Tuck a few annual plants among
perennials for extra seasonlong
color.

Getting Started

Bedding plants are right for you if you want an instant garden of beautiful blooms, or if you don't have time, space, or inclination to start your own annuals from seed. Started flats and packs of almost any type of flowering annual can be purchased at local garden centers. Most of these plants should be planted after the last frost in your area. These transplants can give you a jump on summer color and transform your flower beds almost overnight from dull to sensational.

 

Look for stocky plants when
shopping for annuals.

You'll get a lot of enjoyment from your annual investment in bedding plants. Professionally grown, they will be larger and easier to handle, will give you at least an extra month of color, and will be better established before midsummer's heat and drought have a chance to wilt and kill them.