Annuals are cherished for their charismatic colors and fragrance and are often the stars of seasonal gardens. Easy to plant and usually low-maintenance, they bring abundant flowers to the landscape for very little work. If you’re looking for your next favorite annual for 2023, look no further than our list below!
What Are the Most Popular Annual Flowers in North Dakota?
From petunias to pansies to geraniums, annual flowers are popular all over North America, including right here in North Dakota! Many plants that we call annuals are actually perennials in warmer climates, but we bring them up to enjoy their fleeting beauty during our relatively short but intense summers. Here are just a few of the many favorites that we’re looking forward to in 2023:
Ranunculus
Also called “Buttercups,” these plants are the rose of the annual garden. They blossom with tightly-woven velvet petals in a range of pastel colors. At home in cool temperatures, they blossom abundantly throughout the spring and are a great way to bring an exquisite rose-like flower into your garden as early as May.
Dianthus
Also known as “Pinks,” annual dianthus are beautiful annuals that are close cousins to carnations. Dianthus is the answer if you want to bring fuchsia, magenta, rosé, salmon, or just plain pink petals into your garden. They grow 6-12” tall and feature clusters of small blossoms from spring to frost. Scented like cloves, they also attract butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden.
Calibrachoa
Commonly called “Million Bells,” calibrachoa offers a fireworks display of hundreds of small blossoms. Coming in red, orange, pink, yellow, or multi-colored flowers, they’ll dazzle your senses in a hanging basket, spilling over the edge of a planter or anywhere in your garden. The spent flowers naturally drop off, meaning they don’t need deadheading, and continue blooming all season!
Sweet Alyssum
Next to the bold colors of Million Bells, it’s nice to balance out your garden with the delicate features of Sweet Alyssum. These graceful flowers feature airy clouds of white or light purple petals. With honey-like fragrance, they cascade over the edge of a container or blanket the ground with an abundance of petals. They’re sometimes included as companion plants in a vegetable garden to attract pollinators and host beneficial bugs like ground beetles, hoverflies, and spiders.
Cosmos
With feathery foliage and simple, daisy-like flowers, cosmos bring the look of a wildflower meadow to your garden. They feature bright pink, white, orange, or red petals and pollen-rich, yellow centers. They grow from 2-6 feet tall, depending on the variety. Interestingly, they prefer sandy soil that is not nutrient dense. Plus, they don’t mind being baked by the sun, which makes them a low-maintenance and resilient annual.
Marigolds
Almost everyone is familiar with marigolds, but it’s still one of our favorite annuals to bring into the garden in 2023. With bright globes of yellow, orange, and rust-colored flowers, marigolds bring a piece of sunshine right into your beds. Known for their strong scent, they’re also a popular companion plant in the vegetable plot. When grown in proximity, they’ll repel pests from squash, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other veggies.
Geraniums
With sweetly perfumed leaves, annual geraniums are a favorite for their scent and flowers. They bask you in the rich drafts of cinnamon mixed with rose anytime you’re sitting or gardening near these beauties. On top of that, they are abundant bloomers, offering a steady supply of pink, red, white, or purple flowers throughout the growing season. Annual geraniums are a cherished flower in 2023 and will be any year!
How to Use Annual Flowers in Bismarck
Any place where you need a dash of color is a good spot for an annual. They’re also suited for containers and hanging baskets. Annuals are like a ready-made palette of texture and color for creative gardeners, who use them to make unique container displays or embellish their perennial border. Vegetable gardeners also use their abundant blooms to attract pollinators and sometimes for their pest-repelling properties.
If you want to find your new favorite annual for 2023, visit our garden center in Bismarck, ND, today!