Submitted

Wave Blue Hybrid petunias are another blue annual that works well in cooler temperatures and sunny days. These are $3.75 per packet from Park Seeds.

Submitted

Alyssum offers a delicate look and sweet fragrance that’s a change from most larger-than-life tropicals.

Submitted

Lobelia, Fountain Blue, is a gorgeous autumn flower for Southwest Florida. It is a low-growing annual with 1/2-inch blooms, standing 5 to 9 inches tall and 4 to 6 inches wide, with a rounded habit, tolerant of full sun to part shade. Available from Park Seed for $1.75 per packet.

HARRIET HOWARD HEITHAUS

Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium) is a fragrant favorite by windows, but it makes a gentle hedge as well and is good in locations with dappled shade.

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NAPLES — Cooler, dryer weather means it’s time for annuals. While they can be labor-intensive, annuals provide instant color, variety and sometimes, fragrance.

People tend either to love or hate petunias, but there’s no doubt that this old-timey plant is here to stay. The new hybrids do well in South Florida if protected from harsh sun and wind. The best exposure for them is morning sun or sun broken by dappled shade throughout the day. They resent overhead watering mightily, so plant them out of range of the sprinkler system. They can be planted from fall through early spring, though a hot and windy March can be the end of them.

Petunias come in white, and a dizzying array of colors, sizes, and styles. Picotees, colored petals with a white edge, and pinwheel stripes give a pleasingly old-fashioned look. Newer varieties may sport dark veining on the petals, or dark centers.

There are both compact, mounding types and varieties of petunias with a cascading, trailing growth habit that makes them ideal for hanging baskets, window boxes or ground covers. The latter include the Wave, Avalanche, and Ramblin’ series. True miniature varieties are also available.

Fragrance is not a strong point with these tried and true annuals, but some of the dark purple varieties have a pleasant odor, especially in late afternoon. Skippers, halfway between butterflies and moths, are particularly fond of petunias, and will crawl all the way down into their throat in search of nectar. Petunias are generally not too bothered by pests and diseases in seasons of low humidity, but may need protection from slugs and snails.

Their blooms make great container combinations with sweet alyssum. You will find sweet alyssum in the garden quicker by following your nose than by looking for it. Nothing beats its sweet odor on a lazy afternoon. This diminutive, yet sturdy member of the mustard family performs beautifully during our dry winters and warm spring, all the way up to summer’s heat and humidity.

Sweet alyssum forms a mat or carpet 4 to 6 inches tall, and also thrives in pots. Once it starts blooming it just doesn’t quit, giving the appearance of billows of flowers. The abundant blooms attract many pollinating insects, adding to its charm. Sweet alyssum comes in white as well as shades of mauve and purple. The white form is more fragrant and less finicky than the colored varieties.

The only maintenance required is occasional shearing. After a spell of heavy blooming, plants will start looking messy and scraggly as they begin to produce seed. At this point cut them back by half or more, give them a shot of water and slow-release fertilizer, and wait for the next wave of blossoms.

Sweet alyssum is quite drought-hardy, but needs a half-day of shade or dappled sunlight to do its best here. Morning sun is kinder than afternoon light, especially as temperatures rise in the spring. In the right location, it will make it through to late May. Occasionally a plant will survive over the summer, and self-sown seedlings may appear in following years.

Place a minimum of three of these small plants together for visual and olfactory impact.

White alyssum is pretty planted in front of blue salvia and orange crossandra. It also makes a stunning hanging basket combination with cascading dark purple petunias. Once you’ve had sweet alyssum in your garden, you will never want to be without it.

For an intense, startling blue, nothing even comes close to annual lobelia. This low-growing plant will flower its heart out all winter if given dappled sunlight. Unless it is in a moist spot, it is better not planted in full sun, not even morning sunlight. It is not troubled by pests and disease and does not require deadheading or shearing to maintain its neat appearance. Like petunias, it comes in both mounding and trailing forms, and is very much at home in a container. It flowers so profusely that its foliage is scarcely visible. Although it occurs in shades of white, pink and purple, the blue form is the most striking. There is probably no other blue that is so clear and powerful as the flowers on this little jewel.

The word that best describes Dahlberg daisy is “cheerful.” Its flowers, about the size of a dime, float above bright yellow-green foliage reminiscent of dill. It is very drought tolerant, will take full sun to part shade, and is tolerant of our alkaline soils. It can get as tall as 12 inches, but stays shorter if kept moderately dry.

The Dahlberg daisy is not troubled by pests or disease, and if given a location it likes will self-sow for the next season. It would be striking mixed with alyssum and lobelia. It also will thrive in a container or window basket. The flowers, though small, are so numerous and bright, that the plant is very eye-catching.

Unfortunately this horticultural gem comes in and out of fashion in the bedding plant industry, and is not always available. On the other hand, it is easily grown from seed, and will flower in six weeks.

Although annuals tend to like as much water and fertilizer as they can get, all these selections will do just fine given organic material worked into the bed, mulch, slow-release fertilizer, and twice-weekly watering. If the mulch attracts slugs and snails, Sluggo brand baits are not toxic to pets. With these four species representing just the tip of the annual iceberg, why be content with the same old water-guzzling impatiens?

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Seed sources

If you prefer starting flowers from seed over buying them at local nurseries, try these:

■ Park Seed Co.: www.parkseed.com; (800) 213-0076

■ Thompson & Morgan: www.tmseeds.com; (800) 274 -7333

How to select and plant annuals

When you buy:

■ When buying annuals, look for buds rather than flowers. The plants will not be as far along in their growth cycle and will bloom better for you than the ones that are already full-blown in their nursery pots.

■ Check out the soil mix in the pots. It should neither be too dry, nor too wet. If it is soggy you have a good chance of buying a plant with half its roots already rotted If the plant is too stressed from drought it may not recover fully even in a great garden situation.

■ Some wear and tear on foliage is unavoidable given the tight spacing in garden centers, but avoid plants with brown, black or yellow spots on the leaves. Very faint white dappling is probably residue from pesticide, foliar feeding, or hard water. If the plant looks mildewy, skip it.

■ Avoid plants that look leggy or scraggly. Sometimes you can salvage such a plant by cutting it back drastically, but an annual that is obviously past its prime is not likely to recover.

When you plant:

■ Plant potted annuals as soon as possible. They can only decline the longer they stay in their small pots. Do not plant any deeper than the level of the soil in the pot. Gently disentangle the root ball to increase chances of developing a good root system.

■ If plants are in peat pots it is a good idea either to peel away the peat or at least puncture it so that the plant doesn’t become root bound. Never let the rim of a peat or paper pot extend above the soil level, for it will wick away soil moisture.

■ The trick in spacing annuals is to get them close enough to discourage weed invasion, but far enough apart so that they do not crowd each other. Good air circulation is important for bedding plant health.

■ Mulch is very beneficial, but be sure that it does not touch the stems. Avoid material such as grass clippings that can mat and actually prevent water and nutrients from getting into the soil. Don’t use more than a 2-inch layer of mulch, and water plants well before mulching.

Keep an eye on the plants, to catch insect or disease problems before they get out of hand.

■ Annuals like plenty of water. Many annuals will still look fine with only twice weekly watering. For best disease resistance, avoid wetting flowers and foliage.

■ Annuals are usually heavy feeders. The most ecologically responsible approach in South Florida is to use slow release, pelleted fertilizer. It may be worked into the planting bed or applied on top of the soil. If plenty of organic material is worked into the soil, and a mulch is applied, less fertilizer is required.