
It’s that time of year again when many people are deciding what annual flowers to plant in their garden. With the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people are turning their attention to this rewarding hobby to both beautify their homes and spend more time outdoors safely! While I’m always excited to see perennials return year after year, annuals give my garden and patio a burst of colour! Annual flowers do, however, require a bit more care than perennials. Read these tips to find out how to care for annuals. You might also be interested in reading, “How to Choose Flowers for Your Container Garden“.

Water Annuals Daily
Annuals offer a gorgeous array of colour, but their spectacular blooms come at a cost: annual flowers require water on a daily basis, whether they are in planter pots, in hanging baskets or in the ground.
As a general rule of thumb, you should water your annuals every day. You may need to water annuals you plant in your container garden more frequently than annuals you have planted in a flower bed. For annuals in hanging baskets, the water should run to the bottom of the basket. If you insert your finger in the soil and it is dry, your plant needs water.
Best Time to Water Annuals
Try and water your annuals in the morning or evening. If you water annual flowers during the day, especially when it’s quite hot, the water will evaporate before it seeps into the soil and you’ll end up using more water. Give them a good watering so that annual flowers’ roots will grow larger.
Annuals that require less water
Alyssum, Zinnia, Cypress Vine, Hyacinth Vine, California Poppies, Paper Daisy, Verbena, Cleome, Strawflower, Portulaca, Honeywort, Cosmos
Vacation Tips for Keeping Annuals Watered
If you are going on vacation, you will want to create a back-up plan for watering your annuals. Here are some suggestions:
- Move annuals to a shady section of your yard;
- Ask a neighbour to come by to water your plants;
- Fill an empty wine bottle with water. Place your thumb over the top of the bottle and insert the bottle into the soil of your annuals. The water will slowly release into the soil over a day or two. Make sure the soil is not too dry or the water will release too quickly. You can read more about this self-watering solution for annuals here. This is a fun solution since you get to drink the wine first lol.
Mulch Your Annuals
Applying a mulch made of wood chips around your annual flowers will help keep the soil moist. Bonus: If you buy organic mulch, it will help enrich the soil. Don’t allow the mulch to touch your plants.

Fertilize Annuals
Fertilizing your annuals should keep them blooming all summer. Use a fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro and follow the instructions, which say to use the product every two weeks. I find that in the first month, you can use Miracle-Gro every two weeks and then scale it back to every four weeks once the flowers are blooming steadily. I have had excellent experience using Miracle-Gro Plant Food for my petunias, geraniums, lobelias, calibrachoa, and salvia, which bloom right into October.

Deadheading
Deadheading is required if you want your annuals to bloom all through the summer and into the fall. Deadheading encourages new blooms. Break off the dead flower just below the base of the flower or above the first leaf. While deadheading isn’t necessary for all types of flowers, it will definitely make your flowers look better and increase blooms.
The following annuals will continue to bloom without being deadheaded:
Petunias, Impatiens, Lobelia, Begonia, Cleome, Bidens, Verbena, Calibrachoa, Canna, Diascia, Lantana, Browallia, Angelonia, Osteospermum, Diamond Frost Euphorbia, Torenia, Ageratum, Scaevola, Supertunia.
I hope you found these tips on how to care for annuals helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comment section.
This is very helpful. Loving your ideas.
It is my first time learning about annual flowers. The ones on your photos are gorgeous. How I wish that I had a garden. Maybe in my future house.
Thank you; I hope you have a garden in your future house! Cheers, Lori
Oh wow, this is absolutely something I have ZERO talent for–caring for plants. Flowering plants have to be most challenging too. I am really amazed by people with such talent as yours.
You might find that gardening is easier than you think. Growing flowers in container pots is actually fairly easy! Cheers, Lori
Where I live those annual plants will not survive all year. It would be best to have evergreen plants like buxtus and pine as the wind chill factor from Autumn through to Spring can be too harsh.
Even where I am, these annuals last from May to the end of October so I guess “annuals” is a misnomer! Cheers, Lori
Great colors! Good job, really! Not all people have the skills to grow them that well. But I am so happy more and more people are making planting their hobby now!
Thank you. I am also happy that more people are getting into gardening! Cheers, Lori
This is very timely as more people are going into plants as a hobby. Those flowers look amazing!
Yes, it seems many people are taking up gardening. I remember the gardening centre I went to last year was packed! Cheers, Lori
Whoa I didn’t know these needed daily watering even if in the ground. Pots I can understand. No wonder I prefer perenials! lol!
Yes, perennials are definitely easier to look after! Cheers, Lori
super helpful advice! I want have more flowers this summer
Thanks! I hope you have a lovely garden this summer! Cheers, Lori
This is helpful and practical tips. I am not really good with plants so any advice is welcome. I had no idea that zinnia requires less water. I definitely learned something new today.
I am not a gardening person, but I must say I love your ideas!
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