Download Cold Comforts

Cold
Comforts
Even nips of frost can’t crush
these cold-tolerant beauties.
Story and photos by
Michelle Mero Riedel
Soprano® Light Purple (Osteospermum hybrid)
J
ack Frost doesn’t scare me. When he arrives in early fall, I
know my garden isn’t going to turn a boring brown. My
autumn garden is scattered with colorful perennial
chrysanthemums and asters and many frost-friendly annuals. It’s taken years, but I’ve learned that color doesn’t have
to diminish during chilly temperatures. And gardening for
five months of color is significant in my northern garden.
I used to worry about those first-to-perish annuals. Sweet potato vine and coleus, two of my favorites, were spent when temperatures dipped into the 30s. Many years back, I noticed that some
annuals bloomed happily even after early-morning temps near or
just below freezing. I was proud of the few annuals that could tolerate a little frost. Sometimes they woke up looking a little shabby
but perked up as the day progressed. For a better investment, I
now plant and focus on what is still flowering late in the season.
It’s time to replace those tried-and-true pansies, marigolds and
sweet peas. Here are 15 flowering, sun to part-shade (unless otherwise noted) annuals sure to improve any autumn garden or container.
Nemesia
There’s the old-fashioned nemesia (N. strumosa) grown from seed
that’s not cold-hardy. The nemesia bred for cold tolerance is found
in small pots at the garden center and is vegetatively propagated.
Nemesia comes in many vivid colors and produces loads of small
flowers on compact plants. Nemesia’s flowers are similar to those
of a snapdragon, and it has an upright and trailing habit.
Diascia
Similar to Nemesia (both are members of the snapdragon family),
Diascia has slightly larger flowers. A great container performer,
Diascia is stunning with its upright and trailing habit. It is becoming one of my favorite plants for containers and hanging baskets.
Osteospermum
Similar to a daisy, this cheerful plant comes in many colors, and
the center disk is a different color than the petals. With good
drainage, Osteospermum will provide season-long flowers, especially in full sun. However, its best blooming periods are at the beginning and end of summer. Don’t expect a flower show at night,
because osteospermums close and reopen in the morning.
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Cold Comforts
Callie® Orange (Calibrachoa)
Flirtation® Orange (Diascia hybrid)
Calibrachoa
This is the ideal petunia because of its miniature trailing size. The
colorful calibrachoa—sometimes called “million bells”—is versatile
regarding location. It can easily handle 4 to 6 hours of sunlight or
more. These plants grow to be 6 to 12 inches tall and trail to about
1 foot. They have several excellent features, including no need for
deadheading and an amazing load of nonstop blooms. I prefer the
calibrachoa over a full-sized petunia.
Lobularia
One of Lobularia’s greatest characteristics is the ability to withstand heat. This is the perfect filler plant for containers and in
between plants in the garden. In addition, the long bloom time
and tiny snowballs of flowers just keep coming in this new
alyssum, which goes under the trade name Snow Princess.® It will
outlast the old-fashioned alyssum in both heat and cold.
Snowstorm® Giant Snowflake® (Sutera cordata)
Oxalis
Oxalis is also known as the shamrock or clover plant. Good luck is
not needed to grow this wonderful plant, and it’s not a weed. The
foliage is colorful, as are the delicate flowers found on the different cultivars. I’m in love with its dense, mounded habit. Oxalis
grows to 12 inches tall.
Bacopa
The ultimate container-garden spiller plant, bacopa has showy
white, pink or lavender flowers. Flowers come in ¼-inch to 1-inch
sizes, and I always go for the largest flower. A long-blooming plant
preferring evenly moist soil, bacopa will feel at home in clay or a
water garden.
Superbena® Large Lilac Blue (Verbena hybrid)
Verbena
Unlike Bacopa, Verbena prefers well-drained soil and is the perfect
rock garden plant. I’m fond of its upright and cascading habit in
containers, as well as the large cluster of long-blooming flowers
and tidy leaves. In the garden, Verbena will spread quickly, filling
the front border without any pampering. As an added bonus, verbena attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.
Argyranthemum
I’ve grown Marguerite daisies (Argyranthemum) in both part and
full sun and seen more profuse blooming in full sun. They say
deadheading isn’t necessary, but I disagree. The heavy flowering of
this incredibly beautiful, upright plant means there are also many
spent, brown blooms. I regularly remove the exhausted blooms to
keep this plant in tip-top, attractive shape.
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‘Butterfly’ Marguerite daisy (Argyranthemum frutescens)
Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria Blue’
Patriot™ Weeper™ Sunbeam (Lantana camara)
Blue salvia
With its stunning show of purple-blue flowers, blue salvia is one
of the last annual plants standing in the fall. This plant doesn’t
need deadheading, and each flower lasts for months, if not the
entire growing season. Found mostly in plant packs at the nursery,
I shop early for it. Blue salvia is a popular plant among gardeners.
Gaura
Commonly called the butterfly flower, the blooms look like fluttering
butterflies from a distance. The annual Gaura is an upright plant,
getting 1 to 2 feet high. It is wonderful in the garden or in containers. It looks delicate but can withstand strong winds and rain.
Karalee® ‘Petite Pink’ (Gaura lindheimeri)
More Frost Resisters
For more frost-tolerant ideas, here are non-flowering annuals
that can handle light frost.
Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’)
Fiber optic grass (Isolepsis cernus)
Hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella)
Creeping wire vine (Muehlenbeckia axillaris)
Carex grass (Carex flagellifera)
Kale (Brassica oleracea)
Dusty miller (Senecio cineraria)
Duckfoot ivy (Hedera helix)
Corkscrew (Juncus effuses)
—M.M.R.
Blue lobelia
I commonly use the copious, intense, royal blue flowers in my garden and containers. I love the mounded, garden-edging lobelia
found in plant packs, and I also love the trailing lobelia found in
small pots at the nursery. This is one hot, attention-getting plant!
Dianthus
Also known as sweet William or pinks, the annual Dianthus is
another terrific garden edger. Leaving Dianthus in the ground at
the end of the season is a good idea because it may reward you by
returning the following spring. This annual is mostly sold with
white, pink and red flowers or a combination of the three colors.
Streptocarpella
A new plant for my garden, Streptocarpella has thick, succulent,
fuzzy leaves. Black, long, wiry stems bear feminine flowers on this
upright spiller plant. A shady area is best for Streptocarpella, and it
makes an excellent houseplant at the end of the season.
Lantana
Low maintenance and loads of blooms sums up Lantana. Flowers
come in many colors, but I prefer the cultivars that combine several colors in one large cluster. Both the flower and foliage are stunning. Lantana’s foliage is stiff and rough, keeping its tidy shape in
the heat. In addition, lantana tolerates drought. As fall frost brings an end to the growing season, annual plants
don’t need to finish early. For me, it’s all about maintaining color
for as long as possible. Of course, these annuals can be planted
early in the spring, a week or two before the last average frost.
However, it’s best to slowly acclimate them to the cool temps.
Professional photographer Michelle Mero Riedel is a frequent contributor to Northern Gardener.
Dianthus ‘Elation Red’
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