Top New Red, Orange, and Yellow Annuals for 2011

A summer stunner, 'Coconut Ice' sunflower adds a crisp, cool look to the garden with its big, 8-inch-wide heads of vanilla-cream-color flowers that fade to white as they mature.

Name: Helianthus 'Coconut Ice'

Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: To 5 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Grow it with: Black-eyed Susan vine, which will climb up the stems and add cheery color to the stalks

Source: burpee.com

Available from seed: Yes

Image courtesy burpee.com

Featuring double flowers in a warm range of fall colors, we bet this new line of gerbera daisies will catch your attention. They're great cut flowers and look fantastic when grown in mixed containers -- or by themselves.

Name: Gerbera 'Autumn Colors'

Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: To 14 inches tall and 10 inches wide

Grow it with: Salvia, which loves heat and continues blooming well into the summer, when gerbera daisies typically take a rest

Source: Look for this variety at your local garden center

Available from seed: Yes

An easy-growing canna that fits well in beds and borders as well as containers, we bet you'll love its rich dark bronze foliage, bold scarlet-red flowers, and compact habit.

Name: Canna 'Topical Bronze Scarlet'

Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 30 inches tall and 18 inches wide

Grow it with: Dusty miller, which creates a startling contrast with its silvery foliage

Source: Look for this variety at your local garden center

Available from seed: Yes

The world's first yellow scaevola, 'Suntastic' features clusters of creamy-yellow blooms with rich lemon-color throats on a spreading plant that's perfect for spilling over the sides of your favorite container.

Name: Scaevola 'Suntastic'

Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 6 inches tall and 20 inches wide

Grow it with: Blue verbena, which creates a lovely color contrast

Source: Look for this variety at your local garden center

Available from seed: No

The boldest, brightest verbena we've ever seen, 'Estrella Voodoo Star' shows off flaming-red flowers painted with creamy-white streaks. It also offers good tolerance to powdery mildew, a common disease, keeping the plant looking good longer into the season.

Name: Verbena 'Estrella Voodoo Star'

Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 6 inches tall and 20 inches wide

Grow it with: 'Dipt in Wine' coleus, which features dark foliage with golden accents

Source: Look for this variety at your local garden center

Available from seed: No

A souped-up sweet William, 'Diabunda Red' offers a longer blooming season and more compact habit than older varieties. It's a great performer for containers, beds, and borders.

Name: Dianthus 'Diabunda Red'

Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 8 inches tall and 10 inches wide

Grow it with: White verbena for a lovely, classic combo

Source: Look for this variety at your local garden center

Available from seed: No

This perky variety, which features warm salmon-red flowers that fade to coral pink around the edges, is an ideal pick for baskets and containers where it can overflow to blooming exuberance. This calibrachoa flowers all summer long, practically smothering itself in blooms.

Name: Calibrachoa 'Superbells Coralberry Punch'

Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 1 foot tall and trailing to 3 feet

Grow it with: This bold variety doesn't need plant partners to look good

Source: Find a garden center near you at provenwinners.com

Available from seed: No

Offering great heat tolerance, 'Golddust' Mercardonia creates a mat of color in the landscape. It's a profuse bloomer, bearing many tiny golden-yellow blooms that give the carpetlike plant a sparkly look.

Name: Mercardonia 'Golddust'

Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 3 inches tall and 16 inches wide

Grow it with: Yellow zinnias, which make for great punctuation points for the Mercardonia

Source: Find a garden center near you at provenwinners.com

Available from seed: No

A cheery, long-blooming annual with semidouble golden-yellow flowers, Goldilocks Rocks will add excitement to your container combinations. In addition to those beautiful blooms, it also features ferny foliage.

Name: Goldilocks Rocks Bidens ferulifolia

Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 1 foot tall and trailing to 1 foot

Grow it with: Rich purple petunias, which create a fantastic color combo

Source: Find a garden center near you at provenwinners.com

Available from seed: No

Offering the biggest flowers we've ever seen on impatiens, 'Magnum Fire' shows off 3-inch-wide blooms in a bold orange-red color. The flowers shine against the rich dark green foliage.

Name: Impatiens 'Magnum Fire'

Growing conditions: Part shade and moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 14 inches tall and wide

Grow it with: Croton, a tropical plant that often has the same bold orange color running in its leaves

Source: Look for this variety at your local garden center

Available from seed: No

Featuring soft salmon-orange flowers, 'Potunia Papaya' petunia stands out for its unique color. It also has a great mounding habit that makes it a winner when used in the landscape or container gardens.

Name: Petunia 'Potunia Papaya'

Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 12 inches tall and 36 inches wide

Grow it with: Blue salvia, which creates a delightful color combination

Source: Look for this variety at your local garden center

Available from seed: No

If you'd like something on the softer side in the nasturium world, try 'Buttercream'. This stunner shows off semidouble blooms in a delicate shady of creamy yellow. It's a lot tougher than it looks, holding up to heat and drought like a champ.

Name: Tropaeolum 'Buttercream'

Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: To 10 inches tall and 20 inches wide

Grow it with: Dusty miller, for a breathtaking silver-and-cream combo

Source: reneesgarden.com

Available from seed: Yes

Image courtesy reneesgarden.com

Salvias have become garden favorites for their bold blooms, resistance to deer and rabbits, and tough constitutions. 'Summer Jewel Red' is an All-America award-winning selection for 2011 that shows off bright red flower spikes that hummingbirds find irresistible and a compact habit that's easy to use in containers or the landscape.

Name: Salvia coccinea 'Summer Jewel Red'

Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: To 20 inches tall and 16 inches wide

Grow it with: Blue salvia, which creates a wonderful contrast in color and adds great garden texture

Source: Look for this variety at your local garden center

Available from seed: Yes

One of the boldest sunflowers yet, 'Frilly' shows off big flowers with chocolate-brown centers and uniquely ragged and frilled petals. Each one is a work of art! The plants produce branching clusters of blooms that are great for cutting.

Name: Helianthus annuus 'Frilly'

Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: To 6 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Grow it with: Cannas, especially orange and red varieties, to create unforgettable summer drama

Source: burpee.com

Available from seed: Yes

Image courtesy burpee.com

Big sunflowers with massive heads aren't for everyone. If you like the idea of something smaller, look at 'Sunny Bunch', a dwarf sunflower that produces lots of branches of cheery 7-inch blooms.

Name: Helianthus annuus 'Sunny Bunch'

Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: To 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Grow it with: Zinnias, which are also great cut flowers and love a warm, sunny spot

Source: cooksgarden.com

Available from seed: Yes

Image courtesy cooksgarden.com

One of the most interesting zinnias around, 'Little Lions' shows off 5-inch-wide clusters of double orange-red flowers that have multiple layers of petals, creating a distinctly wild look. It's an excellent variety for the butterfly garden and is tough to beat in bouquets.

Name: Zinnia elegans 'Little Lions'

Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: To 42 inches tall and 20 inches wide

Grow it with: Heliotrope, which features purple flowers that smell great

Source: reneesgarden.com

Available from seed: Yes

Image courtesy reneesgarden.com