Hot New Annuals for 2026

Annuals are the secret weapon for any Lehigh Valley gardener looking to achieve instant beauty in their garden or create a stunning showcase for their porch, patio, or deck.

Every year, plant breeders surprise us with incredible advancements in heat tolerance, disease resistance, and gorgeous color patterns. Here at Lehigh Valley Home & Garden Center in Pennsylvania, we’ve been keeping a close eye on trends in annuals and on the best of the best from the gardening community. Whether you want to pack a punch in your hanging baskets or fill your Allentown landscape with eye-catching textures, these plants are ready to perform.

Here are the hottest and trendiest annuals for 2026.

1. Coleus

Coleus continues to rule the gardening world, and the 2026 varieties are bolder and more dramatic than ever before. This foliage-first superstar proves that you do not need massive flowers to make a massive statement in your landscape. With intricate patterns, serrated edges, and neon hues ranging from electric lime to deep burgundy, coleus brings instant texture to any shady or partly sunny nook. Breeders have worked wonders to ensure newer varieties of coleus resist bolting, meaning they keep their gorgeous shape all summer long without going to seed prematurely.

Where to Use Coleus

Coleus is the ultimate "thriller" or "filler" plant for mixed containers, window boxes, and shaded patio pots. Coleus plants also look stunning as vibrant border plants along a walkway or nestled under a canopy of trees.

How to Care for Coleus

Coleus thrives in partial to full shade. Keep the soil consistently moist but well-draining, and pinch back the growing tips occasionally if you want to encourage the plant to become bushy.

Why You'll Love Coleus

Coleus delivers reliable, high-impact color from May through the first frost of fall in Pennsylvania. It takes the guesswork out of shade gardening and gives you a lush, tropical look that can stand on its own or complement other plants.

2. Marigolds

Marigolds don’t just come in yellow.  We’re seeing stunning new color profiles, including creamy vanilla whites, rich copper-bronzes, and striking bicolor blooms. We also love that this year’s marigolds are robust flowers with tight petals. 

Plus, marigolds are heat-tolerant, meaning that they can thrive in Pennsylvania’s summer heat.

Where to Use Marigolds

Pop these sun-loving annuals into your front-yard flower beds or accent containers.  Their compact size makes them perfect for framing walkways or adding a bright splash of color to sunny porch steps.

You can also plant marigolds in your vegetable garden to have pretty volunteer plants, meaning the marigolds will function as plants that draw pests away from your vegetables.

How to Care for Marigolds

Marigolds are low-maintenance and only need full sun and occasional watering once they are established.  Regularly deadhead spent blooms to encourage new flowers.  Avoid watering from overhead to keep the foliage pristine.

Why You'll Love Marigolds

Marigolds are tough, budget-friendly flowers that will brighten your garden.  Plus, they are easy to care for and they smell like mint when you deadhead them.

3. Bacopa

If you want to achieve that romantic, spilling-over-the-edge look in your summer containers, bacopa is an absolute must-have for your garden. This delicate trailing annual is famous for its cascading blankets of tiny, star-shaped flowers that contrast beautifully against its green foliage.

The newest bacopa varieties offer improved heat tolerance, meaning they will not stall out or drop their blooms when Pennsylvania’s mid-summer humidity hits. Available in white, lavender, and pink, bacopa is the perfect softening agent for any garden design.

Where to Use Bacopa

Since bacopa excels as a trailing plant, it’s great in hanging baskets, window boxes, and along the edges of large patio planters. Bacopa also works beautifully as a seasonal, fast-growing groundcover to fill in empty gaps along stone retaining walls.

How to Care for Bacopa

Plant bacopa in a spot that receives morning sun and afternoon shade to protect it from the sun’s harshest rays. Also, do not let the soil completely dry out. Consistent moisture is key to keeping these delicate flowers opening day after day in your Lehigh Valley garden.

Why You'll Love Bacopa

Bacopa is a self-cleaning plant, which means that you get beautiful flowers without having to deadhead.  So, this plant is perfect for those Pennsylvania gardeners who want low-maintenance flowers and a touch of elegance in their outdoor spaces.

4. Lantana

Lantana can tolerate just about any condition because it is drought-tolerant, heat-tolerant, tolerant of high humidity, and can thrive in poor soil conditions. The 2026 varieties have stunning multicolored flower clusters that seem to shift shades as they mature, thereby creating a beautiful kaleidoscope effect.

Where to Use Lantana

Plant lantana in your most exposed garden beds, rock gardens, or poolside planters. Trailing varieties work beautifully in elevated hanging baskets, while upright lantanas make gorgeous floral accents in large, heavy ceramic pots.

