tolerate poor soil
Mature size: 6-18 inches tall; six-8 inches wide
Flower colour: Flossy xanthous to vivid orange (with pinkish, blood-red, and white varieties available)
Special features: Pollinator-friendly, heat-tolerant, deer-resistant, rabbit-resistant

3. Mutual lantana (Lantana camara)

Low-growing flowers are lovely, but when your garden needs some vertical appeal, common lantana is a popular choice. This petite flowering shrub grows quickly upwardly to vi anxiety to give your cottage garden, butterfly garden, or patio border the lift it needs.

Lantana has alpine, spiny stems that boast flat-topped clusters of tubular xanthous, orange, and crimson flowers filled with nectar, and so you'll get a stunning butterfly and hummingbird prove outside your window. In autumn, shiny orange and yellow berries turn blueish and purple, attracting even more than native birds.

The best part well-nigh lantana? It can be grown equally either a perennial or annual, based on where you alive. If you live in the South, lantana will abound as a perennial, as long every bit temperatures do not dip below 28 degrees Fahrenheit. If you lot alive in a cooler northern region, you tin either plant lantana in your garden equally an annual or add it to a container garden and bring it indoors earlier the first frost.

Before you load upwardly on lantana, visit a garden center and take a whiff of its fragrant leaves. Some people dear the sharp, citrusy scent, while others find information technology too strong.

Caution: Lantana is toxic if consumed, so practice not eat whatever role of the establish and keep it away from your pets. Contact with lantana leaves also tin cause a rash.

Plant blazon: Flowering shrub
Hardiness zones: Perennial in zones 8-11, almanac in zones 1-7
Sun: Full sun
Soil needs: Sandy, loamy, clay; well-draining
Mature size: i-half-dozen feet alpine; 3-5 feet broad
Flower color: Yellow, orange, or red
Special features: Pollinator-friendly, deer-resistant, rut-resistant, humidity-resistant, common salt-tolerant, long blooming season, fragrant leaves

4. Creeping zinnia (Sanvitalia procumbens)

Besides known as dwarf sunflowers, creeping zinnias are the cheerful yellowish antidote to your dry summertime blues. These dense, vine-like ground covers will pour over rock walls, hanging baskets, and window boxes for emerald dark-green growth and vibrant color from early summer until the first frost.

Native to Mexico and Republic of guatemala, creeping zinnias thrive in hot, sunny areas and resist erosion on rocky slopes and sandy embankments. For visual contrast, consider planting creeping zinnia with deep majestic coral bells (Heuchera).

Creeping zinnias practice non transplant well, and so sow them directly into your garden or container subsequently the threat of frost has passed.

Plant blazon: Flowering ground comprehend
Hardiness zones: ii-11
Sun exposure: Full dominicus
Soil needs: Sandy, loamy, dirt, rocky; well-draining
Mature size: iii-6 inches tall; 12-eighteen inches broad
Bloom color: Xanthous to yellow-orange with a night purple-brown center
Special features: Pollinator-friendly, heat-tolerant, long blooming season

5. French marigold (Tagetes patula)

When the dry heat hits, you can whip upwardly a refreshing potable with French marigold. This depression-growing stunner will make full your backyard with bright red, orangish, and xanthous blossoms all flavour long, and its petals add citrusy flavour to cocktails, teas, and garden salads.

French marigolds are compact and shrubby with night green, fragrant foliage. Flowers grow up to 2 inches broad, and unlike cultivars brandish different flower types: Unmarried types accept ane outer circle of flat petals, anemone types have one flat outer circle of petals and a ruffled center, and crested types accept densely ruffled petals throughout.

Pollinator-friendly and aromatic, marigolds are beautiful additions to butterfly gardens, sensory gardens, and edible gardens. Establish them with vegetables to deter pests and harmful nematodes.

Caution: When cleaved pare is exposed to marigold sap in the sunlight, redness and irritation tin occur. The flower's fragrance also can cause nose and eye irritation.

