previous
  • Containers as Focal Points
    Containers as Focal Points
  • Elephant's Ears
    Elephant's Ears
  • Garden Confidential: A Plant Walks into a Bar
    Garden Confidential: A Plant Walks into a Bar
  • Plants that Spark!
    Plants that Spark!
  • Designing with Curved Terraces
    Designing with Curved Terraces
  • Save Money by Growing Your Own
    Save Money by Growing Your Own
  • Indeterminate or Determinate Tomatoes?
    Indeterminate or Determinate Tomatoes?
  • Fast-Growing Trees for Impatient Gardeners
    Fast-Growing Trees for Impatient Gardeners
  • Plant an Easy-to-Water Strawberry Jar
    Plant an Easy-to-Water Strawberry Jar
  • 6 Tips for Weed Control
    6 Tips for Weed Control
  • Homegrown / Homemade
    Homegrown / Homemade
  • Stylish Shady Containers
    Stylish Shady Containers
  • Thoughts From a Foreign Field
    Thoughts From a Foreign Field
  • Lawn Alternatives
    Lawn Alternatives
  • In Pursuit of the Perfect Potting Shed
    In Pursuit of the Perfect Potting Shed
  • Comfortable Alfresco Dining
    Comfortable Alfresco Dining
  • Dwarf Citrus Trees
    Dwarf Citrus Trees
  • Mulch for a Healthy Garden
    Mulch for a Healthy Garden
  • Slideshow: Beautiful Clematis
    Slideshow: Beautiful Clematis
  • Building a Compost Bin
    Building a Compost Bin
  • Colorful Selections for Shade
    Colorful Selections for Shade
  • Make a Succulent Topiary
    Make a Succulent Topiary
  • NEW Video Series: There's a Better Way
    NEW Video Series: There's a Better Way
  • Fragrant Plants for Pathways
    Fragrant Plants for Pathways
  • Pretty in Pink
    Pretty in Pink
next

Browse Plants

Narrowed By:Type: Annuals+ Uses: Container, Shade + Seasonal Interest: Spring
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 listings   Sort By: Sort
Amaranthus tricolor and cvs. Amaranthus tricolor and cvs.
(Chinese spinach, Tampala, Joseph's coat)
Be the first to rate this plant

This hardy annual has vibrant, ornamental red, yellow, and green foliage that lends a tropical effect to the garden. Small flowers, borne from summer to early autumn, are inconspicuous in comparison to the effect of the foliage. Cultivars feature yellow and maroon-shaded leaves, but the species still offers the showiest foliage.

Bellis perennis Bellis perennis
(English daisy)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

English daisy bears stems topped with a single white, daisy-like flower. The flowers are tinged maroon and yellow; but cultivars are available with single, semi-double, or double button flowers in shades of white, pink, salmon, and ruby. The plant's smooth, spoon-shaped leaves form neat rosettes. This carpeting perennial is often grown as a biennial. Its many cultivars are used for bedding out or container displays.

Beta vulgaris 'Bull's Blood' Beta vulgaris 'Bull's Blood'
(Beet)
(1 user review)

This heirloom beet from 1840 is primarily grown for its tender, sweet, deep red-burgundy foliage, but the beets are tasty when harvested at the 2- to 3-inch size. The glossy leaves reach 18 inches high. Though it is edible, it is often grown as an ornamental, and its dark leaves contrast nicely with many garden plants.

Beta vulgaris 'Ruby Red' Beta vulgaris 'Ruby Red'
(Swiss chard)
Be the first to rate this plant

This is a sweet Swiss chard with beautiful candy-apple-red stalks and dark green, crinkly leaves with touches of red. Both the leaves and the stalks are very ornamental and 'Ruby Red' is great in a vegetable or cottage garden, or in an ornamental bed or border. It is especially attractive when grown with plants whose colors call attention to the red coloring. Although related to beets, the root is inedible, but the leafy greens are valued for their mild flavor and high nutritional value.