How to Care for Lantana

Plant your lantana in a location that receives at least six to eight hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day. Water it thoroughly to help establish the root system.  Once it settles in, lantana is highly drought-tolerant and prefers to dry out slightly between waterings.

Why You'll Love Lantana

Lantana flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds and can help turn your backyard into a pollinator-friendly playground. You’ll also love this plant’s resilience and pest-resistance.

5. Gazania

Also known as the “treasure flower,” gazania is making a massive splash this year with some of the most striking daisy-like blooms. The 2026 introductions feature oversized flowers with bold, contrasting stripes and dark, dramatic centers that will capture everyone’s attention. This South African native is custom-built for hot, dry environments, which makes it perfect for gardeners who want low-maintenance plants that thrive in the summer in their Pennsylvania gardens. 

Where to Use Gazania

Gazania works well as border flowers and in coastal-inspired designs, rock gardens, and low-profile patio bowls. It excels in hot spots near driveways, concrete walkways, and brick walls that tend to radiate intense afternoon heat.

How to Care for Gazania

Give gazania full sun and well-draining soil, since it hates having soggy feet (i.e., constantly wet roots). Give it very little fertilizer.  Also, don’t worry if you are a forgetful gardener.  This plant’s drought-tolerance makes it very forgiving regarding watering.

Why You'll Love Gazania

The visual drama of the striped, neon-bright petals is enough to make anyone fall in love with gazania. It is the ultimate "set-it-and-forget-it" annual that thrives on neglect while delivering some of the most exotic, showstopping blooms.

6. New Guinea Impatiens

For those tricky, semi-shady spots that need a pop of brilliant color, New Guinea impatiens are the gold standard. These robust plants feature large, striking flowers that sit above thick, dark, and sometimes variegated foliage. Plus, New Guinea impatiens have excellent resistance to downy mildew.

New Guinea impatiens come in a variety of colors including purple, pink, red, orange, and white.  You can get them in pastels or in bright tropical colors.

Where to Use New Guinea Impatiens

These compact, upright flowers are perfect for shaded garden beds, covered porches, east-facing patios, and mixed containers. They look beautiful when nestled alongside broad-leafed hostas or delicate ferns to create texture and color contrasts.

How to Care for New Guinea Impatiens

New Guinea impatiens thrive in spots that receive filtered morning light with shelter from the harsh afternoon sun and heat. Keep the soil evenly moist and apply a balanced liquid fertilizer every few weeks to fuel their heavy blooming cycle.

Why You'll Love New Guinea Impatiens

You’ll love this plant’s heat tolerance and ability to thrive in the Pennsylvania summer.  Also, these flowers grow uniformly and neatly, so they are perfect for gardeners who like a nice, clean look in their landscaping.

7. Calibrachoa

Calibrachoa is a summer must-have for Pennsylvania homes, and the 2026 calibrachoa varieties are absolutely spectacular. Often called “million bells,” these flowers look like baby petunias and produce hundreds of small, trumpet-shaped flowers on trailing stems.  They come in watercolor gradients, starburst patterns, and more.

Where to Use Calibrachoa

Calibrachoa flowers are gorgeous in hanging baskets, window boxes, tall urns, multitier planter stands, and just about any container you can think of.  This is because the flowers grow so that they’re gently spilling over a container’s edges to look like a waterfall of flowers.

How to Care for Calibrachoa

To keep the flower production in overdrive, plant your calibrachoa in full sun and ensure your potting mix drains quickly and thoroughly. Calibrachoa plants are heavy feeders, so give them a water-soluble fertilizer every week or two to maintain a lush, continuous blanket of color.

Why You'll Love Calibrachoa

Calibrachoa plants provide an unmatched volume of blooms in just about any color you want.  Plus, calibrachoa is self-cleaning, which means no deadheading is necessary.  This makes this low-maintenance plant perfect for Lehigh Valley gardeners who want low-maintenance beauty in their outdoor spaces.

Visit Lehigh Valley Garden Center for the Best Annuals

The perfect summer landscape starts with the best plants. Whether you are looking to create a dramatic entryway display or want to fill your backyard with pollinator-friendly blooms, these trendsetting annuals are ready to deliver.

Stop by Lehigh Valley Home & Garden Center in Allentown to explore our freshly stocked greenhouses. Our friendly and knowledgeable gardening experts are always happy to help you mix and match your favorites to create a combination of flowers and foliage that you’ll love.