This Year’s Top 5 Spring Annuals

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There are so many reasons to look forward to spring, especially when you’re a gardener, but one of the absolute highlights of the season is getting to see all the top new annuals for the year. With so many exciting hybrid varieties and color combinations fresh on the scene, it can be tough to pick a favorite! Luckily, we’ve managed to narrow it down to our five favorite spring annuals for St. John and Frankfort. 

You’re going to love these spring annual flowers—and they don’t show any signs of going out of fashion after the season ends! Their gorgeous blossoms, vigorous growth, and easy care will make them popular additions to your garden and hanging baskets this spring. 

Our Top 5 Annual Flowers To Plant In Spring 2020

Here are the year’s best annuals to plant in spring! As always, we highly recommend using Jack’s Petunia Feed, because spring-blooming annuals need plenty of fuel to help them grow their biggest and brightest blooms. The water-soluble formula is easy to apply and gets the job done right, helping you get the most out of your spring garden. 

Without further ado, here are the five breakout stars of the gardening world that you’re sure to love in 2020 : 

1. Supertunia Vista® Snowdrift™

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The Vista series by Supertunia is renowned for its hyper-vigorous growth, exploding with blossoms once the spring sun starts shining down. The Snowdrift™ variety is actually the first pure white Supertunia available on the market, so if you love the serene aesthetic of clean, crisp white decor, you’ll swoon over this new cultivar!

These “Supertunias” are absolutely stunning in hanging baskets, like this one by Bloem Milano, because their voluminous blossoms spill out the sides of the container and cascade downward in an avalanche of snow-white flowers. They can reach up to 2 feet high and spread up to 3 feet wide, with trailing blooms that grow as long as 4 feet. They’re also self-cleaning, so you’ll never have to worry about deadheading spent flowers to promote reblooming. It will continue to produce flowers all on its own, provided it gets plenty of sunshine and water. 

2. Superbells® Blackcurrant Punch™

This fashion-forward calibrachoa has such a striking color palette. Vibrant magenta petals with a jet black center and electric yellow throat make for a high-contrast visual spectacle that commands attention! It has a nice, tight growth habit, resulting in a lush mound of blossoms that eventually trail downward as the season progresses. They’re lovely on their own in a container or basket, but they’re just as high-impact in a colorful mixed arrangement. 
 

These spring annuals also love lots of sunshine and water but don’t require any deadheading, so the upkeep is pretty straightforward. At full maturity, you can expect these Superbells® to reach 12 inches high and spread about 2 feet across, with 2 feet of trailing beauty. Make sure your container has drainage holes because, while this plant loves lots of moisture, its roots definitely won’t like sitting in stagnant water.

3. Euphorbia Diamond Snow®

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A brand new euphorbia that’s really making waves, these trendy spring annuals have the  most flower power yet, with tight clusters of soft white, cloud-like blossoms. They’re fantastic in a mixed container arrangement because they have such a unique texture, and the neutral color will complement practically anything you pair them with! As a filler plant, its growth habit makes this euphorbia perfect for filling in any gaps or bare spaces in a container or garden bed, so your arrangement will look neat and complete.

Despite its dainty appearance, this plant is quite resilient! Diamond Snow® is drought-tolerant, and can even be brought indoors as a houseplant. Euphorbia can tolerate partial shade and full sun, but some prolonged periods of shade won’t be the end of the world. It will grow up to 18 inches tall, 18 inches wide, and can trail 18 inches downward—no deadheading required!

4. Superbells® Honeyberry™

These adorable candy-colored flowers look good enough to eat! The bubblegum pink petals with their sunny yellow centers will add a bright, whimsical air to your landscape design, reminiscent of the Hawaiian tropics. Some say they look like miniature hibiscus flowers!

You can expect this trailing variety to spread about 2 feet across, with a height of up to 1 foot and a 2.5-foot trail of blooms. Part shade to full sun will create comfortable conditions for this calibrachoa hybrid to grow—just make sure the soil drains well! It’s a bit sensitive to damp soil, so most folks like to use it in containers for easier management of the soil environment.

5. Salvia Unplugged™ So Blue™

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The tighter growth habit of this salvia variety inhibits stretching and fits in better with companion plants. Its tall stalks of purplish-blue flowers reach up to 2 feet tall and will truly stand out in the center of a mixed arrangement, attracting plenty of pollinators like butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. The best part? It continuously blooms for months and months, sometimes well into autumn! The foliage has a distinct, silvery sheen to it, so if you prefer cool-toned color palettes, this spring annual is an absolute must-have. 

Lots of gardeners like to use it in their garden beds as a border plant, and it also looks quite elegant in a mass planting. Salvia can handle full sun or partial shade, and once established, it’s remarkably drought-tolerant. Regular watering and fertilizing for the first few weeks after planting is a good idea, but you can reduce the frequency as the year continues. 

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We’re brimming with excitement over the new spring annuals arriving in store! You’ll have to see these beauties in person to really appreciate their color, volume, and vibrance. Spring 2020 is sure to be a fun-filled year for Illinois and Indiana gardeners, and the Alsip team is eager to help you pull off the many ambitious landscape design ideas you’ve been dreaming about all winter! 

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