The Annual Struggle

 It seems to me that each year I struggle to decide what annual plants I am going to put together for my planters.  I always grow Marigolds, Dahlias and some Celosia and either Zinnias or Snapdragons from seed.  These plants I tuck here and there around the garden and landscape, filling in blank spots and adding color in areas where the perennials are more subtle.  But when it comes to the five or six combination planters, I try to come up with something new, and I want to use plants that will grow well together.  I get tired of the same old Geraniums and Begonias that are tried and true and predictable.  Petunias are another dependable "go to" annual.  The old fashioned kind require regular deadheading.  Several nurseries stock the newer, easier to care for Supertunias but the colors available are always unpredictable from one year to the next.

This year I planned to go with a patriotic theme in honor of the Semiquincentennial.  I figured that it wouldn't be too difficult to find nice red and blue Petunias.  Some people like to point out that blue Petunias are really purple, but how blue do you need them to be to get your point across?  If you really want true blue, there is always Lobelia.   I don't mind dead heading a couple of planters of Petunias, but I refuse to plant old fashioned white Petunias.  Rain ruins their appearance immediately.   I actually picked up a couple fo packs of them at the greenhouse and carried them around for a few minutes, but the dried up flowers on them were brown and yucky and I just couldn't do it.  So I used Euphorbia for my white.  For the two planters that flank our deck steps I went with the Dreams series from Ball.  They were very affordable at $2 a four pack and they are looking beautiful.

For the fire pit planters, I splurged on Supertunias, using the Decadent Patriotic recipe but substituting Black Cherry Supertunias instead of Pomegranate Calibrachoa.  I had to mail order these to be sure to get what I wanted and the plants were quite small and bedraggled when they arrived but they are finally hitting their stride.

When I was at the fancy schmancy greenhouse two weeks ago, looking for odds and ends, I came across about a dozen trays of “black” Petunias (actually deep red or purple) called Black Satin Sweetunias.  They were stunning.  When I laid eyes on them I said "Wow" out loud.  I couldn’t get them out of my head. It was obvious that no one else had seen their potential because there were a lot of them sitting there with seemingly none purchased.  I suppose that it can be a bit of a challenge to figure out how to use black flowers.... After several days of thinking that I really needed them in my life somehow, I suddenly saw a spot where I could use them.  And I had the perfect container.

I wanted to pair them with silver (either Helichrysum or Dichondra) and a splash of bright red to bring the burgundy tones out and downplay their blackness. As I was collecting up options to pair them with, I also accumulated several greenhouse employees who asked “are you going to plant those together? That’s GORGEOUS!” And I agree, it is a stunner. I placed this planter in a spot where the background is afternoon shade and it really stands out. I can’t wait to see what it looks like in another week. If I do this again next year I may substitute a white Salvia (which has silver stems over silvery sage leaves) for the center instead of the Rediculous Coleus that I chose this year.  See - I need inspiration when it comes to putting together annuals.  I don't want the same old thing over and over.

Here is a promotional photo of this variety which captures their true color better than my phone does. They look like black velvet.

The Proven Winners recipe of the year for 2026 is "Pixie Powder".  I have had my eye on it for a couple of years.  I believed that the east side of the garden shed would be shady enough for it but I'm not sure it really is.  This wall gets about four and a half hours of morning sun then full shade.  The Impatiens have not been happy about the night time temperatures in the 40s.  I started covering them each evening with a heavy frost cloth and they still haven't been too happy, but we are finally getting night time temps in the fifties so they have stopped shivering and turning blue.  I am trying giving this a little water each morning and the Impatiens have been opening up better.  They sure are full of buds.  So far - underwhelming.

In keeping with the orange/pink theme along this wall, I bought some Peachy Keen Superbena plants to put at the foot of an extra Dahlia.  I used a trellis that will support the Dahlia which will get four to five feet tall.

A couple of years ago I was trying to get the hard to find Bloomquist Pumpkin Dahlia.  I fibally bought a tuber last year and I also ordered a pair of cuttings from a different grower.  The grower had cutting crop failure and said that they would try to ship this spring instead.  I completely forgot about it but the cuttings showed up back in early May and were really nice.  I have another one out in the landscape.

Bloomqist Pumpkin

Also along the lines of shipping issues.  I was shipped half a dozen Blue Tiara Supertunias instead of the Blue Velvet for the Decadence recipe.  I felt they were too purple to use in those planters, but I've planted them in a row, alternating with my extra Vanilla Cream Marigolds.  These are the plants that the racoons dug up.  Twice.  But they are determined little plants and I think they will end up looking really nice.  Since the company refunded my cost, these are free plants.

So that is the gist of my annual struggle this year.  I have a few other annual plantings that I will reveal later when the plants start to look really nice.  Sometimes it takes awhile.