Garden flowers: planting, flowering and care
65 plants for beds and borders: which come back every year, how each one is started and when it is planted, how soon and how long it flowers, and which tolerate frost — counted from their own cards, each with its sources.
Plant lists
- Perennial garden flowers36 plants that come back every year
- Annual flowers from seed23 plants for one season
- Bulbs to plant in autumn8 plants that flower the next season
- Summer bulbs and tubers6 plants to plant in spring
- Long-flowering plants24 plants that bloom for 3 months or more
- Flowers for shade14 plants
- Flowers to sow straight into the bed10 plants, no seedlings needed
- Quick-flowering annuals9 plants that bloom within 60 days
- Hardy annuals10 plants that tolerate light frost
- Flowers to start from seedlings17 plants grown from seedlings
- Shrubs to prune after flowering8 plants
Which garden flowers come back every year?
- Perennial (36): Astilbe, Bearded Iris, Black-eyed Susan, Bleeding heart, Carnation, Carpathian bellflower, Chrysanthemum, Clematis, Columbine, Cranesbill, Crocus, Daffodil, Daylily, Delphinium, Freesia, Fuchsia, Garden phlox, Gerbera, Grape hyacinth, Hellebore, Heuchera, Hollyhock, Hosta, Hyacinth, Hydrangea, Lavender, Lily, Lupin, Ornamental onion, Peony, Primrose, Purple coneflower, Rose, Showy stonecrop, Snowdrop, Tulip
- Grown for one season (29): Ageratum, Busy Lizzie, Calendula, Celosia, China aster, Corn poppy, Cosmos, Dahlia, Edging lobelia, Foxglove, Garden verbena, Gladiolus, Lisianthus, Marigold, Moss rose, Nasturtium, Pansy, Petunia, Poppy anemone, Ranunculus, Scarlet sage, Snapdragon, Stock, Sunflower, Sweet alyssum, Sweet pea, Sweet William, Tuberous Begonia, Zinnia
How are garden flowers started?
- From seedlings (17): Ageratum, Black-eyed Susan, Busy Lizzie, China aster, Delphinium, Edging lobelia, Foxglove, Lisianthus, Marigold, Nasturtium, Pansy, Petunia, Purple coneflower, Scarlet sage, Snapdragon, Sweet pea, Zinnia
- Sown straight into the bed (10): Calendula, Celosia, Corn poppy, Cosmos, Hollyhock, Moss rose, Stock, Sunflower, Sweet alyssum, Sweet William
- Bulbs, tubers, divisions or cuttings in spring (16): Astilbe, Bleeding heart, Chrysanthemum, Cranesbill, Dahlia, Daylily, Freesia, Garden phlox, Gladiolus, Heuchera, Hosta, Lavender, Poppy anemone, Ranunculus, Showy stonecrop, Tuberous Begonia
- Planted in autumn (11): Bearded Iris, Crocus, Daffodil, Grape hyacinth, Hellebore, Hyacinth, Lily, Ornamental onion, Peony, Snowdrop, Tulip
- Young plants from a nursery (11): Carnation, Carpathian bellflower, Clematis, Columbine, Fuchsia, Garden verbena, Gerbera, Hydrangea, Lupin, Primrose, Rose
How soon do garden flowers bloom, and for how long?
- Quickest to the first flowers, days from the shoots or the start of growth: Crocus (5), Primrose (7), Snowdrop (7), Gerbera (14), Garden verbena (21)
- Longest flowering, days: Gerbera (150), Marigold (150), Nasturtium (140), Ageratum (120), Busy Lizzie (120)
Half of the flowers bloom for 60 days or longer.
Which garden flowers tolerate frost?
