For continuous color, you can't beat annuals. But some people can't bear to spend money on plants that die with the first autumn freeze. "People tend to downplay annuals because they think they have to replant them every year," says Linda Hostetler of The Plains, Virginia. "That's not necessarily true. If you choose reseeding annuals, they'll come back everywhere."
|
|
Mary Anne Pickens of Columbus, Texas, admires the reseeding wildflowers that surround her home in spring. The blooms include coreopsis, Indian paintbrushes, and bluebonnets.
|
You need only look at the gardens presented in this special section to understand just how right Linda is. Each one derives much of its seasonal color from flower seeds you buy and sow only once-—plants such as poppies, larkspurs, coreopsis, and cosmos. After they finish flowering, their seeds drop to the ground, and then new plants magically appear the following year. Self-sown seedlings, often called "volunteers," sometimes show up in unexpected places-—gravel paths, cracks between rocks, or right in the middle of a clump of something else. This randomness gives a cottage garden its charm and surprise. And if you don't like where something sprouts, it's okay to yank it up.
Tricks for Planting
Seeding flowers in the garden does require a little bit of know-how. For example, if you want the seeds to sprout, you had better not mulch or apply a pre-emergence herbicide.
