Flowers from seed sown each fall brighten southern gardens and provide cut flowers during the winter and well into spring before the weather gets really hot.
Fall-Sown Flowers For Southern Gardens
Although all of these fall-sown flowers are not true annuals, they are mostly grown as annuals in the Midsouth, Lower South, and Tropical South.
Listed below are ten fall-sown flowers for each of these sections where winter flower gardens can be grown.
These flowers are basic standbys, and all home gardeners should grow them. There are many excellent varieties to choose from in the fall seed catalogs.
All of these flowers thrive in the full winter sun in deeply dug, porous loam fortified by a moderate application of commercial fertilizer, like mineralized 6-8-6. Directions on the seed packets advise sowing, transplanting, and watering.
You’ll find the flowers easy to grow, but to perfect your cultural techniques, you can consult catalogs, books, your county agricultural agent, and pamphlets by the federal and various state departments of agriculture.
Fall-Sown Flowers For The Midsouth
Fall-sown flowers for the Midsouth, represented by the climate of Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Memphis, and Dallas—areas where there is a hard freeze from time to time:
- Cornflower (Centaurea)
- Dianthus (garden pinks)
- Foxglove
- Hollyhock
- Larkspur
- Lupin (annual)
- Pansy
- Phlox (drummondii)
- Poppy (the annual sorts)
- Sweet pea (Cuthbertson)
Fall-Sown Flowers For The Lower South
Fall-sown flowers for the Lower South, represented by the climate of Charleston, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Houston, and Los Angeles on the West Coast, where frost can occur but where winters are seldom very severe:
- Bellis (English daisy)
- Calendula
- Campanula
- Carnation
- Coreopsis
- Cosmos
- Snapdragon
- Stock
- Sweet pea (multiflora)
- Sweet William—plus those listed for the Midsouth.
Fall-Sown Flowers For The Tropical South
Fall-sown flowers for the Tropical South, areas where oranges and grapefruit are grown outdoors with little frost danger:
- Ageratum
- Alyssum
- Aster
- Marigold
- Nasturtium
- Petunia
- Salvia
- Sweet pea (early flowering)
- Vinca
- Zinnia—plus those which are listed for the Midsouth and Lower South.
Tropical South Planting
In the Mid South and Lower South, sow seed outdoors early in fall so the plants will be well established and in flower before cold days occur.
Begin as early as August and September. In the Tropical South, planting is delayed until the summer heat is over.
Where there is a bare possibility of frost, you can only plant many more tender flowers on a calculated risk basis and hope for a mild winter.
If the temperature suddenly drops, cover your plants with pine straw, boxes, baskets, and the like to protect them from frost. Remove the covers after frost danger is passed so the plants do not suffer from a lack of air and light.
Maintaining Flowering Pansies
Of the fall-planted flowers, pansies are adaptable to all of the South, including the most northern sections, like Virginia and Maryland.
They seem to be almost foolproof; cold weather does not seem to bother them, and they burst into flower with each winter warm spell, coming into full bloom in early fall (if you start with florists’ plants rather than seed) and lasting until the heat of summer begins.
Remove the flowers as they fade to keep the plants blooming generously at all times.
44659 by Donald M. Hastings, Sr.