Plant type: Upright bloom
Hardiness zones: two-11
Sunday exposure: Full sun
Soil needs: Sandy, loamy, dirt; acidic to neutral; well-draining
Mature size: six-12 inches tall; 6-18 inches broad
Blossom color: Cherry-red, orange, and yellow
Special features: Pollinator-friendly, deer-resistant, rabbit-resistant, long blooming flavour, fragrant leaves, edible flowers

six. Globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa)

If you love the natural artful of a clover backyard but don't desire your lawn to look too weedy, globe amaranth is the red clover expect-alike you've been waiting for. Tall upright spikes display gorgeous globular purple flowers that bloom through summertime until the first frost. Amaranths make first-class front edge plants and pair beautifully with brusque marigolds and blue salvia.

With slender argent leaves and paper-textured flowerheads, earth amaranths are ideal for cutting bloom displays or potpourri. Cut flowers regularly to encourage new blooms.

Native to Mexico, globe amaranths are especially estrus-tolerant, but that also ways they cannot tolerate frost or chilly early jump weather. Start seeds indoors vi to 8 weeks before the last frost, harden them off (bring them outdoors for longer and longer each day to acclimate them to their new surround), and plant them outdoors after the danger of frost has passed. Alternatively, you can directly sow seeds onto your backyard in one case the threat of frost has passed.

Plant type: Upright flower
Hardiness zones: 2-eleven
Dominicus exposure: Prefers full sun, can tolerate partial shade
Soil needs: Slightly acidic to neutral, well-draining
Mature size: 1-two anxiety alpine; 1 foot wide
Bloom color: Pink, majestic, and white; new orange and blood-red cultivars
Special features: Pollinator-friendly, rut-tolerant

7. Moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora)

Native to the hot, drought-decumbent plains of Argentina and Brazil, moss rose is specifically adjusted to withstand dry out atmospheric condition — and it looks gorgeous doing it. This semi-delicious ground cover thrives with very lilliputian maintenance, boasting frilly, rose-shaped multicolored flowers and brilliant light-green, fleshy leaves that store water.

Moss rose is the perfect plant for homes in the Southwest with dry out, sandy soil. Constitute moss rose to emphasis boulders in your stone garden or grow as a ground cover around bulbs or in hot garden beds where other plants won't grow. Its short stature and fine texture make it an ideal companion plant to tall zinnias and coarse nasturtiums.

Find a sunny spot to plant your moss roses. Their flowers open up in bright sunlight and stay closed at night and on cloudy days, then your plants need plenty sunlight to know that it'southward daytime.

For early on blooms, you can get-go moss rose seeds indoors four to eight weeks earlier the last frost so transplant them once the threat of frost has passed. If y'all are sowing seeds directly into the footing, mix the seeds with sand to scatter them uniformly. If you desire your moss rose to self-seed for the adjacent yr, do non deadhead the flowers.

Found type: Flowering ground cover
Hardiness zones: ii-11
Sun exposure: Full sunday
Soil needs: Grows in most soil types, but prefers sandy or rocky; well-draining
Mature size: 3-8 inches tall; 6-12 inches wide
Bloom color: Many vivid, warm color options (similar yellow, fuchsia, and lavender), depending on the cultivar
Special features: Pollinator-friendly, rut-tolerant

8. Spider flower (Cleome hassleriana)

You won't need the bug spray for these spindly beauties. With tall, stately stems and elongated pink, purple, and white flowers that resemble (you guessed it!) spiders, spider flowers are unique centerpieces in cottage gardens and butterfly gardens. They can even abound alpine enough for an attractive, fragrant privacy hedge.

Flower buds resemble a squid in motility, and open blossoms have long, leggy stamens that fan out similar a star. Though flowers don't last long one time picked, they're perfect for a day-of cutting blossom arrangement.

