What time of year is best to buy and plant annuals?

I've had the same old annuals going throughout my yard for the past several years. They are becoming poor quality and smallish; producing little plant growth and even fewer blossoms. It's definitely time for something new. Right now I have in some daffodils, tulips, and some other small purple flower that I can't remember the name of. I'm thinking of getting new flowers, but still buying similar species. When is the right time to buy and plant these types of blooms? It seems logical to purchase the actual flower (potted) in spring, when the flowers are in growth, but I've also heard of buying the seeds in fall and planting them so that they'll appear the next spring. Help?!

What time of year is best to buy and plant annuals?
You'll get the best looking annuals right at planting season in your area. Don't put in the ground until you're sure you've had the last frost. If you already planted them, cover them at night with an old towel. Just remove the towel in the morning. If you've been planting the same annuals each year, your soil, or the plants by have a fungus. Home centers usually buy in bulk and most of the plants get leggy and look sick by the middle of summer. (I love impatients but last year, they just looked sick.) Make sure you give your annuals fertilizer, especially the ones that encourage blooming. One good thing about annuals is they can take abuse. You can break of a stem, put it in the soil, keep it watered, and within a few days, it has already got roots.



If you want tulips, daffodils, crocus, hyacinth, etc for the spring you have to buy the bulbs in the fall. Around September-November they are usually on the market. They can be planted through late winter, as long as you can work the soil. Good Luck.
Reply:May is the best time, usually after "Mothers Day"
Reply:Now is the time to plant annuals where you live. However I hear you are having some snow this weekend, so you might want to wait another week or so.

You cannot buy spring annuals in the fall. It's too cold where you live to overwinter them. You can, however, plant tulips, daffs, crocuses in the fall and enjoy them in the spring.
Reply:mid may is a good time maybe late may or early june so that way they wont die from a rare frost





also put them in decorative pots.



use miracle gro which is a common plant food. it works really well. just wait about 3 weeks for results
Reply:The small purple flower is either a crocus (looks like a mini tulip) or a wind flower ( looks like a tiny daisy)

You can get your answers also at www.gardenweb.com - there is a forum where you can get more answers from top gardeners there.

Planting seeds in the fall works but I've only had the morning glories do this repeatedly and I live in Michigan...zone 5. I have also known more perennials to drop seed and regrow in spring that way as well. It happens with some annuals here and there like allysum, but to answer the question as to when, your zone is probably 6? My planting time is mid May - yours may be early to mid May.

I grow impatiens for shade areas - they fill in nicely, and petunias, geraniums, salvia......to name a few in the sunny ones.

I grow my seeds indoors in March to be ready for May.

www.parkseed.com has many varieties for your home - you'll like this site very much.