The Best-Performing Sun and Shade Annuals

Hardy Annuals

• The best-performing hardy annuals are calendula, pansy, foxgloves, sweet alyssum, stocks, viola and dianthus. These annual flowers are cold tolerant and continue to bloom through light frost and winter's first freeze. They are planted in the fall or spring and do not tolerate high summer temperatures. In mild climates, both purple and white sweet alyssum drop seeds which re-germinate during the following spring. Dianthus is a small mound-type annual plant with pink or white flowers that also do well in partial shade.

Tender Annuals

• Marigolds, impatiens, nicotinia, begonia, celosia, Vinca and zinnia are reliable annuals that provide bright color during the summer months but do not thrive in cold temperatures. Impatiens perform very well in shady garden spots. Marigolds and zinnias are widely used as bedding plants in summer. Their growth and bloom cycle is fast and both are disease resistant. Marigolds perform the additional service to the garden of exuding a substance into the soil that kills harmful nematodes.

Cool-Season Annuals

• The best-performing cool-season annuals such as geranium and snapdragon thrive in mild temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Snapdragon cultivars such as Kim Primrose and Montego Orange Bi-Color bloom in spring and early fall and grow well in sun or partial shade. Snapdragons have low drought tolerance and should be grown where the water supply is consistent. Viola is a strong-performing shady-spot annual often used as a border plant. It blooms in the cooler months of spring and fall.

Warm-Season Annuals

• Pentas perform well in the hot summer months, blooming abundantly from summer to fall in a sunny location. They are an excellent cut flower that grows on a bush-type plant that reaches 12 to 36 inches in height. Pentas bloom in lilac, red, violet and white and are a moderately drought-tolerant plant. Sunflowers and their many hybrids perform very well as warm-season annuals, blooming for four- to six-week periods in mid- to late summer. Newer sunflower hybrids include an all-white flower, a bicolor red dwarf sunflower and a frilly petaled bright-yellow sunflower.