As I walk through my garden and enjoy all the beauty of the flowers, bees, and butterflies, I’m already thinking about next year’s flower garden. What can I do better? How can I improve on what I’m growing? And how can I get flowers earlier in the growing season?

A few years ago, I began to experiment and grow hardy annuals. The more flowers I planted, the more excited I got to try other varieties. I love annuals and perennials and I fill my garden with seasonal flowers like peonies, phlox, coneflower, zinnias, and cosmos. But the hardy annuals have added an extra dimension of beauty to my garden.

Hardy annuals got my garden growing earlier, so I had more flowers for cutting. I could make more bouquets, attract more of my favorite pollinators, and could find something blooming so much earlier.

What is a Hardy Annual

A hardy annual is a flower capable of surviving the cold winter months. Because of this, it can start growing earlier and therefore produce flowers sooner in the spring. Often before the perennials begin to bloom and the annuals are in the ground.

You can plant hardy annuals in the fall to get a jump start on next year’s growing season. If you time the planting right, your plant will develop a supporting root system that can help the plant survive when the cold weather comes. Then in the spring, when temperatures start to rise, the plant is ready to continue growing. It gets a head start on the growing season and will produce flowers earlier.

When to Plant Hardy Annuals

There are several good times to plant your hardy annuals.

In the Fall…

Plant seeds in the early fall, either directly into the soil or as transplants. If transplanting, you will need to start your seeds in containers about mid-summer. Plant seeds or your seedlings about 6-8 weeks before your first frost.

What you can plant in the fall will depend on the winter hardiness of the plant. Knowing your garden zone and the plant’s winter hardiness will help you determine your best time for planting.

During Winter…

You can seed or plant transplants in the winter as long as the ground is not frozen. If planting seedlings, you’ll need to start them indoors ahead of time. Winter grown plants can benefit from extra mulch protection.

Planting in the dead of winter is the hardest time for both the plant and the gardener. However, winter is the perfect time to start seeds indoors so they will be ready to go by early spring.

In the Early Spring…

Your third option is to plant seeds directly into the ground in early spring. However, these plants will not give you as long of growing season as the ones planted in the fall. Plant these seeds into the ground about 6-8 weeks before your last frost. You can also get a strong start by planting indoor-grown plants. This is the best time to plant those hardy annuals that are not winter hardy in your location.

My favorite way to grow hardy annuals is to let the plant do the work. Once you have established flowers growing, allow them to self-sow by letting some flowers go to seed and drop each year. These seeds will grow at their optimum time whether in the fall or early spring.

Hardy Annual Flowers

Here’s a list of some of the most common hardy annuals…

• Ammi
• Bachelor Buttons
• Bee Balm
• Bells of Ireland
• Black-Eyed Susan
• Calendula
• Delphinium
• Feverfew
• Foxglove
• Larkspur
• Love-in-a-Mist
• Pansy
• Iceland Poppy
• Snapdragon
• Stock
• Strawflower
• Sweet Pea
• Sweet William
• Yarrow

What you need to get started with Hardy Annuals

Now is the time to think about adding in these wonderful early bloomers into your garden for next year. Here are a few things you might need to get started.

A Plan For Your Garden

You need to take some time and think about what you want to grow and where you could add in these flowers. You can plant hardy annuals in your garden beds and often they will return year after year if you allow them to reseed.

You can also add hardy annuals to your cutting garden. These are the perfect flowers for cutting and bouquet making. It’s important that you plan your cutting garden so the taller plants are in the back. And you’ll want to make sure that each cutting flower has room to grow. Position them in their best place now so you can encourage them to come back each spring.

Buy Your Hardy Annual Seeds

Now is a good time to grab your seeds if you want to get started this fall. Although you can buy hardy annual seeds in the spring, your garden will get a later start. To give your plants a head start on the growing process, then late summer/fall is the best time to plant hardy annual seeds.

A few good sources of hardy annual seeds include Floret Farms, Annual Seeds A-Z, Seedaholic Seeds, and Johnny’s Select Seeds.

Prepare Your Beds

Prepare your beds while you can. If you’re creating a new garden bed then you should get started on it now. Once winter hits, the ground will freeze making it difficult to work the soil. You can wait until next spring to prepare your beds, but your plants will get a later start. If you do the work now, then your beds will be ready to go even if you plant in late winter.

If you want to plant your hardy annuals in a current bed, you might need to wait a bit before planting this fall. You don’t want to lose this year’s flowers to prepare for next year. You could start your hardy annual seeds in pots now. Once your current garden dies back, you can clear the bed and plant your seedlings. Win/Win!

I love getting flowers for as long as possible during the growing season. I’ve discovered that hardy annuals give me a few more months of flowers. So I can enjoy the blooms earlier, both inside and outside my home. These easy-to-grow flowers are not finicky. They are well… hardy. They can stand up to the cold and they don’t need a lot of pampering.

If you’re unsure about growing these early season bloomers, then just pick one or two flowers to get started with. You can start experimenting with these early season flowers as I did. But once you get started, I’ll bet my foxglove that you’ll catch the hardy annual bug as well.

Take a walk around your garden. Are there any areas that could use earlier blooms? Do you grow a cutting garden that could benefit from a longer growing season? Then grab some hardy annuals and get started planning and planting today!