There is nothing more beautiful than a planter refreshed with fall blooming annuals. Late summer can bring on a ratty look with those summer annuals. Why not enliven the planter display with the addition of mums, kale, pansies, and even some hardy perennials.

This moss lined wire window basket is filled with hardy mums for floral interest along with Heuchera and Stachys for foliage color, texture, and a cascading effect over the edge. 

 

Some landscapes call for order and predictability in their annual choices. When you have a garden design as formal as this landscape in Concord, Mass you want to know that your choices will do exactly what you say they will.

By using blue fan flower (Scavola) and purple fountain grass (Pennisetum rubrum) we know that these six matching round planters pockets will grow, mature, flower in a predictable and manageable way.

 

Back yard patios are the perfect place to include pocket gardens that are designed to hold seasonal interest. Planting annuals in gardens close to human activity allows for enjoyment close up and makes for very easy care.

Here you see short cosmos, coleus, million bells with a shrubby backdrop of boxwood planted in a hedge with a weeping Japanese maple as an anchor plant.

Be imaginative in your garden design with annuals. Dare to be eccentric even. The beauty of planting annual gardens is that it is a short-term commitment, so have fun. Don’t stick to the exact same plants and the exact same combinations every year. Go ahead and repeat what works and what you love, but dare to explore the unknown and try the new this year!

This potting shed entryway in Natick, Mass is lined with a very simple annual planting. By using one plant in large quantity you can make a bold statement in the garden. Pick a plant you love, or that you know does very well in the conditions you have in the garden, and use a lot of it. Choose your favorite color in a variety of plants, mass them in one spot and see how wonderfully bold the garden looks when it fills in.

Using summer annuals on a commercial landscape improves the property’s visibility and increases the appeal to the public…good for attracting and maintaining tenants!

This is a memorial garden which makes it even more important for it to shine with life and vitality in honor of the memories it serves to protect and honor.

The use of bold annual plantings to frame the entryways and signage at this commercial site in Providence, R.I. improves the public perception of care and attention by the property owners and tenants. If you work in an office building, you know what I am talking about. When things are colorful and beautiful it makes the work experience better. If you need to visit an office building for any reason, the care and attention given to the landscape says a great deal about who occupies the space.

This simple planting of hardy marigolds, cosmos, coleus, snapdragons, and red fountain grass really shines in front of this office building. These plants are also tough and can withstand the urban conditions that surround offices.