Four Easy Flowers to Grow From Seed

Morning glories, cosmos, forget-me-nots, and sweet williams are four of the easiest flowers I know to grow from seed. They all do, however, require full sun. These beautiful flowers come in a range of colors and varieties. I’ve seen morning glories in white and blue, purple, bright blue, and pink. Cosmos are also available in white and pink. Forget-me-nots come in blue, pink, or white.

Morning glories and cosmos are annuals, while forget-me-nots and sweet williams are biennials, though some varieties of forget-me-nots are perennial. However, don’t let the fact that these flowers aren’t perennial discourage you! They tend to reseed themselves and come up every year. If you are growing these flowers outside in your garden, simply leave the old plants/vines and they’ll reseed themselves and come up again next year. If you are growing them in planters, make sure to store the planters in a cool place, such as a basement over the winter.

All of these flower seeds are inexpensive so if you are looking for some lovely plants to add to your garden, these are excellent choices. Morning glories grow well along fences, patio railing or even in pots with staking or a trellis. In Creating a Cottage Garden in North America, Stephen Westcott-Gratton, the author, recommends planting passionflowers and morning glories together in a pot with a simple trellis (p. 56). The effect is breathtaking.

I grow morning glories along my fence to add additional color behind the wildflowers and English roses. A note of caution: morning glories will use other plants to climb if they are near enough and may sometimes need to be thinned. They can be difficult to pull out though so be careful not to plant them too close to other plants.

I spread cosmos flowers around in various sun-filled areas of my English garden because both the feathery leaves and the flowers are showy. Sweet williams are one of my favorite flowers. They most often come in wildflower seed mixes though they can also be purchased as plants. Sweet williams are unstoppable once planted. They easily take root and then spread and continue to grow into the fall and even stay green over the winter.

If you are looking for a bulb that easily takes root, I’d recommend autumn joy sedum. These lovely flowers don’t seem to be very picky about the kind of soil that they are planted in. The first one that I planted spread quickly so I split a couple of pieces off of it and spread it around the yard. It’s so much fun to see the mason bees busy at work on the sedum in the fall. Long after everything else is finished blooming, sedum is at its peak! It’s so easy to take care of that businesses regularly use it in their landscaping arrangements.

Give these easy to grow flowers a try. You won’t be disappointed!