Paint your garden with cool-season flowers - includes planting tips from professional gardeners - Special Issue: Fall/Winter Garden Guide

Sunset, Fall-Winter, 1994 by Micjael MacCaskey, Lynn Ocone, Lauren Bonar Swezey

How to grow: Pinch leggy plants to encourage new growth. Plants last longer in spring if protected from hottest sun. Full sun or part shade.

Tips: New colors and types introduced annually. Imperial strain Antique shades include muted rose and soft gold (plant closer together than normal); 'Pink Shades' opens plum and fades to light pink and white. Princess violas come in single colors and are very floriferous.

PETUNIA

Plant in fall only in mild desert climates. Funnel-shaped flowers come in many solid and bicolors, singles and doubles. Plants are compact or trailing.

How to grow: Pinch back when young to encourage bushiness. Full sun.

Tips: Many new colors introduced every year. Two new picotee types--Frost and Hulahoop--have colorful centers and white edges.

ANNUAL PHLOX (P. drummondii)

Cool-season annual in Southern California and the desert, summer annual elsewhere. Dense clusters of 1-inch-wide flowers form on top of erect, leafy stems 4 to 20 inches tall. Many bright and pastel flower colors, some with contrasting eyes.

How to grow: Plant in rich soil, full sun.

Tips: Newer types (Fantasy Mixed, Promise Pink) are compact, bushy, and covered with blooms.

POOR MAN'S ORCHID (Schizanthus pinnatus)

Also known as butterfly flower. Lilac, pink, purple, rose, salmon, and white orchidlike flowers are produced in profusion on 6- to 15-inch-tall stems. Ferny foliage is bright green.

How to grow: Plants are sensitive to frost and heat, and do best on the coast. If starting from seed, sow about four weeks before planting time; germination is slow. Filtered shade.

Tips: Star Parade grows 6 to 9 inches tall; Angel Wings and Disco grow 12 to 15 inches.

POPPY (Papaver)

Iceland poppy (P. nudicaule), pictured above, is a perennial commonly grown as an annual. Three-inch crepe-papery flowers bloom on slender, hairy 1- to 2-foot stems. Slightly fragrant flowers in cream, yellow, orange, and pink. Long bloom season when flowers are picked frequently.

Shirley poppy (P. rhoeas) is an annual with 2- to 5-foot slender, hairy stems. Flowers are 2 inches or more across with translucent petals in shades of red, pink, white, orange, and bicolors.

How to grow: Set out plants of Iceland poppy. Shirley poppy is best sown in place; you can start with transplants (available starting in late fall). Need good drainage, full sun.

Tips: 'Legion of Honor' Shirley poppy has scarlet flowers with black bases; Mother of Pearl yields smoky pastel shades. All are good cut flowers; sear cut stem ends in flame before placing in water.

PRIMROSE (Primula)

English primrose (P. polyantha) has strappy leaves and clusters of brightly colored flowers atop 3- to 12-inch stems. P. obconica has roundish, hairy leaves and large clusters of 1 1/2- to 2-inch flowers on 10- to 12-inch stalks. Fairy primrose (P. malacoides) has lobed leaves and lacy flower whorls on stems 12 to 15 inches tall. Colors include lavender, pink, red, rose, and white.

How to grow: Full sun or part shade in coastal fog belt, part shade inland. In cooler areas, English primrose and P. obconica can be kept as perennials.