My Favorite Flowers for Beginners (or anyone)
Are you nervous about starting with flowers? Or maybe you already have a garden and are just looking for something easy to fill a spot…
“Zahara Raspberry Ripple” zinnias are full and bushy, non-stop bloomers that anybody can grow.
After lots of trial and error, plenty of plant losses, suffering with aggressive and invasive plants, and dealing with the uncertainties of weather, I’ve come up with a short list of my favorite flowers that anyone can grow. All of these are great for beginners, but I still use all of them, so of course they are good for seasoned gardeners as well.
All of the flowers I chose for my top 8 had to meet these criteria:
- Attractive flowers
- Withstand varying amounts of rainfall and temperatures
- Vigorous growth without being a nuisance (aka invasive)
- Can be grown by someone with little to no gardening experience
All of these plants need the appropriate amount of water and sunlight, but all of them will give you some leeway. And all of them will grow in any sort of decent soil.
In no particular order, these are what I’ve determined as my top 8~
Zinnias
Everybody loves zinnias, and for good reason. They are extremely easy to grow from seed, which makes them very affordable, they grow fast so you get near-instant gratification, they have lovely flowers that range from small and disc-like to big, floofy pompoms, they come in multiple sizes and heights, and they are incredibly prolific bloomers, blooming pretty much non-stop from late spring to the end of fall.
Plant type: annuals
Bloom season: Summer through fall
Sunlight: Full sun
Height: 1 to 5 feet, depending on cultivar
Width: 1 to 3 feet
Colors Available: All but blue
Notes: Many zinnias self sow (free plants!).
Snip growing tips early in the season to encourage multiple branches to form (this creates a fuller plant with more blooming tips).
Sow by seed either indoor or directly in the ground. I sow zinnia seeds indoors on the last frost date and transplant them outside once they have 3 full sets of leaves (about 4 weeks later, usually).
Angelonias
Sometimes called Summer Snapdragons, but angelonias are MUCH tougher. Mine have easily withstood 2 record breaking hot summers here in Texas, with only basic irrigation during those hot summers when there was zero rain. They sway in the breeze in a lovely way; especially beautiful in a cottage garden.
Plant type: perennial in zones 8b and up, annual elsewhere
Bloom season: Summer
Sunlight: Full sun
Height: 1 to 3 feet, depending on cultivar
Width: 1 to 2 feet
Colors Available: Purple, pink, and white
Notes: These self sow in my zone 8b garden. I find them in various places, but not to the point of being problematic.
Begonias
Begonias are easy to buy and easy to grow. They’re perfect groundcovers in shady areas and the lusher varieties really level up the look of your patio.
Plant type: annuals
Sunlight: Shade in warm climates, part sun in less intense climates
Bloom season: Spring through Fall
Height: 6 inches to 2 feet, depending on cultivar
Width: 6 inches to 3 feet, depending on cultivar
Colors Available: Mostly pink, red, white. Some orange and yellow available, but hard to find. No blue.
Notes: Waxy leaves make them look a bit tropical.
Hardy Hibiscus (hibiscus moscheutos)
If you want a big, tropical looking flower but don’t live in a tropical climate, hardy hibiscuses are your answer! These are actually perennial shrubs which die down to the ground at first frost and emerge again in late spring/early summer and grow quickly to their full size within a short time. Their popularity has grown in recent years so there are LOTS of varieties to choose from. 2 things all hardy hibiscus need—plenty of full sun and plenty of water. But give them those 2 things and you will be handsomely rewarded with big, bodacious blooms all summer long into fall.
Plant type: perennial
Sunlight: Full sun
Bloom season: Summer through Fall
Height: 2 to 6 feet, depending on cultivar
Width: 2 to 6 feet, depending on cultivar
Colors Available: Pink, red, purple, white
Notes: These take a long time to wake up in the spring, so don’t dig them up believing they’re dead! Even in my warm climate, they don’t emerge until late May, which means in cooler climates it may be June before you see them.
Vincas (Catharanthus roseus) (also called Madagascar Periwinkle)
Vincas are a great low-growing space filler. They tolerate just about anything, which means that can actually be invasive in climates 9 and above. For everyone else they are grown as annuals, planted in the spring and enjoyed until late fall.
Plant type: annuals
Sunlight: Full Sun
Bloom season: Spring through Fall
Height: 6 to 12 inches
Width: 6 to 12 inches (plant 8-10 inches apart for full carpet)
Colors Available: Pink, purple, red, white
Notes: Make sure you don’t plant trailing vinca, or common periwinkle! It is invasive and an absolute pest.
“Mystic Blue Spires” salvia bud (with blooms in background)
Salvias – all kinds!
There are lots of different varieties of salvia (aka sage), many of them native to the US. And all of them are loved by pollinators, and often hummingbirds. I watch bumblebees and other native bees consistently choose salvias over all other types of flowers. Hummingbirds love the ones with long tubular flowers and will fight over them.
Plant type: perennials or annuals, depending on species and your growing zone
Sunlight: Full sun to half day sun (depending on your growing zone and the variety)
Bloom season: Spring through Fall
Height: 1 to 6 feet, depending on type (Mexican bush sage gets big!)
Width: 1 to 4 feet, depending on type
Colors Available: Mostly blues and purples, but pretty much all other colors as well (though yellow is very rare)
Notes: Check your local nurseries (not big box places) to see which salvias are native, or most suited to your area. Some varieties readily self sow (like salvia coccinea).
“Popcorn” Drift Rose
Drift Roses™
If you think growing roses is difficult, you need a Drift rose. These are low growing shrub roses that have been bred to be small and tough and not need any pampering. Just give them a good rose fertilizer in the spring and make sure they get sufficient water, and you will have a lovely front-of-the-border rose to enjoy all spring and summer.
Plant type: shrub (zones 5 – 10)
Sunlight: Full sun
Bloom season: Spring through Fall
Height: 1 ½ to 2 feet, depending on cultivar
Width: 2 to 3 feet, depending on cultivar
Colors: Peach, pink, red, coral, white, yellow
Notes: There is no such thing as a rose that is 100% fungus resistant, but these are close.
I fertilize my roses in the spring with Espoma Rose Fertilizer and it makes for super healthy rose bushes.
Daylily “Full Moon Magic” is a prolific bloomer in my garden in full sun.
Daylilies (Hemerocallis)
Daylilies are some of my favorite flowers of all time. They are easy to grow, beautiful, and come in hundreds (maybe even thousands?) of varieties.
- They are purchased bareroot and can be found through multiple online nurseries.
- They come in every color except blue, and many have interesting patterning.
- They grow in clumps that can be divided every 3 to 5 years, which means free plants!
- They come in dormant (die to ground each winter), evergreen, and semi-evergreen. If you live in a warm/hot climate, avoid dormant varieties as they don’t do well in hot summers. My favorite website for researching daylily varieties is www.garden.org.
Plant type: perennial
Bloom season: Spring through Fall
Height: 2 to 3 feet for most varieties (with a few that get taller)
Width: clumps – size depends on age
Colors: All but blue
Notes: Give daylilies plenty of water. Dividing the clumps every few years helps increase blooms.
Daylily “Carmen Renee” is a semi-evergreen variety that loves morning sun and afternoon shade in my hot climate.
There are certainly tons of other wonderful flowering plants out there that are NOT difficult to grow; this list is not exhaustive and is just my personal list of easy favorites.
If you’re looking for a one-stop plant selection resource, I encourage you to check out my Master Plant List, which you can download, print, and take with you while plant shopping. It lists hundreds of plants for various growing conditions. You can purchase it here.(link coming soon – product still being developed)
Enjoy your flowers!