Connoisseur flowers freshen the palette

Sunset, March, 1998 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

Annuals play an important role in any garden, brightening borders, bringing a spark to perennial beds during a downtime, or making a dramatic show on their own. But what if you want to move beyond the ho-hum world of marigolds and petunias? When that urge struck us last spring, we hit the seed catalogs and selected several uncommon annuals and tender perennials grown as annuals. The following six plants were standouts in Sunset's test garden for their striking flowers and forms.

Bells-of-Ireland (Moluccella laevis). Showy, apple green calyxes resembling bells surround whorls of white flowers on upright stalks. Good cut flowers (can be dried). Blooms summer. Full sun.

China aster (Callistephus chinensis). Many-petaled flowers come in several forms (anemone- and peony-flowered, pompom, ostrich feather) in shades of crimson, lavender, pink, purple, and white. Plants grow 1 to 3 feet tall. Blooms late summer. Good cut flowers. Full sun.

Dwarf morning glory 'Royal Ensign' (Convolvulus tricolor). The 2-inch-wide trumpet-shaped flowers are a deep purplish blue with white-and-yellow throats. Unlike other morning glories, this one is not a vine but a bush that grows 12 to 18 inches tall. Blooms summer to fall. Full sun.

Nicotiana sylvestris. Intensely fragrant, tubular white flowers appear on 5-foot stalks. Lyre-shaped leaves form a rosette. Tender perennial grown as an annual. Blooms summer. Full sun or partial shade.

Salvia coccinea. Bears 6- to 12-inch-long flower spikes in red, pink, or coral shades on bushy, 2- to 3-foot-tall plants with small, fuzzy leaves. 'Coral Nymph' and 'Lady in Red' are particularly compact varieties. Tender perennial grown as an annual. Blooms spring to fall. Attracts hummingbirds. Full sun.

Spider flower (Cleome hasslerana or C. spinosa). Airy clusters of pink or white flowers are borne atop 4- to 6-foot-tall stems. Shrubby plant spreads 4 to 5 feet wide; keep it on the dry side to avoid rampant growth. Blooms late summer to fall. Cut flower heads make intriguing accents in arrangements. Full sun.

SOURCES

China aster, Nicotiana sylvestris, Salvia coccinea, and spider flower are sometimes sold in containers at specialty nurseries. Most of the flowers listed can be grown from seed, sold by these sources: Shepherd's Garden Seeds (30 Irene St., Torrington, CT 06790; 860/482-3638) and Thompson & Morgan (Box 1308, Jackson, NJ 08527; 800/274-7333). Both catalogs are free.