Summer flowering annual plants for lahore, karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad

Today i will share with you Summer flowering annual plants for lahore, karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad. Seeds for summer flowering plants are sown in spring and plants bloom in summer. This time is specific for subtropical climates as that of lahore, karachi, peshawar, Rawalpindi and to an extent Islamabad as well. Morning glory vines is probably the one plant sown frequently for its colorful blooms in the summer. Zinnia is another one. so here goes the list.

Amaranthus. Local name laal saag

Balsam. Local name Gul-e-mehndi. Cultivars include Tom thumb with many colors

Capsicum, Ornamental pepper. Local name Araishi Mirch. Cultivars include Solanum Joker round, Dwarf early pylon red, Fips, Gion and hot mix. Then there is F1- Hybird with cultivar Treasure red F1

Catananche. Called cupid’s dart. Most common species is catananche caerulea. Native to south africa a very beautiful flower. There is a white color variety called catananche caerulea alba. Seeds are not available here. The ones i grew from seeds will flower in summer of 2011. Will post pictures soon.

Cosmos Sulphureus, sulfur cosmos. Comes in color ranges of orange, yellow and red. No white and no blue. The other variety of cosmos is cosmos bipinnatus which is tall cosmos sown in fall for spring flowering. Cultivars of sulfur cosmos include dwarf ladybird ans sunset orange. It blooms from May to october.

Coleus. Mostly grown for its foliage. Cultivars  include Rainbow mixture, superfine rainbow mixture and extra dwarf fairway mixture

Celosia. One variety is known as Cockscomb. Local name kalgha. Cultivars include Amigo, prestige, celosia plumosa century, dwarf kewpie, dwarf kimono, gloria mix and dwarf coral garden mixed.

Coreopsis. Also called tickseed. Many cultivars but none of them is available here. It has long blooming season. Mostly in shades of yellow. There is a rare pink color variety named coreopsis rosea. Another cultivar having pinkish color is Sweet dreams and there is another one called american dreams having pinkish color. Coreopsis bicolor is also called calliopsis with flowers in two tone.

Datura. It is also called devil’s trumpet. A toxic plant not suitable for growing in homes. Very fragrant flowers. Seeds easy to germinate. Some varieties are gone wild. Mostly in doubles and some triples. Blue and purple colors are most common. It is relative of Brugmansia which also has fragrant flowers and is also grown in lahore for evening fragrance. Both these plants might need protection in winters.

Echinacea. Another plant worth of being a perennial. Most popular species is Echinacea purpurea. It is also called purple cone flower which has purple cone shape flowers. There is another variety with white flowers and fragrant ones called echinacea purpurea white swan. One cultivar with very large flowers is called echinacea magus. There is also a double flowering variety in which another flower formed on the top of first flower which is called echinacea double decker. No seeds of any variety are available here. My plants are due to bloom in summer of 2011 and will post pictures soon. Here is the picture of echinacea white swan flowering on my rooftop.

Egg Plant.Solanum melongena. Local name numaishi bengan. Ornamental squash. Cultivars include golden eggs.

Gaillardia. If there is one plant in lahore which can bloom whole year that is gaillardia. Blooming year round in lahore it is naturalized as perennial and not annual. Consider it as a permanent plant. It self sows easily and it is very easy to collect its seeds to grow more plants.Cultivars include double gaillardia, bicolor and lorenziana

Gerbera. Also called African Daisy. Grows in partial shade in lahore. Direct sun is not good for this plant. Many beautiful color combination exists with single and semi double and double flowers. Florist gerbera is the most beautiful of all and ideal as house plants. They grow well in pots. The plant does not like over watering and crown of the plant should be a little above soil so that water does not stay for long time.

Gomphrena. Local name gul-e-makhmal or gul-e-tukhma. Colors include white red and purple. Cultivars include extra dwarf gnome

Ipomoea. Very fast growing vines. All are grown from seeds very easily. The variety most common is Ipomoea purpurea called morning glory. It is mostly in the shades of blue. If there is any climber which has so many color combination of flower then it is morning glory.It does not care about soil requirements, all it wants is full sun and water in hot summers, that’s all. Another cultivar not common is “milky way”. Another variety is Ipomoea lobata also known as mina lobata.

