The beginning of this chapter focuses on design principles. This section takes a pragmatic approach, giving you suggestions of exactly what to plant where to achieve the effect that you want for particular areas in your yard.

In just about all cultures and styles of gardening since garden-making began, beds and borders (click here for some specifics on creating a flower bed) have been the major elements used to organize landscape design. (Click here for more on landscape design) Appealing beds and borders typically combine plants of varying heights and textures in a pleasing color scheme. They include fragrant annuals as well as annuals that bloom when bulbs fade away in the spring, they produce flowers that you can cut for indoor bouquets, and they provide color contrasts or accents when planted between or in front of trees, shrubs, and perennials in existing borders.

The Big Guys

Tall-growing annuals, reaching a height of 3 to 4 feet or taller, function in three major ways in beds and borders:

• They form a backdrop to show off the flowers in the front of the bed when planted along the back edge of borders.
• They provide height down the middle of the bed in a planting bed meant to be viewed from all sides.
• They’re useful for quick-growing screening — to hide a utility area or cover the wall of a garage.

The following annuals grow to 3 to 4 feet or taller:

• Basket flower (Centaurea americana)
• Castor bean (Ricinus communis)
• Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)
• Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris)
• Love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus)
• Spider flower (Cleome)
• Sunflower (Helianthus annus)
• Verbena (Verbena bonariensis)

Middle Of The Pack

Ranging from 1 to 3 feet, these plants are the ones that you use most frequently in all your planting schemes. They’re ideal for the middle of beds and borders, and they’re also the right scale for most containers:

• African daisy (Arctotis)
• Ageratum
• Calendula
• Dwarf dahlia
• Geranium, zonal (Pelargonium hortorum)
• Gloriosa daisy, or black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
• Heliotrope
• Larkspur (Consolida ambigua)
• Marigolds (Tagetes)
• Phlox, annual (Phlox drummondii)
• Snapdragon (Antirrhinium majus)
• Zinnia (Zinnia angustifolia)

Short Stuff

Short annuals (usually less than 8 inches tall) play two of the most important roles in beds and borders: They fill in spaces between larger annuals, and they spill over or trim the edge of a bed, softening the other, more distinct flower shapes. Be sure to choose dwarf varieties when an annual comes in a wide range of sizes. The following dependable annuals stay under 6 to 8 inches tall:

• Bedding or wax begonias (Begonia semperflorens)
• Impatiens
• Lobelia (Lobelia erinus)
• Mignonette (Reseda odorata)
• Nasturtium
• Pansy (Viola wittrockiana)
• Petunia
• Sweet alyssum (Lobularia)
• Verbena

More Bed And Border Annuals

Tons of annuals perform beautifully in both beds and borders. You can use the following annuals to fill different roles, such as providing long bloom, pleasant fragrance, or bright foliage. Some are especially easy to grow or have the ability to flourish in less-than-ideal situations.

Easy annuals for beginning gardeners

Forget-me-not (These also reseed themselves.)
Impatiens (These also have a long bloom season.)
Lobelia (These also have a long bloom season.)
Pansy
Sweet pea (This annual vine is also fragrant.)

Annuals that reseed themselves

California poppy (These are also drought resistant.)
Cornflower, or bachelor’s button
Nasturtium (Those with variegated leaves also have colorful foliage.)
Shirley poppy
Spider flower (These are also drought tolerant.)

Annuals with a long bloom season

Bedding begonia, or wax begonia
Cosmos
Flowering tobacco (These are also fragrant)
Gazania
Marigold, African and French
Zinnia

Annuals with colorful foliage

Coleus
Flowering kale and flowering cabbage
Licorice plant
Love-lies-bleeding
New Guinea impatiens
Snow-on-the-mountain

Drought-tolerant annuals

Baby’s breath
Gloriosa daisy (black-eyed Susan)
Sweet alyssum (These are also fragrant.)
Strawflower
Verbena

Fragrant annuals

Heliotrope
Mignonette
Pink
Stock
Sweet sultan

Annual vines

Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia)
Cup-and-saucer vine (Cobaea scandens)
Love-in-a-puff (Cardiospermum halicacabum)
Moonflower
Morning glory