Even though I have been an amateur gardener for awhile, I still have a pretty bad case of imposter syndrome. As with any new hobby, there is so much to learn. The Latin names of plants, how to differentiate between beneficial and detrimental insects, how to identify plant diseases, how and when to properly apply fertilizer, etc. The list goes on and on, but the one thing that intimidates me the most about being a new gardener is the culture.

As with every new job or hobby, gardening has trends that are en vogue and trends that are frowned upon, and I was surprised when I realized that growing annual flowers is considered tacky.

The picture of the impatiens growing in the hay rack window box on my home page clearly brands me with the scarlet T, as does my blog post on supertunias. But, my window boxes filled with impatiens bring me tremendous joy every year, so I am committed to remaining unfashionable.

Since it’s January, I recently sat down to plan out my annual display for next summer. My husband is colorblind, so I try to use colors that he can see too. He loves shades of purple and blue, but I have had trouble finding color combinations that I liked in those shades at my local garden centers for the past couple of years. So, last year, I ended up ordering the plants shown in the photo. I planted one Supertunia® (Petunia hybrid) Bordeaux™, one Superbena® (Verbena hybrid) Violet Ice, and one Superbells® (Calibrachoa hybrid) Grape Punch™ plant in each of my two blue ceramic planters, and I loved how they looked. The only problem was that the rabbits loved how the supertunias tasted. I was able to save them, but the nibbled plants made fewer blooms than I would have liked. The good news is the rabbits avoided the superbells and the superbena, so I hope to take advantage of that observation this year and will let you know how that goes.

And don’t worry about looking like a rube with gardening experts. Planting annuals in the garden is a great way to have flowers in bloom throughout the summer. My local botanical garden grows them, and so does renowned English gardener Monty Don. Okay, maybe not impatiens and petunias, but you get the picture. You only live once, plant what you love.

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