Calibrachoa Superbells® Dreamsicle Calibrachoa Superbells® Dreamsicle
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Calibrachoas are great alternatives to petunias. Superbells® Dreamsicle is cloaked with larger-than-usual, yellow-throated apricot-orange flowers. It can create a carpet of color or cascade beautifully from a container.

Catharanthus roseus Cora™ series Catharanthus roseus Cora™ series
(Cora™ periwinkle, Cora™ vinca)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

The disease-resistant Cora™ series of periwinkles comes in a range of flower colors—from white to lavender to burgundy—and looks great until the first fall frost.

Centaurea cineraria 'Colchester White' Centaurea cineraria 'Colchester White'
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Best used as a foliage plant, this plant's intricately cut, frosty-silver leaves produce a large, elegant arching mound. It also bears pale lavender-blue pin-cushion flowers on lanky 30-inch stems in late spring.

Centaurea cyanus Centaurea cyanus
(Bachelor's buttons, Bluebottle, Cornflower)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Bachelor's buttons bear charming and prolific flowers in hues of blue, pink, lavender, white, and maroon. Those with a true blue color are especially welcome in the garden as that color is rare in nature. Each disc-shaped flower is about 1.5 inches across, with ragged petals radiating out from the center.

Dianthus barbatus 'Summer Sundae' Dianthus barbatus 'Summer Sundae'
(Sweet William)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

'Summer Sundae' Sweet William is a nice mix of red, pink, and white flowers held in rounded groups at the tops of stems. Plants bloom from late spring to early summer. The flowers are lightly fragrant. Use in a cottage garden or border, or in containers. It flowers the first year from seed.

Lobelia Techno® Blue Lobelia Techno® Blue
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Unlike most trailing lobelias, this cultivar does not falter in hot temperatures. Techno® Blue is covered in intense, cobalt blue flowers. Its semitrailing, mounding habit is a great addition to containers and hanging baskets.

Petunia integrifolia Petunia integrifolia
(Surfinia petunia, Wild petunia, Violet-flowered petunia)
Be the first to rate this plant

This easy, fast-growing annual cascades 3 feet or more from window boxes or hanging baskets. It's a prolific bloomer, with nonstop, violet flowers approximately 1.5 inches wide blanketing the foliage. Plants bloom from May through the first frost.

Torenia Golden Moon™ Torenia Golden Moon™
(Golden Moon™ wishbone flower)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Golden Moon™ brightens up gardens with unique, saturated gold-and-maroon blooms. This vigorous, low-growing introduction is loaded with flowers all season long. It is beautiful in a container.

no image available Tropaeolum majus 'Alaska Mix'
(Indian cress, Nasturtium)
Be the first to rate this plant

This old-fashioned cultivar of the species has a mounding habit and grows 10-12 inches tall. In summer and early fall, it bears deep red and orange blossoms, which are offset by rounded leaves with white variegation. The leaves and flowers are edible. 

Tropaeolum majus 'Jewel of Africa' Tropaeolum majus 'Jewel of Africa'
(Indian cress, Nasturtium)
(2 user reviews)

This climbing, old-fashioned cultivar grows to 8 feet tall. In summer and fall, it bears flowers of maroon, yellow, cream, and orange, and in-between shades of peach, apricot, salmon, and scarlet. The leaves are marbled with white variegation. The leaves and flowers are edible.

Verbena speciosa 'Imagination' Verbena speciosa 'Imagination'
(Verbena)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This outstanding hybrid blooms from spring until frost and has beautifully dissected foliage. Innumerable clusters of purple blossoms cover this plant and look fantastic cascading over the edges of a hanging basket. Verbenas are excellent for annual borders, containers—especially hanging baskets—and for the mixed herbaceous border.

Viola tricolor Viola tricolor
(Heartsease, Johnny-jump-up, Love-in-idleness, Wild pansy)
(3 user reviews)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial is grown for its long season of pansy flowers in shades of purple, blue, yellow, and white. Viola tricolor is pretty in containers, as edging, or as a companion for bulbs. It self-seeds readily.


Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 listings   Sort By: Sort