Cool-season gardening is an increasingly popular way to add new life and color to your existing flower beds. As temperatures fall, perennials and summer annuals fade away, offering the perfect opportunity to add winter annuals such as pansies, violas, snapdragons, mums, and ornamental vegetables to your yard. Plant them in the fall to enjoy their blooms throughout the winter and into early spring!
Pansies are the “king” of winter annuals, as they will continue to flower even when temperatures drop into the lower 20os. Their colors range from yellows, golds, oranges, and reds to bright whites or deep purples. The blooms are typically two or three inches in diameter and some are said to have “faces” due to their unique coloration pattern.
Violas and pansies belong to the same genus, but differ slightly. Violas offer smaller, but more numerous, flowers than pansies and can tolerate a shadier spot while still blooming profusely. Violas come in a wide variety of colors, including white, yellow, lavender, blue, pink and multiple colors in one plant.
Snapdragons are a fragrant winter annual option and vary widely in height, some staying as short as eight inches while others can reach up to three feet tall! These unique beauties feature spiked stalks with bright blooms on top, which are perfect for cutting and placing in a vase indoors. Snapdragons prefer full to partial sun and require exceptional drainage to stay healthy and continue blooming into spring.
Another go-to fall flower is the chrysanthemum, usually just called “mums.” They offer bright yellow, orange, and red blooms, which are perfect colors for fall. Mums are also great container plants, meaning they grow well in window boxes, hanging planters, or clay pots. They prefer areas that get at least six hours of sun each day, and also require adequate drainage to thrive. Sadly, mums usually do not withstand winter weather, and will die after the first frost.
One interesting trend in winter annual planting is the addition of ornamental vegetables and herbs to your garden and better yet your containers! Ornamental kales and cabbages are the most popular, as their leaves are distinctly colored – deep green around the stems with purple, rose, or white edges – and have various textures in stems and leaves and heights. While neither of these vegetables produce flowers in the winter, the colors intensify as the weather cools, making fall the perfect time to plant them! They usually reach heights of around twelve inches and perform well in both winter beds and planters, especially large planters.
Wrightsville Beach Landscaping’s floriculture team specializes in design, installation, and maintenance of beds and containers of winter annuals that will offer you and your family enjoyment through the winter and into the beginning of spring! Contact us at (910) 256-6345 with any questions or to set up an appointment.
