Annual Plants for Zone 3
Luckily for gardeners, even though summers are short, cold climate annuals manage to put on a real show for several weeks. Most cold hardy annuals can tolerate a light frost, but not a hard freeze. Here is a list of beautiful cold climate annuals, along with a few tips for growing annuals in zone 3.
Zone 3 Annual Flowers for Sunlight
Petunia African daisy Godetia and Clarkia Snapdragon Bachelor’s button California poppy Forget-me-not Dianthus Phlox Sunflower Flowering stock Sweet alyssum Pansy Nemesia
Annual Plants for Zone 3 Shade
Begonia (light to medium shade) Torenia/wishbone flower (light shade) Balsam (light to medium shade) Coleus (light shade) Impatiens (light shade) Browallia (light shade)
Growing Annuals in Zone 3
Many zone 3 gardeners like to take advantage of self-sowing annuals, which drop seeds at the end of the blooming season, and then germinate the following spring. Examples of self-sowing annuals include poppy, calendula and sweet pea. Some annuals can be grown by planting seeds directly in the garden. Examples include California poppy, Bachelor’s button, black-eyed Susan, sunflower and forget-me-not. Slow-blooming annuals like zinnias, dianthus and cosmos may not be worth planting by seed in zone 3; however, starting the seeds indoors gives them an earlier start. Pansies and violas can be planted early in spring, as they tolerate temperatures a few degrees below freezing. They generally continue to bloom until arrival of hard freezes.