• Another variety which is very common is Ipomoea cairica called mile a minute. Another name israilway creeper. Its Local name is Ishq Pechan.
• Only some of the varieties of ipomoea are fragrant. One of them is ipomoea alba calledmoon flower. It has fragrant white flowers very large which open in evening and close by dusk.

Kochia. Local name Jawari. Grown for foliage which turns red in winter. Cultivars include summer cypress.

Marigold. Local name genda. It is sown first from February to July then again July to November. Flowers are mostly in shades of yellow with mostly double flowers. Two kinds are very famous. First is african marigold and second is french marigold. Bonanza series is most common of all. There is also an off white color variety but it flowers late and flower size is not very large as well.

Mimosa. Local name choi moi. Another local name is Lajwanti. Flowers are mostly pink or purple color. Cultivars include pudica.

Mirabilis. Most common is mirabilis jalapa. Called marvel of peru. Local name is Gul-e-abbasi. Flowers are very fragrant in evening. It is a medicinal plant. It does not like water retention so it is grown in soil just above soil surface. A variety named “broken colors” is beautiful and fragrant too. An uncommon variety is mirabilis longiflora which is also fragrant but different than common mirabilis. It is very easy to grow from seed.

Portulaca. Portulaca grandiflora also known as moss rose has largest flowers in the genus. Local name is Gul-e-dupeher. Its flowers open only in sunlight and close in shade. There are two types, the native portulaca also known as dupeher boti which is actually a perennial and is not removed easily, you can think of it as a weed. Flowers of this one are opened in afternoon and close by evening. Color is mostly pink in this kind. The second one are the modern hybirds which are annual. Most common is F1 sundial mixed. Colors are in all shades. They are single, semi double or full double. Flowers remain open for most of the day hence called full day portulaca. It is very heat tolerant plant and can be grown with little or no water.

Passiflora. Not actually an annual but a permanent plant but its seed is available in summer annual seeds catalogue. These are vines from warm climates. The most common is passiflora caerulea. It is also called passion flower. Flowers are very beautiful. Other varities grown include passiflora edulis, passiflora foetida and passiflora incarnata which is also called Maypop. These vines do not like fertilizer else they will promote leaf growth but no flowers. They love full sun. Young plants need protection in winter. Another cultivar of passion flower is called ‘Incense’ which has very fragrant flowers. They are famous for late flowering hence potassium should be given to the plants. One method of doing it is to bury banana peel under the soil.

Rudbeckia. Also called black eyed susan. Although there are many varieties of this plant including the one with red colors, it is only available here in the common yellow color. Recently there has been some seeds of bicolor as well but not common. There is a magnus type with extra large flowers of rudbeckia. Find below a picture from my garden, it is a variety named rudbeckia “Cherry brandy”.

Salvia. It is also included in spring and winter flowers. The most common color is red which is most heat tolerant. Red color is more suitable to southern plains. Seed is sown from july to november.

Sun flower. Local name Suraj mukhi. Although a wild plant here but some cultivars are worth growing. specially the dwarf teddy bear and the one with chocolate color. There is a red color variety as well and then there is a white color variety called moonwalker. The bicolor variety is called florenza red. Seeds are large and easy to germinate. Some new varieties are pollen free.

Sterilitzia. Bird of paradise. Its plants are widely grown in lawrence gardens lahore. Very large flowers not suitable for growing in small pots.

Vinca. Also called periwinkle. Another plant gone wild. Local name sada bahar. It is also called ratan jot here. It is a medicinal plant as well. It flowers almost year round and one of the toughest plants i have come across. It is difficult to remove this plant. Newly introduced cultivars include vinca victory and then there is a hanging mix suitable for growing in hanging baskets. There is vine from this family Vinca major not common here.

Zinnia. Most popular summer flowering plant. Famous cultivars include super yoga, elegans, F dreamland, F1 profusion, Magellan F1, swizzle bicolors, lilliput and persian carpet. My personal favorite is the one i am unable to get seeds of. It is called zahara starlight rose. Zinnia cactus series are also very beautiful having cactus type flowers of zinnia.