8 Colorful Garden Flowers to Sow in Summer

By Ramon Gonzalez, TreeHugger

By late summer, many of your favorite annual flowers start to burn out as the plants complete their lifecycle and go to seed. But you can extend the parade of color in your garden by planting some seeds right now that will bloom by September.

The trick in planting seeds this time of year is to sow them directly into the ground, containers, and raised beds. You’ll have to ensure the soil doesn’t dry out and kill any sprouting seeds.

Here are eight quick-blooming annuals you should sow seeds for this month.

1. Marigolds
2. Zinnias
3. Nasturtiums
4. Sunflowers
5. Cosmos
7. Calendula
8. Johnny-jump-up

This last dose of summer color in the garden will be appreciated by pollinators as they prepare for winter. You can harvest the blooms for one last bouquet from the garden, or use the blooms from your cosmos, nasturtiums, and Johnny-jump-up to garnish your dishes. In particular, make sure to sow a last round of nasturtiums: important because the leaves, flowers and seeds, when pickled, are edible.

If you don’t have a seed stash, check out the garden centers and home improvement stores who may have already marked down their seed selection from this spring. Alternately, you can order from heirloom seed catalogs we like, as well as seed companies recommended by TreeHugger readers earlier this year. Many seed companies may currently be running sales to clear out their 2012 seed stock to make room for their 2013 seeds.

Any seeds you don’t use you can save and plant next year.