Keep your garden vibrant and blooming throughout the winter months with annual plants that thrive in cold weather.
Not all plants sleep through the winter months.
Cool seasonannualsthrive when the temperature drops.
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Annuals are inexpensive, providing an easy way to add months of color to the garden.
Assummer bloomsfade, give your garden a face lift with these cool season annuals for winter gardens.
As noted, the same plant may be used quite differently from one region to the next.
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Plant them in fall after the heat of summer wanes and enjoy flowers for up to six months.
Though a true perennial, pansies are grown as an annual because they wither in the summer heat.
Mass them along walkways and outside windows where their color will brighten the winter landscape.
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In fact, they are often seen blooming through a thin layer of snow.
Their cheery tricolor blooms include a mix of purple, yellow, and white hues.
Like pansies, they are short-lived perennials more commonly grown as annuals.
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Plants work well in winter containers as well as ground plantings.
The bold colors dont emerge until temperatures drop and remain all winter long.
Ornamental cabbage and kale plants combine beautifully with pansies and violas in winter containers.
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Plants provide cut flowers through the colder months.
Dusty miller and ornamental kale make great companions.
They are remarkably frost tolerant, though a hard freeze can send plants into dormancy.
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Primroses are perennial in nature but require a cool climate and are commonly grown as annuals in the south.
In frost-free areas, set out plants in fall and in colder areas, plant in late winter.
Bermudagrassis a warm-season perennial that goes dormant during cold weather.
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Overseeding with rye is an easy and inexpensive way to provide winter color in the landscape.
Though plants are cold hardy, calendula does not tolerate hard freezes.
Plants will die back during the heat of summer.
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Blooms often have a white starburst ring surrounding a dark central eye.
When grown indoors, florists cineraria bloom during the winter.
Gardeners in mild climates (Zones 9-11) can plant outdoors for early spring blooms.
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The sun-facing flowers close at night and on cloudy days.
In mild climates, sow seeds in late summer to fall.
Foliage remains evergreen through winter, with flowers starting late winter and erupting through spring.
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In frost-free areas, fall-planted pinks will bloom through winter.
Plants need protection from frost in colder regions.
The blue-green foliage combines well with dusty miller.
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