by Mary C. Weaver on April 3, 2009
- Antique Roses for the South (Taylor, 2004) by William C. Welch
- Classic Roses (Random House, 2002) by Peter Beales
- Climbing Roses (Prentice Hall, 1994) by Stephen Scanniello and Tania Bayard
- The English Roses (Firefly, 2008) by David Austin
- The Gardener’s Guide to Common-Sense Pest Control (Taunton Press, 1996) by William Olkowski
- Good Bugs for Your Garden (Algonquin, 1995) by Allison Mia Starcher
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Roses (Timber Press, 1992), edited by Mary Moody and Jack Harkness
- Old Roses and English Roses (Antique Collectors’ Club, 1992) by David Austin
- One Hundred Old Roses for the American Garden (Workman, 2000) by Clair Martin
- The Organic Rose Garden (Taylor, 2004) by Liz Druitt
- Rosa Gallica (Firefly, 1999) by Suzanne Verrier
- Rosa Rugosa (Firefly, 1999) by Suzanne Verrier
- The Rose Bible (Chronicle, 1998) by Rayford Clayton Reddell
- A Year of Roses (Cool Springs Press, 2006) by Stephen Scanniello
by Mary C. Weaver on May 25, 2008
Some years I start annuals early–like the sweet peas I should have planted after Thanksgiving. They would look fabulous now growing near ‘Buff Beauty’. But other years I am preoccupied with other things.
I love annuals for color in the garden, keeping up the show while the roses and perennials cycle in and out. The garden needed watering, so before putting on the sprinkler a few minutes ago, I sowed generous quantities of the following seeds:
- Salvia coccinea ‘Lady in Red’ (my favorite annual salvia, which is beautiful and not a big vulgar)
- S. coccinea ‘Coral Nymph’ (not as vigorous as ‘Lady in Red’ but nice)
- Eschscholzia californica ‘Jersey Cream’ (California poppy)
- E. californica ‘Thai Silk Fire Bush’
- E. californica ‘Apricot Flambeau’
- Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Giant Tetra Trianon’
- C. bipinnatus ‘Double Click’
All except the S. coccinea came from Select Seeds, which has about the best selection of old-fashioned and worthy modern annuals.
Late-sowing of annuals is a great trick for keeping the garden looking great well into fall.