3 Easy to Grow Annuals

There are so many different flowers, how can you decide what to grow? It’s overwhelming to have to many choices.

Well, here are my top 3 annual flowers that are easy to grow from seed, can be direct sown easily in the garden, and will help you make a beautiful bouquet as well when mixed together.

Sunflowers:

You probably have noticed that sunflowers are everywhere on my farm, and for good reason.

Sunflowers are easy to grow from seed and will give you a lot of stunning beauty.

While there are many varieties to choose from I prefer to grow the ProCut series of single stem sunflowers. There are many other varieties, but just be sure to grow pollenless sunflowers.

Sunflowers are very easy to grow from seed. All you need to do it plant the seeds in the dirt, COVER the seeds, and then give them a little water and keep the soil moist until they sprout.

They can sprout in 24-48 hours if the conditions are right.

They are a WARM season annual so WAIT till AFTER your last projected frost date to plant the seeds.

If you would like a little jump on the season they are also very easy to plant in plug trays and start indoors.

Sunflowers are considered a focal flower for bouquets, meaning they are the bold, focus of a bouquet.

For cutting, cut a sunflower when only 1-2 petals have lifted from the face, this will give the flower the best vase life.

For more details on growing sunflowers also see my blog post “All About Sunflowers.”

Zinnias

Zinnias bring a lot of people back to their grandmothers gardens, and bring delight with their bright, bold colors.

In addition to all this they are also very easy to grown from seed.

After your last projected frost, plant the seeds directly in the ground and lightly cover them, and they will grow.

Zinnias, unlike most flowers, need to be fully open and mature when you cut them to bring them inside.

If you cut them too early they will flop over.

They will NOT continue to open in the vase after you cut them.

There are so many delightful varieties of Zinnias, little ones, big ones, stripped, and solid ones.

Some of my favorites include the Benary’s giant series that comes in many different colors and are one of the larger blooms.

Also delightful is the Queen series a little smaller and in muted tones.

When you cut them, cut low down at the base of the stem to encourage the plant to send up even more blooms.

If you have a tiny bit of space, plant a few zinnias, they are sure to bring beauty.

Cosmos

In the summer of 2019 I had an infant, a 2 year old, and a 3 three year old.

I was in desperate need of calm, simplicity, and beauty.

I planted from seed a patch of cosmos for the first time.

My cosmos grew into trees!!! I am not kidding, they were taller than me and so thick and so full you could not walk down the 3 foot path on the other side.

I was in awe and amazed at the growth of these little seeds.

So grow cosmos! they are prolific, and a sweet cup shaped flowers.

They are not the longest lasting cut flower, but if you cut them just when the bud is opening it will help the last longer.

If the bees pollinate the flower, if will quickly loose all its petals in the vase.

It does have several buds on each stem though, so usually the tighter buds will continue to open in the vase as well.

When that happens I cut off the spent blooms and it makes the stem look fresh again.

There are so many varieties of single and double cosmos, but some of my favorite include the Double Click series and the Cupcake series.

Are you ready to learn more and grow flowers in your backyard with your children?

You are in the right place. I have created a SUPER affordable beginners Guide so you can get started planning and growing TODAY so that you also can experience the joy of watching your children and flowers grow together just as I have.