In the rush to grow perennial flowers in our gardens, a lot of people have forgotten how dazzling and reliable annual flowers can be. Annual flowers, bulbs and vines are planted in the ground each year once the last frost has passed. They fill our gardens with color during the hot summer months and then are killed off when the first frost hits the ground.

One of the great attributes for annuals is that they perform the very year you plant them. Perennials can take two, three, even four years before they bloom and fill in the space they were intended for.

Annuals are cheap. For less than $15 worth of seeds and less than $30 worth of seedlings, you can fill 100 square feet of garden space with bright, cheery color from June until October. A garden of annuals will supply you with cutting flowers for bouquets all summer long.

Finally, annuals are not permanent. You aren't stuck with the same garden year after year like you are with perennials. With annuals, each year you have a completely new planting palette to choose from with all the color combinations and flower styles you can possibly imagine.

I know. Many of you think you know everything you want to know about annuals and you find marigolds, zinnias and cosmos to be ordinary, dull and downright boring. But have you tried the tiny tagetes signet marigolds with their delicate little lemon/orange drops set atop feathery green foliage?

Have you seen the Persian carpet zinnias, lovely simple petals on low growing plants that last until frost; or the new Picotee pink and crimson tinged cosmos; or the fantastic variety of ornamental sunflowers in mahogany, white, lemon and pale yellow?

Over the years I've planted all of the above mentioned annuals as well as four o'clocks, bells of Ireland, 'Green Envy' zinnias, nicotiana, cleome, calendula, California poppy, impatiens, larkspur, nasturtium, snapdragon, tithonia, plus purple leaf basil which I consider to be an ornamental plant.

Dill, summer savory, cilantro/coriander and borage are four annual herbs that I grow every year that add a flavor dimension to my ornamental garden that I just can't resist.

Most of us plant annuals in a rather too formal style that apes the carpet beds of the Victorians in the late 19^th century. That is when annuals really got their start when a proper Victorian home of any stature would include a glass enclosed greenhouse, (Lord & Burnham if possible) where hundreds of annual bedding plants would be grown each year.

Victorian gardeners loved those concentric circles of dusty miller, cockscomb, coleus, pansies and ageratum with a canna or castor bean plant in the middle.

We still see these designs today. But annuals don't have to be so geometric to be pretty. I say unchain your annuals and instead of planting your annuals in long straight rows or formal beds, consider planting them in clusters of 3's and 5's in their own bed, or tucked in among your perennial beds to fill in holes and add a certain color.

Finally, annuals are perfect to over plant in your tulip and daffodil beds to hide the straggly stems during the summer. Nasturtiums are the ideal annual to plant over bulbs because the seeds are large, easy to germinate and one plant can fill in a two foot square area.

Planting an annuals garden is easy. Find a spot that gets at least six full hours of direct golden sunshine each day. Clear the area of any grass, rocks, sticks or debris.

Spread a two to four inch thick layer of compost, composted or dehydrated manure over the area. Dig the garden to a depth of four to six inches incorporating the organic matter into the soil.

Sprinkle five pounds per 100 square feet of natural organic fertilizer over the garden. Rake the area smooth and you are ready to plant.

Unusual Annuals

Planting the commonly available annuals I've already mentioned is a good place for you to start adding annuals to your garden. But there is a whole world of little know and rarely used annuals that are becoming more available. IN fact, White Flower Farm (www.whiteflowerfarm.com or 800-503-9624) the venerable Connecticut perennial grower is featuring an entire new section of annuals in its Spring 2000 catalogue. Try some of these annuals when you get a chance:

African daisy - white daisy-like blooms on 2 to 3 foot tall plants.

Amaranthus - a.k.a. Love Lies Bleeding, this dramatic, 5 foot tall plants forms long tassels of red flowers much beloved by Victorians.

Gazania -- Showy daisy-like flowers in bright red, yellow and white on 12 inch tall plants.

Marguerite daisy -- yellow daisy-like blooms on 16 to 20 inch tall mounded plants that are good in containers.

Lantana -- clusters of tiny orange and red flowers on 30 inch tall plants that attracts butterflies.

Torenia -- delicate 1 foot tall plant with violet and white flowers that prefer a little shade.

Verbena bonariensis - clusters of tiny purple flowers atop 4 foot tall wiry plants that attract butterflies.

Annuals Bulbs

Dahlia, tuberous begonia and gladioli are the three best known annual bulbs that are well-worth planting in your garden. They are annuals here because our winters are too cold for them. They have to be dug up in late summer or fall, stored over the winter and replanted next summer after all danger of frost has passed.

Dahlia is particularly wonderful because it can be a two to four foot tall bushy plant that will bloom in late summer all the way through fall. Plant dahlia about six to eight inches deep and give it some support if you are growing the tall ones.

Tuberous begonia are the showy hanging basket plants that prefer to grow in the shade. You can easily grow these yourself from inexpensive bulbs or buy a potted plant.

I suggest you liberate your begonia from their hanging pots and replant them in your shady window box or shady part of your garden bed.

Glads are the tall spikes of outrageous colored flowers that are all too often found in common florists sprays. They are easy to grow and cheap. Plant them four inches deep and provide support or mound soil up around the base of the plant as it grows.

The bulbs of these three annuals can be dug up in the fall and stored over the winter, packed in peat moss and stored in a clean, cool and dry place. If you don't want to bother with this, just buy new ones each year.

Annual Vines

Morning Glory is easily the most well known of all annual vines. I am always astounded at how one tiny seed can produce a vine twenty feet long covered in beautiful flowers.

Consider growing these other annual vines on a fence or building this year: "Exotic Love" (Mina lobata,) sprays of red and yellow tubular blossoms; "Love in a Puff" (Cardiospermum haliacacabum,) small white flowers produce green globe-shaped seed pods: "Cathedral Bells" (Cobaea scandens) red cupped-shaped flowers bloom in late summer; "Hyacinth Bean Vine" (Dolichos lablab) purple stems and violet blossoms.

Up until the last two or three years, garden centers used to carry the same old annual bedding plants. But because of interest from gardeners like you, these same stores have expanded their selection of annual bedding plants giving you a much greater variety to choose from. Of course, if you are energetic, you can buy seeds and start them indoors in late winter or plant them directly in the ground once the warm weather of summer has arrived.

There are two new books on growing annuals that can give you a lot more ideas and resources:

Annuals: How to Select and Grow More Than 400 Annuals, Biennials, and Tender Perennials. Taylor's Guides. Barbara Ellis. Houghton Mifflin. 2000. $23. This is an excellent guide book with a photograph, description and a how to grow section for each and every flower.

Annuals with Style, Michael A. Ruggiero and Tom Christopher. Taunton Press. 2000. $29.95. Ruggiero is a Senior Curator at the New York Botanical Garden in charge of annuals and Christopher is the best American garden writer at work today. This book will give you an infinite variety of design ideas for using annuals in your garden.

City Garden Q & A

Question: I want to plant lilacs around my house so I can smell their fragrance in spring. What is the best lilac to grow in a small back yard?

Answer: Common lilacs (Syringa spp.) Smell nice for a short period of time in spring but they do tend to get overgrown and mottled with mildew during the summer months. Dwarf Korean lilac is a much better choice for city and suburban gardeners with limited space. This shrub is more compact and rounded in shape and they always seem covered wit fragrant blooms in spring. Another good choice is the Miss Kim lilac (Syringa patula 'Miss Kim') which can grow up to 7 feet tall but has a more spreading growth than common lilacs. Miss Kim also has more delicate flowers that seem to last longer.