10 Annuals To Plant Near Perennial Mums For Plentiful Late Summer Color In The Garden

If you have perennial chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum x morifolium), you may have a variety capable of blooming in late July or August (If you don't have a perennial variety, there are tricks for planting your potted mums so they'll come back each year.)

One of the best ways to get the most out of your mums before the summer ends is to bring in annuals that will not only provide a backdrop to their vivid pom-poms once they do flower, like petunias and cosmos, but also late-summer color to your garden bed or container. By now, it's likely time to replace some of the annuals anyway, because they might look tired, leggy, or are past their peak. There are many annuals that will complement all the colors mums come in, including gold, yellow, orange, pink, purple, white, and red, and some might even help keep the pests away. Below are 10 plants we believe you'll love pairing with your precious mums in late summer.

Marigolds (genus Tagetes) share the same color palette with mums, coming in often bushy clusters of flowers in warm, vibrant colors such as red, yellow, and orange. They are actually in the same family as mums. When paired with their cousins, marigolds will set off the turning leaves to create an extra spirited sight. There are many benefits of planting marigolds in your garden, including that fact that these annuals help protect mums by attracting wasps that will kill leafminers. They also give off a scent that repels deer and rabbits. Most varieties should be placed in garden beds, but some will do well in containers.

While asters (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum) are considered perennials, they are often sold as annuals because they cannot survive cold winters in many U.S. zones. Asters and mums make great companions for several reasons. They both take full sun, so they're easy to grow together, and their colors bounce off one another, with asters' cool colors like purple and pink providing contrast to mums' warm autumn hues. Plus, the star-shaped aster has a life-saving botanical flex: It repels small sap-sucking aphids, which can be deadly to mums.

Like mums, celosia (Celosia argentea) also bursts with in cooler-month colors, plus a few others, including fuchsia, salmon, and coral. Their varied shapes, alongside your mums, will make it an annual that you'll be able to create show-stopping arrangements with. One resembles a feather at the top often described as a plume. Another appears bushy, a characteristic referred to as a spicata. And a third kind, known as cristata, has tight clusters of flowers. All types will provide texture with your mums, setting the ubiquitous mum apart from all the others.

There's nothing like petunias (Petunia ×atkinsiana) to get the party started, with their endless array of colors and bell-shaped flowers that trail like a long head of hair. With proper care and the right climate, petunias will also last into the fall, making it a perfect mate to the mum. Petunias will bring a scent to the garden, particularly at night, ranging from sweet to spicy. In arranging these with mums, you might play with the color wheel and marry up an orange mum with a blue petunia for contrasting complementary colors.

Quick and easy to grow for beginner gardeners, the daisy-like cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) have bushy leaves, making this annual a potentially intriguing companion to the compact mum. Loved for their pink and white varieties, cosmos do come in a range of colors, including fall favorites like orange and red. What's extra nice about these late-summer bloomers is that they will attract pollinators such as bees to the garden, bringing even more life there as the weather starts to cool down. But, you may want to later steal the cosmos away from your mums, because they make great cutting flowers to bring indoors.

Bring in floss flowers (Ageratum houstonianum) to keep your mums company, and your garden might start to look like a cheer squad. This is another annual with pom-pom blooms, although floss flower tufts are known for their unique fuzzy appearance. Deer and rabbits also stay away from floss flowers, helping to protect your mums. But they attract pollinators, put on a dazzling show, and help your garden to thrive. Although they are cultivated in an array of colors, it's the blue floss flowers that often capture the most attention.

Here's a completely different looking buddy for your mums — the coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides), which is known for its dazzling array of leaves in a wide lineup of intricate designs and intriguing shapes. Expect to find types of coleus in orange, yellow, pink, yellow, chartreuse, green, burgundy, purple, and red. They flower with spikes, like hostas, but the spikes are often snipped off to make the annual look neater. Keep in mind when finding a spot for coleus that some varieties prefer indirect light, where mums like full sun. Make sure to read plant tags carefully for guidance.

The trumpet-shaped flowers of the mandevilla (Mandevilla × amabilis) make magnificent garden accessories to mums, as if they were supporting actors. They're loved in red, which will provide fiery pops of color among the mums. They also come in fall-friendly yellow, although mandevilla are also common in white and pink to create perfect late-summer color when planted next to mums. Mandevilla are vines. Depending on the variety, they may need support. This makes them tailor-made for containers, where they will grow up or grow down, achieving different visual effects. They're also known for their plentiful blooms.

With some varieties often considered an annual, dichondra (Dichondra micrantha) supplies a dramatic background for mums in all their flamboyant glory. Part of the morning glory clan, dichondra is nevertheless mostly green. It does flower, but the blooms are small and white, so that its rounded leaves take center stage. Although it's considered an alternative to grass as lawn cover, dichondra does well in containers, making it a perfect roommate to mums. For a beautiful combination, some suggest pairing white mums with pewter versions of dichondra for a holiday show in the garden.

The most popular version of the zinnia (genus Zinnia) is an annual that is prized for creating a stunning display when combined with mums. Gardeners like to place zinnias toward the middle or back of a garden, which means that mums will stand out most. The zinnia's substantial flowers bloom through late summer into the fall, which will tide gardeners over through the seasons. Choosing a color will be challenging, since zinnias come in red, yellow, orange, pink, lavender, white, and even green. When it comes to exercising your creative muscle in the garden, that's a good problem to have.