Get The Dirt: Heat-seeking Annuals
May 7, 2025
By: Lynn Barber
Annuals provide a great opportunity to color up your landscape, front porch and lanai, whether in the ground or in containers. Most Florida annuals last one season, not one year. There are both warm and cool-season annuals. This article focuses on warm-season annuals, which are so named because they are damaged by frosts and freezes.
I selected three warm-season annuals that do well in Central Florida. They include caladium, coleus and wax begonia.
Caladium: This is a fast-growing bulb that can reach a height and spread of 1-2 feet. It prefers a slightly acid to slightly alkaline soil pH of 6.0-7.2. Any soil texture works well. Soil moisture should be well drained. Caladium has medium drought tolerance and low to no salt tolerance. Different varieties prefer partial shade, full shade or full sun.
Coleus: This is a fast-growing plant that can reach a height and spread of 1-3 feet. It prefers a slightly acid to slightly alkaline soil pH of 6.0-7.2. Any soil texture works well. Soil moisture should be medium drained. Coleus has low drought tolerance and low to no salt tolerance. It prefers full sun and performs well in partial shade/partial sun. Propagation from cuttings is very easy.
Wax begonia: This is a slow-growing annual that can reach a height and spread of ½-1 foot. It prefers slightly acid to slightly alkaline soil pH of 6.0-7.2. Any soil texture works well. Soil moisture should be well drained. Wax begonia has low drought tolerance and low to no salt tolerance. It prefers partial shade/partial sun.
For more information on annuals, please see the University of Florida publication “Gardening with Annuals,” by Sydney Park Brown, at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg319, from which this article was adapted. You may also be interested in the University of Florida Central Florida Gardening Calendar, which contains month-by-month information on what to plant, when to prune, fertilize, etc. To view this calendar, go to http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep450.
Get outside and garden! It can improve your attitude, health and landscape, and you will most likely make new friends.