The Fire in the Diamond

Trees are green and leafy, spreading their vast canopies far overhead to provide shade to the poor over-worked gardener below. Shrubs are staunchly patrolling the hedgy borders and standing sentry up against your house. Perenials plants such as tiger and Asiatic lilies, garden phlox, coreopsis, liatris, and others have either ceased blooming, blooming madly, or gearing up to bloom soon. Color! Color in swaths and sparkling spots! Your garden is laid out like the deep green velvet of a jeweler's case.

There are not too many perenials that continue to bloom throughout the entire season. The best way to get continuous, vibrant color in your garden is through the use of annuals. Annuals, as you can tell by their name, only last one year. You must either reseed or buy new plants each Spring. Annuals are excellent for filling in spaces between other plants that have not reached maturity yet, and for adding a quick and easy rainbow of color to your garden.

Ruby red salvia stands relatively tall and blooms continuously if you deadhead. Topaz tinged marigolds not only add bright oranges and yellows, but help to repel insects from other plants. Sapphire blue, not a common color in flowers, can be found in the fuzzy-looking flowers of ageratum. Amethyst purples come in waves of petunias, torenia, and calabrachoa.

Annuals give your garden sparkle!