- Tolerate light frost (42): Astilbe, Bearded Iris, Bleeding heart, Calendula, Carnation, Carpathian bellflower, Clematis, Columbine, Corn poppy, Cranesbill, Crocus, Daffodil, Daylily, Delphinium, Foxglove, Garden phlox, Grape hyacinth, Hellebore, Heuchera, Hollyhock, Hosta, Hyacinth, Hydrangea, Lavender, Lily, Lisianthus, Lupin, Ornamental onion, Pansy, Peony, Primrose, Purple coneflower, Ranunculus, Rose, Showy stonecrop, Snapdragon, Snowdrop, Stock, Sweet alyssum, Sweet pea, Sweet William, Tulip
- Do not tolerate frost (23): Ageratum, Black-eyed Susan, Busy Lizzie, Celosia, China aster, Chrysanthemum, Cosmos, Dahlia, Edging lobelia, Freesia, Fuchsia, Garden verbena, Gerbera, Gladiolus, Marigold, Moss rose, Nasturtium, Petunia, Poppy anemone, Scarlet sage, Sunflower, Tuberous Begonia, Zinnia
How often should you water garden flowers?
In the open ground the cards water them every 2–14 days while they grow, most often every 7 days.
Care month by month
- Garden flowers in January: sowing, planting and flowering
- Garden flowers in February: sowing, planting and flowering
- Garden flowers in March: sowing, planting and flowering
- Garden flowers in April: sowing, planting and flowering
- Garden flowers in May: sowing, planting and flowering
- Garden flowers in June: sowing, planting and flowering
- Garden flowers in July: sowing, planting and flowering
- Garden flowers in September: sowing, planting and flowering
- Garden flowers in October: sowing, planting and flowering
- Garden flowers in November: sowing, planting and flowering
All garden flowers
Ageratumgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Astilbeperennial · Flowering lasts: 30 days
Bearded Irisperennial · Flowering lasts: 14 days
Black-eyed Susanperennial · Flowering lasts: 90 days
Bleeding heartperennial · Flowering lasts: 30 days
Busy Lizziegrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Calendulagrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Carnationperennial · Flowering lasts: 90 days
Carpathian bellflowerperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Celosiagrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 90 days
China astergrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 45 daysChrysanthemumperennial · Flowering lasts: 42 days
Clematisperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Columbineperennial · Flowering lasts: 45 days
Corn poppygrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 90 days
Cosmosgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 90 days
Cranesbillperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Crocusperennial · Flowering lasts: 21 days
Daffodilperennial · Flowering lasts: 14 daysDahliagrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 80 days
Daylilyperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Delphiniumperennial · Flowering lasts: 35 days
Edging lobeliagrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Foxglovegrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 45 days
Freesiaperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Fuchsiaperennial · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Garden phloxperennial · Flowering lasts: 75 days
Garden verbenagrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Gerberaperennial · Flowering lasts: 150 daysGladiolusgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 21 days
Grape hyacinthperennial · Flowering lasts: 30 days
Helleboreperennial · Flowering lasts: 63 days
Heucheraperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Hollyhockperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Hostaperennial · Flowering lasts: 30 days
Hyacinthperennial · Flowering lasts: 14 days
Hydrangeaperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 daysLavenderperennial · Flowering lasts: 21 days
Lilyperennial · Flowering lasts: 21 days
Lisianthusgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 90 days
Lupinperennial · Flowering lasts: 30 days
Marigoldgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 150 days
Moss rosegrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Nasturtiumgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 140 days
Ornamental onionperennial · Flowering lasts: 21 days
Pansygrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 90 days
Peonyperennial · Flowering lasts: 10 days
Petuniagrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Poppy anemonegrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Primroseperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Purple coneflowerperennial · Flowering lasts: 90 days
Ranunculusgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 45 days
Roseperennial · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Scarlet sagegrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Showy stonecropperennial · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Snapdragongrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 80 days
Snowdropperennial · Flowering lasts: 28 days
Stockgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 30 days
Sunflowergrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 30 days
Sweet alyssumgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Sweet peagrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 35 days
Sweet Williamgrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 60 days
Tuberous Begoniagrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 90 daysTulipperennial · Flowering lasts: 14 days
Zinniagrown for one season · Flowering lasts: 120 days
Every figure on this page comes from the plant cards; each plant’s page lists the sources.