Annuals for Specific Locations
Most annuals will do well if provided with the proper maintenance, however, specific plants tend to do better in certain environments than in others. Careful plant selection can insure the proper annuals for environments known to be excessively shady, sunny, dry, moist, cool, or hot.
Shade
One of the most often asked question by gardeners everywhere is what plants can be grown in the shade. Few plants flower in heavy shade, but many do well with four hours or less of direct sunlight. Here are a few recommended plants for shady areas. For heavy shade select begonia, browallia, coleus, fuchsia, impatiens, and torenia. For partial shade, ageratum, alyssum, begonia, dianthus, dusty miller, impatiens, lobelia, nicotiana, pansy, and red salvia are recommended. Check the Annual Selection Guide for a more complete list of choices.
Sunny
Hot and dry areas are common along the edges of pavement or in front of either light or very dark colored, south facing structures. Intense reflected light or radiated heat dries the soil quickly and tests the staying power of most annuals. Protect plants in these locations with a thick mulch and water thoroughly and possibly more often than the rest of the garden. Plants that do well in hot dry areas include: amaranthus, blue salvia, celosia, dusty miller, gazania, melampodium, ornamental pepper, petunia, portulaca, strawflower, verbena, vinca, and zinnia.