Book excerpt: Several concurrent trends have created the need for a new book on annual plants. One is the increasing popularity of container gardening, for which these plants are particularly suited. Another is the hottest trend in landscaping -- creating a bold, even jungly look through the use of tropical plants and other dramatic specimens, most grown as annuals in temperate zones. To meet the demand, growers have developed hundreds of new plants and improved cultivars of old favorites. In this Taylor's Guide, buyers will find more than five hundred of the latest, trendiest plants and the best cultivars of the beloved old standbys.