“Why include annuals in a book on bloom times?” I used to think.  “They’re only blobs to be plunked down for summer-long color, right?”

Well, though it might be the goal of breeders to produce plants that churn out an unwavering supply of blossoms for three months or more in summer, many annuals do not follow this program.

But that’s okay!

Plants that only shine for one or two months out of the year, in my opinion, have more personality than those that look the same for three or four months straight.

Together with the trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses, and bulbs of the season, these shorter-span annuals evoke a particular place on the calendar, rather than a season-long sameness.  They can help to give a garden not only the “sense of place” so often talked about, but also a “sense of time.”