Spider flowers bloom from early summer until the first frost, attracting hummingbirds, moths, and bees. In fall, long seed pods supersede flowers. You lot can leave the pods on the plant to allow for natural reseeding or pick them as they plough xanthous to limit the spread of new plants adjacent flavor.

Spider flowers have a musky, sweetness odor that some detect overpowering. Before you grow spider flowers, accept a trip to your local nursery or botanical garden and take a sniff to see if you lot're a fan of the fragrance.

Plant type: Upright flower
Hardiness zones: Perennial in zones 10-11, annual in zones two-9
Sunday exposure: Prefers total dominicus, can tolerate fractional shade
Soil needs: Well-draining
Mature size: 3-6 feet alpine; by and large one-two feet wide (tin can grow upwards to 6 feet wide with enough infinite)
Flower colour: White, pinkish, rose, or purple
Special features: Pollinator-friendly, heat-tolerant, deer-resistant, rabbit-resistant, long blooming season, some flowers are fragrant (depending on the cultivar)

9. Vinca (Catharanthus roseus)

As well known as Madagascar periwinkle, vincas are versatile with a capital "5." These brightly-colored bloomers abound well in garden beds, containers, rock gardens, and hanging baskets, and they tin handle a range of soil conditions, from highly acidic to alkaline metal. Big, rounded flowers flower from early summertime until the first frost.

Native to Africa, vincas stand up up to heat and display attractive dark greenish, ellipsoidal foliage to give your lawn adjourn entreatment fifty-fifty when they're non in bloom. Depending on the cultivar, you lot tin cull vincas with long trailing stems to drape overhanging pots or dense, upright stems for tidy garden beds and borders.

Plant vincas outdoors in one case the soil temperature has warmed to at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Space vinca seedlings 12 inches apart, and do non fertilize them. Fertilizer can actually reduce the number of flowers vincas produce.

Circumspection: Keep your pets away from your vincas and do non eat any part of the plant. Vincas contain alkaloids that are slightly toxic to dogs, cats, horses, and humans.

Plant blazon: Ground cover or upright flower, depending on the variety
Hardiness zones: Perennial in zones 10-11, almanac in zone 2-9
Sun exposure: Adopt full sun, simply can tolerate fractional shade
Soil needs: Sandy, loamy, clay; prefers acidic soil but can tolerate soil with a high pH; well-draining
Mature size: 8-18 inches tall; eight-36 inches wide
Blossom colour: Many bright colors, including pinkish, red, lavender, and white
Special features: Pollinator-friendly, deer-resistant, rabbit-resistant

Tips for planting annuals

Before planting, mix organic matter similar compost or leaf mold into the top 8-10 inches of your garden at a ratio of ane part organic thing to four parts soil.

Found annuals on a cloudy day or in the early evening to avoid firsthand heat stress.

Avoid planting annuals in raised beds, as the soil in raised beds tends to dry out out more than speedily.

Water annuals in their container right before transplanting them.

Group annuals with similar watering needs together (this practise is chosen hydrozoning). If you decide to spring for a few annuals with higher watering needs, plant them in the same "zone" so yous aren't overwatering plants with lower water needs.

Spread a 2- to 3-inch layer of organic mulch (like compost or grass clippings) around your plants. Mulch conserves soil moisture by preventing evaporation.

Water annuals daily for the first two weeks to give the root system time to develop. Then, switch to weekly watering.

FAQ about drought-tolerant annuals

1. How and when should I water my annuals?

Your drought-tolerant annuals demand approximately 1 inch of water weekly, either from natural rainfall or irrigation. Water should penetrate four to 6 inches into the soil. If you detect the ground is exceptionally dry or plants are wilting, give your plants an extra dose of h2o.

H2o your plants in the morning before 10 a.m. to minimize evaporation from the midday sunday. Avert watering in the late evening or at nighttime, equally this can invite pests and cause disease.

