Replacement Annuals

It is August in the NC Piedmont once again and the “dog-days” of summer are here to stay. Driving around the Triangle this time of year, it’s hard not to notice dozens of abandoned window baskets, dried-up annual beds and disappearing hanging plants. Maybe that neighbor who was supposed to water every day while you were on vacation skipped a day to two, or maybe the once lush annuals you put in for the spring season are now dull and it’s time for a refreshing plant pallet. Whatever the reason, now is the perfect time to replace those tired spring annuals with drought and heat tolerant plants to give you a colorful show into November. You might even run into some great end-of-the-season sales in the process!

The following are some of Fairview favorite replacement annuals for late summer gardens that are in stock now and still looking fabulous.

Happy Gardening,
Lisa Jennings, Greenhouse
Fairview Greenhouse and Garden Center

Bandana Lantana (Lantana camera, Bandana™ series)
The bandana series of Lantana adds a new twist to this drought-tolerant southern favorite. Unlike its perennial cousins, the bandana series produce compact, well-branched plants with a mature size of only two feet tall and wide. The small mounding habit of this plant makes it ideal for planters, window baskets, hanging baskets as well as the landscape. The series also boasts the largest flowers of any Lantana, which come in a range of colors and may change from as they mature (yellows, to pinks, to reds).

Blue Daze (Evolvulus glomeratus ‘Blue Daze’)
Native to the hot, humid regions of Brazil, this little gem is a lesser known trailing annual which adds a splash of icy blue flowers to your garden all summer long. With a height of 12 inches and a spread up to two feet, Blue Daze is ideal for full sun to part shade. It works well in hanging baskets and planters and can take the place of spent petunias that are leggy with bare centers. It also works well at the front of borders and is a favorite when combined with the golden hues of zinnias and marigolds. Once established, blue daze requires minimal water and fertilization. At the end of the season, it can even be brought into the house to overwinter as a houseplant!

Mandevilla (Mandevilla splendens)
The Mandevilla vine is a garden staple and one of our favorite plants here at Fairview. We grow it in many sizes and it is a constant performer in our hot greenhouses late into the summer season. The large blooms (up to 6 inches across) come in pink, white and red and look gorgeous wrapped around a light post or mailbox, climbing up a fence, or even spilling down from a hanging basket. Once established, mandevilla is drought tolerant, fast growing with it’s stems reaching over ten feet and a proven low maintenance plant in the full, hot summer sun.

Pentas (Pentas lanceolata)
This heat-tolerant annual, native to northern Africa, provides great color and height to the late summer garden. With large clusters of star-shaped flowers in shades of pink, white, red, or lavender, this flower is a favorite of butterflies and hummingbirds alike. Once established, Pentas are both drought tolerant and low maintenance and will constantly provide luscious blooms until the first frost. A tall to mounding plant, with a mature size of three feet tall by two feet wide, this performer is a great “thriller” for full sun containers or annual beds.

Dragon Wing Begonia (Begonia ‘Dragon Wing’)
Dragon wing begonias are a relatively new addition to the Begonia family, but are already a favorite among gardeners and we know why! Dragon wing begonias provide the reliable performance of their old fashioned cousins, but with large, thick, green leaves that give them an even greater drought tolerance. The waxy leaves are topped all season with clusters of drooping red or pink flowers. This mounding plant, growing up to two feet tall and wide, adds a great medium height to part sun or part shade containers, window baskets and annual beds. Dragon wing begonias provide the perfect color to those areas with only a few hours of hot afternoon sun.