Few areas in the summer garden can match the capitvating color display of an annual flower bed in full bloom."
Annuals are flowers that bloom only one season. Planting an annual bed gives you the chance to create a unique design that you can change from year to year. Summer-blooming annuals are usually the most brilliant and long-lasting.
Scarlet or pink flowers, such as Zinnia, Sage and Begonia offer the added bonus of attracting butterflies and hummingbirds.
Plant suggestions for a Rainbow-colored bed: Low Types: Sweet Alyssum: Ivory or red flowers from summer to fall; 3-6 in.; annual; all zones. Campanula carpatica: Blue or white bell-shaped flowers; 3-4 in.; zones 4-7 Virginia Stock: Fragrant, scarlet, pink, or white flowers; 8-15 in.;all zones. Livingstone Daisy: Red, yellow, pink, or ivory summer blooms; 6 in.; all zones. Short Types: Globe Amaranth: Late summer blooms in gold, pink, or orange; 12 in.; all zones. Sweet William: Scarlet, pink, or white blooms; 12-18 in.; all zones. Forget-me-not: Gray foliage and blue or white blooms; 18 in.; all zones. Pansy: Simple flowers in wide range of colors; 6-12 in.; all zones. Impatiens (Scarlet Fever): Bright red blooms; 1 ft.; all zones Medium Types: Gloriosa Daisy: Yellow, red-centered flowers in summer; 2 ft.; all zones. Farewell-to-spring: Five-petaled, pink or white summer flowers; 2 ft.; all zones. African Marigold: gold, frilled blowers that bloom all summer; 2-3 ft.; all zones. Zinnia: All colors except blue; different forms including ball-shaped and open-petaled flower; 2-4 ft.; all zones. Forest-loving Geranium: Cup-shaped, violet-blue blooms in early summer; 3 ft.; zones 4-8. Tall Types: Larkspur: Flower spikes in range of colors in summer; 4 ft.; all zones. Hollyhock: Red, pink, or blue blooms in fall or summer; 6 ft.; all zones.