When I’m not reading and writing about gardening for work, I’m usually poring over the plants in my yard. In the summer, a lot of that focus is directed towards the annuals in my window boxes and porch pots. After over a decade of gardening, there are a few annuals for containers that stand above the others.
I’m a lazy gardener. I don’t want to work too hard to coax blooms out of my plants or baby them just to keep them alive. I like to plant my summer pots, then watch them grow as I sit in a lawn chair with a cold glass of iced tea. I think it was just the way I was raised because several of the plants on my list are ones my mom has also grown every summer for decades.
For me, the best plants for containers are ones that are easy to grow, don’t need much upkeep, and bloom all summer long. All my must-have annual plants hit those marks. Plus, they fill in fast and look lush until fall. Let’s take a look at the annuals for containers that top my list.
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My Must-Have Annuals for Containers
My favorite annuals for containers include both annual flowers that bloom all summer as well as gorgeous foliage plants that add texture and interest to pots for a stunning display that lasts all season.
1. Impatiens
Impatiens are the quintessential annual flowers for containers. They are so easy to grow, bloom all summer long, and fill pots and window boxes so fast. These are an absolute must if you’re looking for low-maintenance patio plants.
Impatiens, unlike petunias—another old-fashioned flower your grandma probably grew—don’t need deadheading to keep blooming. Just give them a couple doses of all-purpose flower fertilizer mixed into water over the course of the summer and they will reward you with effortless blooms all season.
I love the double bloom varieties and trays of multicolor impatiens like these ones from Lowe’s. But you really can’t go wrong with any type of these shade-loving annuals. There’s a color available for just about every garden.
2. Geraniums
Geraniums are another classic annual flower for containers—and for good reason! These tall, elegant sun-lovers have an understated beauty that allows them to fit in easily with a wide array of other plants. Like impatiens, they come in a ton of colors from true red to hot pink to coral to bubblegum to white and everything in between. The 'Maverick Mix’ of geranium seeds from the Gardening Know How Shop gives you a lovely combination of colors.
To keep geraniums blooming all summer, some minimal pruning is required. But deadheading geraniums is more of a fun activity than a chore. Simply pinch the faded flower head and stem where it meets the main trunk and pop the whole thing off the plant. Geranium blooms last fairly long, so you won’t need to deadhead that often.
3. Coleus
Coleus are mainly grown for their foliage, though they do produce a spike of blooms later in the summer that resembles a salvia flower. My absolute favorite types of coleus are the hot pink and green varieties, but planting a multicolor tray of coleus like this one from Lowe’s is a great way to add variety to your shade containers.
Just place coleus in a shady spot and let them grow. They’re so easy-care that I actually had one coleus reseed itself between the cracks in the pavers on my porch. It grew so well it produced a flower without me watering or caring for it at all. Now that’s low-maintenance!
4. Dragon Wing Begonias
There are so many beautiful types of begonias, including tons of indoor begonia varieties. But my favorite one for spectacular summer containers is the dramatic dragon wing begonia, sometimes known as angel wing begonias.
These show-stopping tropical flowers can be a bit difficult to find sometimes, though it seems like they’ve been getting more popular and easier to find over the past few years. If you can’t find dragon wing begonias in stores, they’re easy to grow seeds, which you can find online like this ravishing red cultivar from Burpee.
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