| I would like to plant some flowers for my grandmother's birthday. What would be a good choice for this time of year? |
| What a nice idea for your grandmother. We're about in the midst of a transition time for planting. There are two distinct growing seasons in the low desert with different annuals thriving in each season. There's a cool season from approximately the end of September through April. Annuals can be installed from late September to February. The warm season starts with planting in mid to late February. Some plants will make it through the summer's heat; others will end their growth when the heat arrives in May or June. Some of my favorite easy-to-grow cool-season annuals include calendula, bachelor's button, pansies and violas, nasturiums, stock, snapdragons, alyssum, dusty miller, poppies and dianthus. Warm-season annuals include sunflowers, tithonia, zinnia, coreposis, cosmos, gaillardia, black-eyed Susan, coneflower, lisianthus, and vinca. |
