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These 15 flowers are shockingly easy to grow from seed – including calming chamomile
Grow a beautiful garden for less with these easy flowers from seed
We all want to fill our gardens with flowers quickly, but that doesn’t mean spending a small fortune at the garden centre. Many beautiful, long-flowering varieties are surprisingly easy to grow from seed.
A couple of things to keep in mind: annuals are your best bet for quick colour. Most perennials take time to establish – the old gardening adage is that they “crawl, walk, run”, meaning they’re slow in their first year and really come into their own by year three.
With annuals, however, many can be sown in spring and will flower within a matter of weeks, carrying colour right through summer and into early autumn.
Read the seed package for directions, which will list the days to maturity. This indicates how long you can typically expect a flower to take from seed to bloom.
Read on to learn about our favourite flowers that grow easily from seed:
Marigold
Marigolds come in a range of sizes, from compact varieties to taller plants, in warm shades of gold, orange and red. Pollinators love them, and they’ll flower from mid-summer well into autumn.
Top tip: Plant seeds about a week after the last expected frost and save the dried flowers for seeds to plant next year.
Zinnia
Zinnias are wonderfully versatile, with everything from small, button-like blooms to large, dahlia-style flowers in a wide range of colours. The more you cut them, the more they produce, making them ideal for cutting gardens.
Top tip: Sow once temperatures are consistently mild and there’s no risk of frost.
Cosmos
These ethereal flowers are lovely in mixed borders or as part of a cutting garden. They come in every shade from purest white to hot pink.
Top tip: Sow outdoors once all risk of frost has passed, or start indoors earlier for a head start.
Nasturtium
These easy-going plants trail or mound beautifully, with flowers in shades of peach, red, orange and pink. Both the flowers and leaves are edible, making them a lovely addition to summer dishes.
Top tip: Sow outdoors after the last frost in a sunny spot.
Love in a Mist (Nigellas)
With its delicate foliage and soft blue, white or pink flowers, nigella adds a romantic, cottage garden feel. It’s also loved by pollinators.
Top tip: Sow directly outdoors once the soil has warmed and conditions are mild – usually early summer.
Ammi
Ammi is a tall, graceful annual that looks wonderful in cut flower arrangements. Its wide, flat umbel-shaped flowers attract pollinators and it also self-sows easily, so you may never need to plant them again, once you have a good crop.
Top tip: Plant the seeds as soon as the soil can be worked. Because they’re not the longest-lasting flowers, plant seeds a few weeks apart for longest harvest time.
Morning Glory
Another vining flower is morning glory, which twines gracefully up a trellis or fence line. Deadhead them if you don't want them to reseed next year, because some types can become quite invasive in the garden if left to seed.
Top tip: Sow once the soil has warmed and choose a sunny, sheltered spot for best results.
Sweet Alyssum
Sweet alyssum is a low-growing, sweetly scented flower with a delicate honey smell. Pollinators love it, and this annual can take the cold and will often continue flowering well into autumn
Top tip: Sow early in spring once the soil can be worked.
Larkspur
Larkspur brings height and structure to borders with its tall spires of soft, cottage-style blooms in shades of blue, pink and white.
Top tip: Sow directly outdoors in early to mid-spring, as it prefers cooler conditions to get established.
Calendula
Bright and cheerful, calendula is one of the easiest annuals to grow, producing sunny orange and yellow blooms throughout the season.
Top tip: Sow outdoors after the last frost for reliable, fast results.
Sweet Pea
Sweet peas are loved for their delicate fragrance and climbing habit, making them perfect for trellises and arches. They prefer cooler conditions and can fade in high summer heat.
Top tip: Soak the seeds overnight to aid germination, then plant them about six to eight weeks before the last expected frost.
Dill
This herb produces lovely, large, wispy flowers that pollinators adore. They make a nice filler flower for bouquets, too.
Top tip: Sow in early spring, as dill prefers cooler growing conditions.
Verbena Bonariensis
These purple flowers on tall, wiry stems make a beautiful addition to borders. They’re a great source of late-season colour and nectar for pollinators in your garden.
Top tip: You can sow seeds indoors about 8 weeks before the last frost to get a jumpstart on these somewhat slow-growing plants, or sow them directly in the garden.
Sunflower
Sunflowers are the quintessential flower of summer! They come in varying heights from 2 feet to 10 feet tall and every colour from cheery yellow to chocolate brown to deepest burgundy. They attract tons of pollinators, too, especially late in the season.
Top tip: Plant the seeds from early to mid-summer for flowers that last into autumn
Chamomile
These cheerful, daisy-like flowers are both pretty and practical. German chamomile (the annual type) is best for quick results.
Top tip: Sow outdoors after the last frost in a sunny position.
Arricca Elin SanSone is a writer, editor, and content creator who specializes in lifestyle and gardening. With a background in health reporting, she applies these same research skills when writing about the science of growing things. She trials new plants in her expansive garden, and her houseplant collection consists of 60+ varieties. Arricca has written thousands of articles for publications such as Country Living, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Prevention, VERANDA, Southern Living, and more. She’s happiest when digging in the dirt, baking, or spending time with the people and dogs she loves.
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