Amazing annuals - from Angelonia to Zinnia - are the backbone of spring, summer and fall planters, hanging baskets and gardens! Thanks to the incredible work of plant breeders around the world, the choices for annuals are endless and stronger than ever. There truly is an annual for every garden and purpose!
Cool season annuals such as osteospermums, ranunculus, pansies, nemesias, and diascias announce the arrival of spring with their amazing flowers. These colorful plants, available in spring, jump start the long awaited gardening season when planted in beds, pots, and window boxes.
Summer lovin’ spillers, fillers and thrillers! Translation – spillers such as creeping jenny, ivy, lantana, scaveola, bacopa, sweet potato vine, vinca vine, verbena, wave petunias ‘spill’ from window boxes, hanging baskets and planters. Fillers are plants that ably fill in the gaps (between the spillers and the thrillers) with colorful foliage and flowers such as angelonia, coleus, geraniums, begonias, new guinea impatiens, flowering vincas, fuchsias and zinnias. Thrillers are the focal points in pots and planters – think tropical plants such as mandevilla, bananas, euryops, tibouchina, standard gardenias or hibiscus. They make a bold statement with height, color and more.
Short on time? Let our talented staff design and plant your containers for you. Or choose from our ready-made planters that make your outside living areas – pools, patios, decks or entrances – an instant success.
‘Grown on Long Island’ – we’re proud to be a sponsoring partner of this important Long Island Farm Bureau initiative. Ninety-five percent of all annuals that we sell are grown right here on Long Island!
You’ll find everything you need at Martin Viette – endless choices of annuals of the highest quality; glazed, resin, terra cotta and cast stone pots; potting soil; and friendly, knowledgeable staff - to make this your best gardening season yet.
Color, color and more color – the incredible flowers of Alstroemeria never fail to delight! For years, Alstroemeria has been a popular cut flower with the floral industry. Now, we can enjoy it in planters, window boxes or in landscape beds. Plant this annual flowering plant in bright sunny locations and well-drained soils after all danger of frost has passed. Flower colors include whites, pinks, yellows, purples and two-tones.
Looking for a gre at flowering annual for sunny planters, window boxes or hanging baskets? Calibrachoa, aka Million Bells, is a perfect choice for Long Island gardens. Prized for its smaller version of petunia-like flowers, million bells are easy to grow and enjoy. Considered low maintenance - – no deadheading is required.
Helpful hints: Calibrachoas do not like to ‘sit’ in water. Adequate soil or potting soil drainage is key. This is especially true if you plant them directly in the garden (garden soil is generally heavy and can be slow to drain.). Fertilize, according to package directions, with Jack’s Blossom Booster for continued flowering.
Catharanthus, more commonly called flowering vinca (it’s so much easier to say), is a great annual for continual summer color and interest in the garden! Slow to get started in May, this plant really takes off as the temperatures climb (it really likes warm soil!) during the summer months. Total sunshine and well-drained soils keep flowering vinca happiest. Fun colors of reds, pinks, lavenders and white, this annual is easily used in pots and planters, as well as edgers for beds and borders.
It’s time to grow some spiders in the garden; spiderflowers that is! Cleome, its formal name, can be easily used in beds and borders. Flowers in shades of pinks, lavenders and white, cleome stands tall in the garden as a strong background plant. Full sun, well-drained soils are best for easy-to-grow spiderflower! An added plus: If you plant cleome this year, chances are you will have seedlings volunteering in your garden for years to come.
Pansies, cool weather bloomers, are happiest in sunny locations that provide well-drained soils. Simple and easy to care for, they are ideal candidates for beds, borders, window boxes and planters. Tuck them in around walkways and landscape plantings; or in existing pots and planters. Happily, pansies will continue to bloom for the next 3-4 months until summer arrives (they dislike the heat and humidity that we have during typical L.I. summers!). Then, they are easily replaced with more color and interest from hot weather annuals.
Fall is for planting pansies! Cold hardy pansies can be planted during September or October for enjoyment until snow cover arrives. Hardy pansies will perk up in late winter or early spring, once snow has disappeared. They should rebloom for several months until hot weather arrives. It’s then time to replant with summer annuals
No one ever calls this beautiful flower by its common name – Persian Buttercup. We’d rather be formal and get tongue twisted when we say Ranunculus. When you break it down, it’s actually easy to say: rah-NUN-kew-lus!
Ranunculus, adored for their full, showy flowers in a wide array of bright colors, are cool season bloomers for outdoor spring planters and window boxes. They will bloom now through early summer. Once temperatures heat up, Ranunculus fade and make room for warm season annuals to fill their spaces. No space for outdoor planting? They easily transition for indoor display in cooler rooms with adequate light.
Culture and care: Plant in bright sunny locations in the garden or planters. Keep soil barely moist for best results. Flowers can be cut for indoor enjoyment, as well.
Although generally treated as an annual, Ranunculus can be considered a perennial if you dig up the tubers in late summer. Tubers should be stored in a 50-55 degree location until you are ready to start them once again in mid-winter.
