Annuals - Page 2 · George Washington's Mount Vernon

Cucumber

Cucumis sativus

Cucumbers are a vining plant with yellow flowers and slightly prickly stems. There are many varieties which produce cucumbers of different sizes and shapes.

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Dipper gourds are sprawling plants that produce enormous quantities of fruit over the course of the season. The gourds they produce can be used to make drinking vessels, birdhouses, and other decorative items.

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Endive

Cichorium endivia

Endive has broad, bright green leaves and looks somewhat like a rougher-textured lettuce. It has a sharp, bitter flavor.

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Fava Beans

Vicia faba

Fava beans, a cool season plant, performs best in either the spring or the fall. They are quite robust and can grow to three feet high, producing many large pods which are best eaten shelled.

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Fish Pepper

Capsicum annuum

Fish peppers are hot peppers with variegated white leaves. The peppers themselves are often streaked with white and start green before maturing to red.

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Flax

Linum usitatissimum

This crop has bright blue flowers. It is primarily used to make linen from its fibers and its seeds used as supplements and for linseed oil.

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Four O'clock

Mirabilis jalapa

Named for the time of day the bloom opens, four o'clocks will attract hummingbirds and nocturnal pollinators to your garden. This bushy plant reseeds readily, producing hundreds of large black seeds that resemble hand grenades.

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French Marigold

Tagetes patula

French marigolds are iconic garden plants with distinctly fragrant leaves. The flowers are single, semi-double, double, or crested in shades of yellow, orange, or red, and can also be bi-colored. When planted in the vegetable garden, marigolds can repel certain pests, such as white flies on tomatoes…

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French Striped Marigold

Tagetes patula

This dazzling plant blooms in masses of yellow flowers with deep burgundy stripes and is the star of the fall garden.

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Globe Amaranth

Gomphrena globosa

This magenta gem is well suited to the front of the border. Its lush blooms are attractive to butterflies, and they hold their color well when cut for use in dried arrangements.

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Globe Candytuft

Iberis umbellata

A mid-border plant, this pink or lavender flower can flop, but is an attractive addition to the spring garden.

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Gloriosa Daisy

Rudbeckia hirta

This large-flowered, cheerful plant is perfect for dry, difficult spots. It self-sows readily in variations of orange, yellow, and gold.

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Heliotrope

Heliotropium arborescens

A fragrant addition to your summer border, this sturdy plant prefers well-drained soil and afternoon shade in the southern garden.

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Hemp

Cannabis sativa

Hemp is originally from central Asia, and has been cultivated throughout history as a source of fiber, seed, oil, and medicine.

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Honesty

Lunaria annua

Honesty is an old fashioned plant with briliant pink flowers that give way to paper-thin silvery seedpods, hence its many common names.

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Johnny Jump-Up

Viola tricolor

This delightful little flower is a harbinger of spring in many gardens, but also adds charm to a fall or winter garden depending on your region. The flowers are edible and can be used to wonderful effect on cakes and in salads.

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Jospeh's Coat

Amaranthus tricolor

This voluptuous annual is grown for its showy multicolored foliage in shades of green, yellow, and red.

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Kale

Brassica oleracea (Acephala)

Kale is a popular leafy green that can be used cooked or in salads. It is also used as an ornamental plant in fall gardens. Historically, coarser types have been used as animal fodder.

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Lantana

Lantana camara

Lantana is a colorful, shrubby annual with masses of flowers in shades of orange, yellow, and pink. Its leaves give off a distinctive smell and it produces bluish-black seeds. Lantana is commonly used as a bedding plant because of its long bloom season.

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Larkspur

Consolida ajacis

A favorite in the Mount Vernon gardens, this annual reseeds readily. Its pink, blue, and white flowers add height to the spring border.

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