Annuals – the only way to get color in your garden

The other day, as I was in line at a plant sale, a woman asked me if I was going to buy any annuals. I said I had planned to get a few perennials, but didn’t have any annuals on my list. She was stunned at my response and told me, “I don’t know why you waste your money on perennials. They don’t provide any color. Annuals are the only way to get color in your garden. There are no perennials blooming now.” And then she walked away.

I was left standing there, thinking about all of the perennials that are blooming in my gardens right now—lilacs, trollius, linum, creeping phlox, bleeding heart, columbine, anemone, lily of the valley, and centaura (perennial bachelor button). That’s in addition to the “late” tulips, which are still going strong.

I don’t have anything against annuals, and do use them periodically – especially when I have just planted a new bed and there is some space that needs to be filled in. I’ve also used annuals in planters. But, I don’t think they are the only way to get color in my garden – now or any other time of the year.

How about you? What do you have blooming right now? How do you use annuals in your gardens?