Whether fresh or dried flowers, blooms for either shade or sun, or container flowers for your garden, annuals are hard to beat. However, not all annuals are created equally! Some do better in other areas of the country, while some plants thrive in the Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts areas. So, what are some of the best annuals for Cape Cod gardens? Read on to learn about blooming Cape Cod plants, specifically Cape Cod annuals.
More About Annuals
While perennials are long-lasting and give again year after year, annuals are a time-honored favorite for those who love flower gardens. Quick growing with brilliant color, versatile, and mostly a less expensive option, annuals are also adaptable for planting over waning spring blooming bulbs.
Low-maintenance annuals come in a variety of hues, sizes, textures, and sun exposures. Some thrive well in full sun, while others do well in full shade or part shade. No matter the environment in your landscape, there’s a place for annuals in it!
Annuals for Cape Cod Gardens
Cape Cod can be known for its harsh winters, but once the blustery winter is behind us and spring and summer are in full swing, gardeners are always searching for some quick color, and this is where blooming annuals come into play. Luckily enough, Cape Cod is fairly temperate from spring through fall, which gives gardeners a large variety of annuals to choose from.
Types of Annuals for Cape Cod
Some annuals are fairly easy-going in most climates. These include geraniums, impatiens, marigolds, snapdragons, and pansies. Just as these annuals will thrive anywhere else, they are obvious choices for the Cape Cod gardener. Other common varieties that will thrive in a Cape Cod garden include petunias, dahlias, zinnias, and nasturtiums.
If you’re more interested in planting a particular area of your garden such as a shaded bed or a sun-drenched incline…annuals have you covered.
Sun Loving Annuals for Cape Cod
While the above common annuals thrive in the sun, these varieties do as well, which include bidens, angelonia, cape daisy, blanket flower, lantana, gazania, phlox, Mexican heather, salvia, portulaca, sweet alyssum, strawflower, and verbena. Annuals that do well on Cape Cod for foliage variety include ornamental kale, dusty miller, sweet potato vine, or pepper.
Grasses can also complete the look by adding some height and movement. Grasses for our area can include fountain grass, feather grass, and gold millet grass.
Annuals for Full Shade to Part Shade
There is also an immense variety of shade-loving annuals for Cape Cod landscapers. For example: browallia, begonia, foxglove, flowering tobacco, impatiens, fuchsia, New Guinea impatiens, lobelia, wishbone flower, and twinspur are all perfect annuals suited to our southeastern Massachusetts climate.
Cape Cod gardens also enjoy foliage varieties for shade including Joseph’s coat, bloodleaf, fancy leaved caladium, coleus, Rex Begonia, perilla, and shamrock. Looking for some shade-loving grasses? Try ornamental millet or sedge in your shaded Cape Cod garden!
Cape Cod Annuals that are Deer-Resistant
Along with their beauty, selection, and heartiness, annuals also tend to be a favorite of deer. They enjoy them because they are not prickly or strong smelling, but rather more on the tender and succulent side. If you wish to have deer-resistant annuals in your residential or commercial landscape, a few good ones to consider include marigolds, cosmos, and nasturtiums. Others to consider for deer-resistant annuals are heliotrope, floss flower, larkspur, painted tongue, nicotiana, and spider flower.
Summary
So, there you have it, you are now armed with lots of information on the types of annuals to choose from, regardless of the amount of sun and shade in your Cape Cod backyard. If the choices and the work ahead to plant these seem like an ominous task, fret not! Gade Masonry & Landscaping can handle this and more! We work closely with all our customers to custom-tailor their Cape Cod hardscapes for selections, planting, and upkeep so that all you need to do is sit in your backyard and take in the beautiful scenery! Call us today for a free estimate at (508) 292-2160!