Skip to main content

HappySprout may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

How to find the best easy-to-grow flower seeds for your garden

Sometimes we want to have a lovely looking garden, without having to work too hard for a lovely looking garden. The idyllic flower gardens you see around town might look amazing, but they’re often challenging and require almost daily maintenance. Additionally, some of those stunning blooms are hard to produce without proper care. So if you’d like to have a flower-filled garden without all the hassle, here’s how you can find easy-to-grow flowers for your specific needs.

Consider your climate

The best and easiest way to ensure that your flower-growing endeavors are easy is to invest in flowers that can grow in your specific climate. Trying to grow something from a tropical environment when you live in Arizona could be successful, but it’s going to be a lot of work. Make life easier, and look into some native flowers for your area. You’ll need to learn your plant hardiness zone, and then you can find excellent sources online and in local stores where they can show you the plants that love that zone.

flower garden
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How much time do you have?

Before selecting a bunch of climbing roses for your garden, you need to get a realistic understanding of how much free time you have to spend on your garden. While I’m sure most of us would love to quit our day job to just garden all day long, that isn’t always realistic. Set yourself and your plants up for success and sit down to create an estimate of how many hours a week you can spend in your garden. Maybe you get home early on Thursdays so you can spend an extra 45 minutes before you have to start dinner, or perhaps you’ll only have the weekends. Either way, get that number down, and you’ll have a better idea of how many and what kind of flowers you might be able to handle.

What is your desired outcome?

Of course, the goal is flowers, but what type of garden do you envision? Are you looking to create a manufactured wildflower patch? Or is it your dream to have perfectly sectioned-off areas for daisies and peonies and so on? Both of these options are beautiful, but they require a different level of commitment and flower to achieve. Getting clear about this before buying flowers will ensure you’re on the right track from the beginning.

Universally easy-to-grow flowers

Now that you’ve taken some time to think about what you want, how much time you have, and where you live, here are some flowers that can be easily grown within most of the continental United States. However, this is not a comprehensive list, and there are many more options.

  • Sunflowers: tolerates most soil types, attracts pollinators and drought, is heat tolerant, blooms during the summer
  • Coneflowers: blooms last for months, attracts pollinators, tolerates drought, very colorful blooms
  • Zinnias: comes in a wide variety of shapes, attracts butterflies, blooms during the summer, tolerates varying water schedules
  • Cosmos: blooms all season long, helps repel mosquitoes, grows quickly, needs full sun
  • Morning glories: lots of color variety, attracts birds and butterflies, blooms in late summer and early fall, self-sowing
  • Snapdragon: uniquely shaped bloom, attracts butterflies, needs well-draining soil, lots of color options
  • Lavender: attracts bees and butterflies, keeps mosquitoes away, is drought tolerant, has a pleasant smell even when dried
wildflower garden
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Where to find flower seeds

Flower seeds can be found in almost any garden center or Home Depot, wherever you live. You could even look up some smaller shops in your local area to support small businesses. However, sometimes it’s just easier to purchase items online. Some of the best online seed sellers are Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Often these online shops have more expensive options, but their seeds are of higher quality and have higher germination ratios. While shopping at Home Depot might be more affordable, the seeds sold by experts will have a higher success rate.

Don’t let the risk of failure hold you back from trying to achieve your flower garden goals. If nothing else, you can start with one flower and work your way up until you’re a flower-growing master.

Editors' Recommendations

Rebecca Wolken
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Rebecca's has written for Bob Villa and a Cincinnati based remodeling company. When she's not writing about home remodeling…
How to propagate your jasmine from cuttings to spread the fragrant love
From cutting stems to air layering, here's what you need to know about propagating jasmine
Crepe Jasmine flowers

A lovely note in floral perfumes, jasmine is one of the most fragrant plants out there and features a light, sweet scent when in full bloom. If you need more jasmine in your life, then you'll be thrilled to learn that jasmine is simple to propagate. There are three different methods for creating more of this beautiful, fragrant plant. Interested in learning how to propagate jasmine? Then this is the guide for you! We'll explain the three simple methods you can use to fill your garden and home with jasmine.

When should you propagate jasmine?
The ideal time to propagate jasmine is right after it blooms, which is usually during the spring or summer. Around this time of year, you'll likely be pruning your plant anyway, so it's an opportune time to pick out some cuttings from fresh stems while you're shaping your jasmine.

Read more
Can you grow a bird of paradise from a cutting? Here’s what you need to know to grow your dream plant
Tips and tricks for successfully propagating a bird of paradise plant
Bird of paradise plant

Whether they're found in their natural habitats in the wild or as the centerpiece in an indoor garden, bird of paradise plants are eye-catching and perfect for adding some color and tropical flair to your home. This plant is native to South Africa and is well-known for its lush foliage and attractive tropical blooms with vividly colored flowers. The plant gets its name from the stunning flower's resemblance to a colorful bird in flight.

With how stunning this plant is, it's no wonder that so many gardeners want to grow their own. However, growing one from seed can take a long time, and mature plants can be expensive if you want more than one. For most plants like this, propagation is the fastest and most cost effective way of adding them to your garden. So can you grow a bird of paradise from a cutting? Yes, and this guide will tell you how!

Read more
5 November garden plants you should consider growing
Here are the best plants to get started for late fall
Close-up of daffodils in sunlight

November is the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, so it isn’t typically a time when people think about working in their gardens. However, November can still be a productive gardening month! We’ve prepared a list of five plants that you can grow in your garden this November — we’ll even give you tips and tricks for growing them, what climates they grow best in, and when you can expect to see results. If you aren’t planning on planting a cover crop this winter, try out one of these November garden plants.

Daffodils
Daffodils are spring-blooming flowers, but they’re often planted in the fall. Daffodil bulbs should be planted two or three weeks before the ground freezes, so keep an eye on your local weather for the best results. In mild climates, daffodils can be planted as late as the end of November, while those in cooler climates may need to plant them in September or October.

Read more