10 Flowers to Plant For a Low-Maintenance Garden

Wouldn’t you love it if you could plant your flowers, and then just sit back and enjoy them? I have some flower options for you that I’ve found easy to grow. Here’s a list of my favorite 10 flowers to plant for a low–maintenance garden.

I’m all about the flowers!

But I’m also about easy and simple. If you don’t have a lot of time to spend out in your garden, but still want to enjoy beautiful flowers, I’ve got some ideas for you. Here are my favorite top 10 flowers for a low-maintenance garden.

Note: I am not a Master Gardener, but a self-taught gardener who shares my opinions and what has worked for me in the garden.

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1. Coneflower (Echinacea)

There is so much to love about coneflowers. Once established, they are heat and drought resistant. This easy to grow flower blooms for months and make great cut flowers.

Coneflowers do well in both full sun and partial shade, and are ideal companion plants that attract birds, bees and butterflies. Leave the seed heads after they bloom and they’ll also attract songbirds. These flowers are more deer-resistant than most. Zone 3-9.

2. Day Lilies

This sun loving, low-maintenance perennial, produces yellow, purple, red and orange blooms. What I like most about this gorgeous plant is how easy it is to divide and transplant to other areas in the garden. They tolerate a wide variety of soil conditions and bloom for years with little attention. Each flower stem typically has at least a dozen flower buds, so the plant stays in bloom for several weeks. Zone 3-9.

3. Zinnias

Zinnias come in almost every shade, except blue, and come in a variety of heights. They’re annuals, so they’ll grow for one season and produce seeds. The daisy-like flower-heads on a single stem make zinnias perfect for a cutting flower or as food for butterflies.

These annuals are my very favorite low-maintenance flower! This is mainly because they are one of the first flowers to bloom in the summer and the last to bloom in the fall. Zinnias are also very easy to grow from seed. The more you cut, the more blooms you’ll get! Zone 3-10.

4. Cosmos

According to Country Living Magazine, Cosmos is the Greek word for “harmony”. These annuals make great border and container plants, and are the perfect bloom for a low-maintenance cottage garden. They will reseed on their own, like full sun to part shade, are drought tolerant and can even survive in poor soil. Cosmos are also very easy to grow from seed and bloom for most of the summer season. The more you deadhead spent blooms, the more blooms you will get throughout the growing season. Zone 2-11.

5. Black-Eyed Susans

Black-eyed Susans are great cut flowers, and work well for borders and in containers. Butterflies, bees, and a variety of insects are attracted to the flowers for the nectar. Divide perennial types every 3 to 4 years to ensure healthy plants and to prevent excessive spreading. I started with just one plant and now have over 20 throughout the garden.

Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming. After the first season, black-eyed Susans can reseed themselves. Zone 3-9.

6. Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas have an old-fashioned charm that is hard to resist. They tolerate almost any soil, and produce abundant blooms. The gorgeous blooms look beautiful no matter how you plant them in the garden, from containers to borders. Hydrangeas prefer morning sun with afternoon shade, and will also grow in partial shade. They’re also a perfect flower to dry. Zone 4-9.

7. Peonies

These low-maintenance perennials can live for at least 100 years, and are drought and slug resistant. Peonies are my very favorite spring flowers to cut and put in vases throughout the house to brighten thing up a bit!

Young peony plants will take time to develop. Experts say harvesting immature plants within the first 2 years will stunt the size of the flowers, and the number of stems per plant for many years. They like full sun and well-drained soil.

Peonies bloom from late spring through early summer, depending on your location and the variety of peony you’re growing. However, the foliage will stay green throughout the summer. Because of the large blooms it produces, the plant will most likely need more support. I use wire tomato cages, but they sell three-legged metal peony rings as well. Zone 2-8.

8. Geraniums

I have a serious love affair with geraniums. These annuals are great for window boxes, hanging baskets and pots. They will bloom from spring through the first frost in the fall. I’ve shared How to Start Geranium Cuttings and the 4 Easy Options to Overwinter Geraniums.

Use a well-draining potting mixture (not heavy, clayey soil) when planting in containers. For maximum blooms, plant geraniums where they will get 4-6 hours of sunlight. To promote bushiness and avoid legginess, pinch the stems. Zone 9-12, but can be overwintered.

9. Pansies

Pansies like full or partial sun, but don’t do well with the afternoon sun. They love the cool weather and thrive in the spring and fall months. They’ll even survive a frost. Pansies can overwinter in some regions with mulch protection. These flowers are great for containers, borders, and ground cover. To encourage more blooms, remove spent flowers. Zone 7-11.

10. Marigolds

These annuals are one of the hardiest flowers that you can plant in your garden, and are a drought tolerant plant that can handle a lot of heat. Marigolds will bloom through the fall season, until the first frost hits. They have carnation-like flower heads and thrive in full sun. These plants are prone to powdery mildew and won’t bloom well in shade. Deadheading encourages the plant to produce more blooms, extending the flowering season.

Marigolds are known for being great companion plants, especially for those crops most impacted by harmful pests, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, snap beans, onions, squash and strawberries. Experts recommend not to plant marigolds directly alongside vegetables. Instead, you should plant a mass of marigolds in the spring, in the area where you are planning to grow a fall crop. Then, in mid- to late summer, remove the marigolds and plant a crop for fall harvest. Zone 3-11.

I hope you found at least a couple of low-maintenance flowers that would work for your garden. Do you have a flower that you love that’s not on this list, but easy to grow? Leave me a comment.

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