Get inspired! Check out our staff’s favorite annuals they grew last year on grounds here at Colonial Gardens.
Each year is a chance for a gardener to learn something new! While we have our reliable favorite annuals here at the Colonial Gardens, we like to try new varieties each year to evaluate new selections and better get to know our product. This year, we worked in more annuals than ever to beautify our grounds and give our staff a chance to try out new plants. Here are some of their favorites:
Suncredible Sunflower: This is probably our top annual for the year, but we’ll give it to John as his favorite “must-have” annual for the garden. Due to an ordering error, we ended up with 150 of these gorgeous plants. That’s too many for us to sell so we started planting them in every bed that suited their growth habit. The result? A summer bursting with endless sunshine.
Suncredible sunflowers are a bush variety of sunflower, which in our experience gets about three to four feet tall and wide. While deadheading can make this plant tidier, it isn’t necessary to keep the plant blooming all summer. Once established, it’s drought-tolerant and low maintenance. We’ve seen a wide variety of bees and butterflies flock to them as well as goldfinches. This plant is an incredible value. While it doesn’t look like much in the pot, it’s a show-stopper in the garden and will reward you with dazzling blooms until frost.
‘Blue Horizon’ Ageratum: Also known as flossflower, ageratum is a fuzzy-topped flower that comes in blues, whites, and purple. Typically the plant is mounded and about six inches high. These shooter varieties can make a nice addition to the front or middle of a sunny garden, but it’s more of an accent plant than a scene-stealer. Enter ‘Blue Horizon.’ This variety of ageratum stands about 24-30 inches tall for a lovely backdrop. Casey used it in her ‘Blues’ garden this year where it captured viewers’ attention even amongst the Supertunias (an annual favorite, as well). While we were familiar with the variety, our surprise this year was how many bees and butterflies flocked to it as it put out bloom after bloom over the summer.
‘Lemon Delight’ Melampodium: Melampodium, or butter daisy, is an understated annual with light yellow, daisy-like flowers. Pat worked it into his low-maintenance trial garden mostly because it fit his color palette and size requirement. We were blown away with how well this plant performed. Each plant became a perfectly round bush, blanked in flowers all summer long. It was the perfect selection for the middle of his garden, never touched by pests, and an all around delight.
Buddy Gomphrenas: Buddy Gomphrena, or globe amaranth, is a unique little flower that looks a little like a fuzz-ball on a stick. Gomphrena always finds a place in our gardens around the store as it is a long-season performer that requires very little maintenance. Taller varieties are used by our floral staff to fill out arrangements, but they add a wonderful texture to the garden as well. Lindsay likes the texture and hardiness of this plant along with its ability to potentially reseed. For some, an annual that reseeds may be a turn-off, but for Lindsay it leads to delightful surprises in the next spring.
Profusion Zinnias: Zinnias come in all sorts of heights and flower shapes, but Profusion Zinnias pack a punch in a small size. They grow to be about 10-12” tall with a flat flower head, but their disease resistance and long blooms captured Ashley’s heart this summer. She planted these to brighten the bank of our Whimsical Garden alongside salvia, gomphrena, and nicotiana for a riot of color. Zinnias can be prone to disease and mildew in our area, so a long season with no problems makes this series a winner.
Honorable Mentions:
- Supertunia Mini-Vista Indigo: A variety of supertunia with smaller flowers, but just as much vigor as the original, the flowers on this plant vary in shades of purple with darker veins. The flowers fade in color as they age which gives this plant depth.
- Supertunia Paradise: This stunning pink variety has a richer, more vibrant color than Supertunia Bubblegum which contrasts well with our Suncredible Sunflowers.
- Benary’s Giant Zinnias: Amongst our cutting varieties of zinnias, these were the top performers of the year with thick, complex flowers and the most reliable long-stems for cutting.
- Flamma Celosia: This celosia variety took a second to take off, but it is thriving into August and September along our front entryway. This space is challenging for plants as it is very hot and along a roadside, but celosia has taken it like a champ and now has flame-like plumes that make an impact.
We’re looking forward to 2026 and all the new varieties we can test out on our grounds! Stop by this spring from April to June to find these annual varieties in our gardenhouse.
Colonial Gardens is an independent garden center located in Phoenixville, PA. We’ve been serving our local community with a wide selection of quality plants since 1967. Visit us year round for plants, landscaping services, seasonal events, and floral services.