Flowering annual plants are a go-to for colorful containers on porches and patios. When choosing plants for containers, one must keep in mind how quickly pots can dry out. The soil in pots dries much more quickly than the ground, and gardeners can expect to water their containers every day. Watering twice a day may be necessary for pots that are on the smaller side or that sit in a sunny or windy spot.
Happily there are some annual plants that can cope with drier soil and lapses in watering. Here are our favorites:
Florist's geraniums (Pelargonium): These plants have thick stems in which they can store water. They are reliable bloomers that put up with dry conditions. That's convenient since they need lots of sun to bloom well!
Moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora): The mat-forming succulents are very tolerant of heat and drought. Their growth habit suits them to hanging baskets or tall pots that show off their trailing stems.
Annual sunflowers (Helianthus annuus): Sunflowers have a taproot that allows them to source water from the depths of the container. (More shallow-rooted annuals struggle as moisture evaporates from the top inches of soil.) Keep in mind that container-grown sunflowers need a large, sturdy pot to accommodate their roots and to anchor them from the wind.
French marigolds (Tagetes patula): Keep these watered well for the first few weeks after potting them up, but once established they can go without irrigation for quite some time before they begin to droop. If they get to that stage, a good soaking will make them bounce right back.
Angelonia (Angelonia): These annuals put up with heat, humidity and dry spells, all the while supplying upright spikes of colorful flowers.