Water deeply and infrequently to encourage deep roots. Annual roots are relatively shallow, so it's important to encourage them to grow as deeply and densely as they can to exist prepared when a drought hits.

two. Why are some plants considered annuals in one zone and perennials in another?

Some plants, similar the California poppy, are designed to live their whole life (from seed to bloom to seed) in the span of one growing season. But for other plants, their "annual" or "perennial" status comes downwardly to whether the found can survive the winter months. Plants like African daisies and vincas survive year later twelvemonth in warm, frost-free regions, but they behave like annuals in colder climates.

In brusk, climates prone to frost can kill plants that are perennials in warm regions like Florida or Texas. That'due south why homeowners in the South consider them perennials while homeowners in the Northward plant them every bit annuals.

3. Why practise annuals need more h2o than perennials?

Because annuals only live for one year, their roots don't spend time earthworks deep and spreading wide for "true" drought tolerance (non needing supplemental h2o except in extreme drought). While perennial roots spend multiple growing seasons earthworks into the soil for long-term drought tolerance, annuals focus their free energy on growing upward and flowering.

And then, when the soil starts to dry, almanac roots immediately feel the effects, while perennial roots are protected considering they are deeper cloak-and-dagger.

4. Should I plant annuals or perennials in my drought-decumbent lawn?

If yous alive in a dry out climate, prioritize drought-tolerant perennials, shrubs, and copse. And then, you tin supplement them with fun, colorful annuals.

Drought-resistant perennials salve more water and energy long term, but they have longer to grow. For the first two years, perennials put most of their energy into establishing long, strong roots. That means you lot won't become a stunning bloom show the same spring that you plant your perennials.

Annuals are the contrary: They'll give you firsthand lawn fireworks, but they don't accept the roots to last.

Retrieve of annuals similar sprinkles and perennials similar block. Perennials have a while to "broil," but one time they're established, they make up the sturdy core of the cake. Annuals are easy to sprinkle on, but they're decorative and don't accept much of a foundation.

5. Are there other drought-tolerant annuals I can plant?

Admittedly! This list is only the beginning of the many brightly-colored annual flowers you tin can constitute in your drought-prone lawn or water-wise xeriscape.

Other popular drought-tolerant annuals include:

—Ageratum
—Brazilian vervain ( Verbena bonariensis )
—Celosia
—Creation
—Dahlberg daisy ( Dyssodia tenuiloba )
—Dusty miller ( Senecio cineraria )
—Sunflower ( Helianthus annuus )
—Wax begonia ( Begonia semperflorens-cultorum )

If you're looking for lasting colour year after year, cheque out these pretty drought-tolerant perennials that stand strong against dry weather:

—Agastache ( Hyssop )
—Coating flower ( Gaillardia grandiflora )
—Butterfly weed ( Asclepias tuberosa )
—Carpet sedum (Sedum lineare)
—Foxglove beardtongue ( Penstemon digitalis )
—Majestic coneflower ( Echinacea purpurea )
—Russian sage ( Salvia yangii )
—Yarrow ( Achillea millefolium )

Give your lawn a outburst of annual color

Planting colorful drought-tolerant annuals can be a festive outdoor activity for the family. Pick a cloudy day in spring and spread seeds or transplant your seedlings into your garden. With some initial TLC, your drought-tolerant plants will flourish with less water than thirsty annuals similar snapdragons, alyssum, and impatiens.

If you'd rather enjoy the weather condition without the piece of work, call a squad of local backyard care pros to do the thou chores for you. They'll accept care of the mowing, trimming, gardening, and cleanup, so you tin take a breather when the dry out oestrus hits.

Main Photograph Credit: Yoko Nekonomania | Wikimedia Eatables | CC Past 2.0

Maille Smith

Maille-Rose Smith is a freelance writer and actor based in New York. She graduated from the Academy of Virginia. She enjoys watching theatre, reading mysteries, and listening to psychology podcasts. She is an orchid enthusiast and always has a basil plant growing in her kitchen.