Annuals are flowers that last one year. They are grown from seed each year and then they bloom. Once the season is over you’ll have to replant them.
Many annual flowers in Phoenix will bloom just about all year. Annual flowers in Phoenix can provide year-round color when planted in between perennials.
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Overview: What Flowers Can you Grow in Arizona?
When you use both perennial and annuals in your flower garden there is never a break in bloom times. Something will always be flowering.
One of the great things about annuals is there is no long term commitment to them. Your garden can have a new look each year with a minimum investment.
Perennial plants are the mainstay of your garden. They provide shade, color, flowers, wonderful scents and fruit. Creating a perennial flower garden in phoenix in Phoenix is easy to do because you have so many choices.
- Grow Annual Flowers
- What Annual Flowers Grow in Phoenix
- When to Plant Annual Flowers
- Grow Perennial Flowers
- What Perennial Flowers Grow in Phoenix
- When to Plant Perennial Flowers
How to Grow Annual Flowers in Phoenix
Flowers love nutrient rich soil. Many annuals have a long growing season here in Phoenix. While in most parts of the country you’ll have to worry about frost, here you worry about the summer heat.
Provide them with some shade in the hotter months, and cover them during frosts and this will extend their bloom time.
Most annuals do pretty well.
Deadheading the flowers, or simply pinching off the spent blooms will encourage the plant to put energy into created new blooms.
We have the best success with annuals grown in a raised garden bed or in containers. Just remember if they are in containers the soil will dry out sooner, so you’ll need to be more diligent with watering.
What Annual Flowers Grow in Phoenix?
Many colorful annual flowers do well in the low desert. To prolong their growing season cover during frosts and provide afternoon shade. Annual flowers are also beneficial to plant near many vegetables to deter pests.
Asters, baby’s breath, cosmos, dianthus or Sweet William, globe amaranth, impatien, marigolds, pansies, pentas, petunias, poppies, portulaca, sweet alyssum, sweet peas, violas or Johnny Jump – ups, and zinnias are some of the many annual flowers you can grow in the low desert.
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Annual flowers like Zinnias and Cosmos attract butterflies. Pentas attract both butterflies and hummingbirds.
For the best selection of flowers you can purchases hundreds of different annuals in seeds. For instant gratification, you can purchase annuals in starter packages in full bloom.
Personally, I have better success starting seeds indoors with the more delicate annuals than if I plant the seeds outside. I’ve never had a problem getting Zinnias, Cosmos or Sunflowers to grow directly from seed outside.
When to Plant Annual Flowers in Phoenix
Plant warm season annual flowers, or those that will bloom through the summer, February through May. If you plan on propagating from seed, sow indoors in December or January.
Plant cool season annual flowers in the fall. These flowers will provide winter and spring blooms in your garden.
While some of the annuals can take light frost, it is better to just plan on covering any annuals during frost warnings. Usually by the end of February you won’t need to worry about this.
Perennial Flowers
Perennial plants are the mainstay of your garden. They provide shade, color, flowers, wonderful scents and fruit. Creating a perennial flower garden in phoenix in Phoenix is easy to do because you have so many choices.
Perennial plants can be divided into two groups:
- herbaceous perennials such as trees, shrubs and vines
- non-herbaceous perennials such as flowers and herbs
By definition a perennial plant is one that lives for more than two years.
Perennial Gardening in Phoenix Arizona
Flowers and herbs have stems that die down at the end of the growing season and become dormant. In Phoenix the dormant season can either be in winter or in summer depending on the plant.
The dormant season is generally pretty short. Choose perennials based on bloom times and plant so that as one plant finishes blooming another variety will take the spotlight and produce blooms. You can also plant annual flowers with your perennial flowers to extend your growing season.
Perennial Flowers you may see in Phoenix include:
- Lily of the Nile
- Angelita Daisy
- Blackfoot Daisy
- Desert Marigold
- Rain Lily
- Verbena
- red flax
- Autumn Sage
- Hummingbird Mint
- Penstemon (firecracker & Parri)
- African Daisy
- Hibiscus
- Bougainvillea
- Oleander
- Lilies
- Iris
Lily of the Nile which produces a beautiful clusters of lavender flowers in January. Autumn Sage an incredibly attractive shrub for hummingbirds that does well in our desert heat, Penstemon’s delicate tubular flowers, Hummingbird Mint, the cheery African Daisy, tropical Hibiscus, or the popular highway planting of Bougainvillea and Oleander to name a few.
Trees, vines and shrubs remain alive during dormant season and they grow new shoots. Some will lose their leaves, but most trees around Phoenix are evergreen and keep their leaves year round.
Plant them, nurture them and they reward you with a beautiful garden year after year. When planted correctly with annuals you can achieve year round color in your garden. Mix up your flower garden with both annuals and perennials.
Best time to Plant Your Perennial Garden in Phoenix
A great time to plant most perennials in the Phoenix area is November through March. This gives them time to establish their root systems before the hot summer arrives.
Iris bulbs should be planted in November, but Lilies should be planted in January or February. As a general rule of thumb, late-summer or fall-flowering perennials are planted in the spring, while spring-flowering perennials are planted in late summer or early fall.
