The Easiest Flowers To Grow From Seed
Do you struggle to start and maintain an affordable flower garden? Read on to learn more about the easiest flowers to grow from seed!
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What is a summer garden without flowers? Not very much in my opinion! There’s something about having a yard full of color and life every summer. If you’re like most gardeners, you may think it’s easier to just buy the plant rather than growing it from seed. I’m here to tell you there are some very easy to grow flowers that don’t take a lot of effort or cost to start from seed. If the idea of starting flowers from seeds has you running scared, have no fear. These five flowers are so easy and fun to start from seed, anyone can do it! Let’s dig right in.
Seed starting used to be a struggle of mine, so if you also struggle with starting plants from seed, check out this list of seed starting tips and tricks.
Keep in mind, I grow in zone 4b/5a so depending on your grow zone, these may or may not be the best suited flowers for your environment. Not sure what your grow zone is? You can do a quick search online to look it up. Most university extension offices will provide resources for your area on growing zones.
Starting at number 5: Cosmos!
There is just something enchanting about a field of Cosmos dancing in the wind. These dainty, wispy flowers are easy on the eyes and easy to grow. Starting Cosmos are as simple as tossing the seed onto freshly worked soil after danger of frost, water them in, and watch them grow.
You may need to provide some protection for Cosmos. I’ve found the bunnies do like to mow them down before they’ve had a chance to take off and flower. If you have bunnies in your area, you can protect your Cosmos by two main methods. You can put a fence around them, or you can use a natural bunny repellent. Just make sure to spray regularly until your Cosmos are well established and flowering.
If you don’t have rain the forecast after seeding your Cosmos, make sure you provide them with a little drink. Once growing, Cosmos prefer a drier soil over a wet soil, so make sure not to over water your cosmos. Also please be sure to not plant them too close to another flower that requires a lot of water. Otherwise you’ll end up with unhappy, over-watered Cosmos, or dry unhappy other flowers.
Most commonly, you’ll find pink and white Cosmos, but you can also find them in yellow, orange, red and maroon.
Cosmos are one of the easiest flowers to grow from seed because of how little water they need! Just be sure to give them enough water to get started, and protection until they’re established.
Number 4: Bachelor’s Buttons!
Bachelor’s Buttons are in my opinion one of the few true-blue flowers. If you want a sea of blue in your garden, be sure to plant plenty of these cute button-like flowers. They also come in shades of pink, white, and light and dark purple, and they are sometimes called Corn Flowers. You can plant Bachelor’s Buttons in two different ways:
- Direct seed in the late fall for an early spring bloom. Simply work up the soil where you want them to grow, toss the seeds down, and lightly cover. Don’t worry about them being too cold over the winter. These seeds tend to sprout better when they have a period of cold temperatures before germination. This is called cold stratification. You’ll find fresh blooms early in the spring as mother nature does her work to wake the seeds up.
- Direct seed in the early spring for a late spring, early summer bloom. About two to three weeks before your last frost date, work up the soil, toss the seeds, lightly cover, and lightly water them in.
Bachelor’s Buttons tend to grow to maturity in about 60-90 days from your plant date. They like cooler weather so be mindful not to plant them too late in the spring or summer.
Bachelor’s Buttons are great at self-seeding also. This means that once they are done blooming, they drop their seeds to sprout for next year. So don’t plant them in areas you wouldn’t want them to continue to pop up from year to year. If they continue to pop up, you can always pull them out if they aren’t where you want them. Otherwise, this makes them a great flower if you want something that will continue to appear from year to year. Because they self seed, this is the reason I have them as the fourth easiest flowers to grow from seed.
Number 3: Marigolds!
In my opinion, Marigolds are the easiest flower to start from seed. They are also very easy to save seed from so that you can have flowers for next year. However, I realize, not everyone loves the smell of them, which is why they’re number 3 on the list.
Simply toss your Marigold seeds on freshly worked up soil after danger of frost, lightly pat them down without completely covering them, and water them in. Marigolds will germinate quickly if you have good seed and will bloom about 6-8 weeks after planting.
They love full sun and are excellent at keeping pests out of your landscaping and garden. Marigolds are some of the best insect repelling flowers due to their scent. Bunnies also don’t like the smell of Marigolds. To keep the bunnies away, I tend to plant Marigolds around the boarders of my flower beds to deter them from entering and eating my other flowers. Marigolds are excellent companion plants in your vegetable garden as well! They pair well with tomatoes, basil, kale, broccoli, potatoes, gourds, egg plants, squash, and cucumbers. Marigolds help bring in beneficial bugs to pollinate your vegetables while keeping bad bugs away.
Another great thing about Marigolds is that they will keep blooming all season long if you continuously dead head them.
Number 2: Sunflowers!
You can’t not think about summer when you see Sunflowers. Sunflowers are so easy to grow that they sometimes just pop up as gifts from birds or squirrels. Sunflowers will grow if you just sprinkle them across the soil like the other seeds I’ve mentioned so far. However, they are far more likely to be successful if you plant them about 1 inch down in the soil. Throwing them on top of the soil makes them an easy target for the birds to find and eat before it gets a chance to sprout. Water your Sunflower seedlings regularly and watch them climb!
Some Sunflower varieties can get 10-12 feet tall, and most will reach maturity in 60-100 days from planting. Once mature you can cut back on the amount of water your Sunflowers get. During the early growth stages, they do require plenty of water to reach full potential.
Sunflowers get their name not only because they look like the sun, but because they love the sun. Plant them in a location that gets full sun for the best growth.
My favorite thing about Sunflowers is that they bring in birds to my yard. Birds love picking at the seeds! You can also save your dried Sunflower heads to set out during the wintertime as a beautiful bird treat. I also love how quickly they grow. I try to plant two successions of Sunflowers. One in May after the weather has warmed up past 60 degrees, and another in July to get late summer or fall blooms. While Sunflowers are easy to grow, they do require a lot of water to get them going. This is why they’re number two on my list of easiest flowers to grow from seed.
Finally, Number 1: Zinnias!
Zinnias are in my opinion the most beautiful of my top 5 easiest flowers to grow from seed. They come in the most variety of colors and shapes to choose from. Some of my favorite Zinnia varieties include:
- Benary’s Giant Mix – A bright tall mix of colors with double petal flowers. Blooms can get to be 4-5″ in diameter and plants can grow 3-4′ in height.
- Cactus Flowered Mix – A bright mix of colors with spiky petal blooms about 3-4″ in diameter.
- Queen Lime Series – My favorite is the plain Lime colored which produces bright apple/lime-colored flowers. You can also get Queen Lime Red, Orange, and Blush varieties.
- Peppermint Stick – Unique white and pink striped flowers just like a peppermint candy!
There are two ways you can start Zinnias. If you start them indoors in the late winter, you can get a head start on their growth for spring. You can also direct seed them outside after danger of frost has passed. Pinching Zinnias once they reach about 8″ tall will encourage branching giving you more flowers to enjoy as well. It seems painful to do, but the payoff is worth it!
Zinnias are another flower that will give you numerous flushes of blooms if you continue to dead head your flowers. Zinnias make excellent cut flowers to enjoy in bouquets inside as well. But… my favorite thing about Zinnias? The butterflies simply love them!
Did I miss any of your favorite easy to grow flowers from seed? Let me know in the comments some of your favorite easiest flowers to grow from seed. Which of these 5 varieties have you grown yourself, or plan to try next summer?
