Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Spring, summer
Height and spread: 1m × 75cm (3ft 4in × 2ft 6in)
Companion plants: Attractive when allowed to colonize areas between shrubs – especially such Mediterranean species as rosemary, lavender, Santolina or Phlomis fruticosa, or to pop up at random in a mixed border.
Briza maxima
Greater Quaking Grass Annual
A free-seeding annual grass which performs best in hot, dry conditions, where the plants are less likely to become invasive. Mid-green, soft grass foliage emerges in autumn or spring. The flower stems are wiry and much branched, bearing cone-shaped flowers which shimmer and tremble in the slightest breeze. Superb for cutting and drying.
Soil preference: Dry, not too fertile
Aspect: Sun or part shade
Season of interest: Summer
Height and spread: 60cm × 45cm (2ft × 18in)
Companion plants: A beautiful foil for showy herbaceous plants such as scabious, cornflowers, Linum or Oenothera.
Eschscholzia californica
Californian Poppy Annual or shortlived perennial
A beautiful combination of blue-green, lacy foliage and bright, silky-textured flowers makes this American native a valuable plant, especially for a dry garden. The wild species has bright orange flowers, but seed selections come in a range of sunset hues from cream or primrose yellow, through peachy tones to burnt orange. Best in free-draining soil.
Soil preference: Dry, not too fertile
Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Summer
Height and spread: 30cm × 30cm (1ft × 1ft)
Companion plants: The orange form makes a stirring companion to such bronze-tinted grasses as Stipa tenuissima or the sedge Carex buchananii. Also good in a gravel garden, where its misty foliage and silky petals will soften hard textures.
Geranium robertianum
Herb Robert Annual
An invasive annual with spreading habit, pungentsmelling, ferny foliage and a long run of tiny, pink, five-petalled flowers. The albino form, ‘Album’, is more distinctive. A thug in the wrong place, but charming when allowed to self-sow in drifts in gravel or along the edges of a path.
Soil preference: Any free-draining
Aspect: Sun or part shade
Season of interest: Spring, summer, autumn
Height and spread: 20cm × 40cm (8in × 1ft 4in)
Companion plants: Naturalize this one with other gravel or paving crack plants such as Viola riviniana or Alchemilla.
Annuals for very rich soil
Consolida ajacis
Larkspur Annual
Classic cornfield annual which has been bred to improve height, standing power, and colour range. The leaves are finely divided and the tall, straight stems are furnished with spurred flowers in shades of pink or blue or white. Easy to raise from seed sown in autumn or spring, directly where they are expected to flower.
Soil preference: Fertile, well-drained
Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Summer
Height and spread: Up to 1m × 30cm (3ft 4in × 1 ft)
Companion plants: Good as a cut flower and therefore effective grown among vegetables in a kitchen garden or in a mixed border. Attractive with roses, where the straight spikes make a strong contrast and where the blues and pinks of the flowers harmonize.
Helianthus annuus
Sunflower – large varieties Annual
Biggest of the hardy annuals and raised as food crops in Central America since prehistoric times. The stout stems are strong enough to carry the massive flowers and seed heads without support. Some ornamental varieties are sterile and bear no pollen. Field crop sunflowers are golden yellow, but cultivated forms include such colourful series as ‘Ring of Fire’, whose flowers have concentric ring patterns in hues of dusky red and yellow, or ‘Moonshadow’, whose flowers are cream.
Soil preference: Rich, fertile
Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Summer
Height and spread: Up to 3m × 1m (10ft by 3ft)
Companion plants: Useful plant to create a temporary screen, or to use as accent plants in a bedding scheme, cottage border or kitchen garden.
Linum grandiflorum
Flowering Flax Annual
Slender, almost wiry stems with narrow, pointed leaves bear a long succession of disc-shape flowers up to 4cm (1¾in) across. In the wild, these are rosy purple, but seed selections include ‘Bright Eyes’, whose flowers are white with conspicuous wine red centres, and ‘Rubrum’, whose petals are a deeper rose with dark crimson centres.
Soil preference: Any, free-draining
Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Summer
Height and spread: 45cm × 30cm (1ft 6in × 1ft)
Companion plants: The waving stems and frail flowers look delightful among coloured grasses or sedges such as Carex comans or Molinia caerulea. Also lovely when naturalized among low-growing shrubs in a Mediterranean-style planting scheme.
Annuals for gap-filling in mixed borders
Cynoglossum amabile
Chinese Forget-me-not Annual
J. Swithinbank
Narrow, pointed leaves on branched stems are joined in early and mid-summer by clusters of small forget-me-not flowers in an intense blue. Pink and white flowered varieties are also available. The seeds are large and exceptionally hard.