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Those of us who live in zones six, seven and eight have the best of all worlds as far as I am concerned. We have longer autumns or fall season that allows many annual’s seed to ripen and drop thus often giving them an opportunity to self-sow for next year. We also seem to have just about the right amount of cold that is needed for these seeds to germinate.
This is evidenced this year in my garden in Zone 6 just by seeing how many Cleomes, which are an annual, are pushing up all over the place including all the cracks between my stepping stones.
As I look over various parts of my garden I can see another self-sowing annuals coming back and that is the poppy, both the white and red are in various parts of the garden they were never placed in before and we welcome them.
For some reason, my beloved Zinnia never seems to self-sow and I plant a lot of them each year. Yet the marigold, with the exception of the Calendula, which isn’t really mentioned as a self-sowing annual does come back each year. Matter of fact the marigold is a really good annual to gather next years seeds from. I have been doing that for many seasons.
Bachelor Buttons, Candy Tuff and Cornflowers are also great self-sowing annuals in my zone as long as the perennial weeds don’t crowd them out.
Today, working in the garden, I discovered that the lovely Sweet Pea, which is also a grand self-sowing annual in these zones, has decided to show itself in several areas that was never home to it before. I will leave them be.
I used to tear out these types of “hitch-hikers”, but have decided that life can use beauty wherever it can set itself down. I no longer find myself getting upset when a plant decides it likes to take root wherever it pleases. That is with the exception of the Wisteria vine. I do battle with this plant which has moved itself underground to the most amazing places here at Home Farm. It seems to snake itself across areas and under walk ways until it finds itself near a building and then up it pops and wends it self up our board and batten buildings trying to worm its way under a batten and tearing it away from the wall. It does not take long for a cord like size wisteria vine to become a 1 to 3 inch wooden trunk that takes a tool larger than a rose shears to hack it away.
Some other self-sowing annuals is Nicotiana (tobacco plant) another beautiful bloom annual that is incredibly invasive. You can expect returns from Moss Rose, Love-in-a- Mist, Larkspur, Lupine, Forget-me-not, Coreopsis, Nasturtium, and even Sun Flowers providing the birds do not eat all your seed from the flower heads.
This year I consider these wonderful self-sowing annuals a gift since the high cost of gas has caused me to shave away some of my gardening budget.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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