by Arlene Wright-Correll

Created on: October 15, 2006   Last Updated: February 28, 2011

Gardening is hard work and anyone who says it isn't must know something I don't know. However, it is good exercise, frustrating, gratifying and many other things.

I love flowers and hate weeding so over the years I have tried to find some easy, colorful and reseeding flowers for my gardens. I like lots of bright jewel-like flowers such as poppies, cornflowers, hollyhocks and Love-in-a-mist and these are self seeding flowers that are easy to grow.

When you think about flowers just think about perennials and annuals. Perennials come back every year and annuals have to be planted each year. We also should include bi-annuals which come back every other year.

As an artist, I tend to think of the flowers in my garden as I would the colors on my palette. These seeds as they grow and bloom become my brush strokes in my gardens.

Lets start with the lovely Foxglove. It will give your garden a boost but you will only see it every other year as the Foxglove is a biannual that forms the rosettes the first year and the purple flower spike the second year. This grows best in full sun to part shade. It also prefers nitrogen rich soil.

Blooms June - September
Height 2 - 4 feet
Sowing depth surface sow
Germination 2 - 4 weeks

I like Black eyed Susan as it is a very hardy perennial with yellow petals and a black domed center. Nothing stops it. This grows best in full sun. It is a very easy to grow flower and just lovely in your garden. It also is a nice cutting flower.

Blooms June- August
Height 2-3 feet
Sowing depth 1/16 inch
Germination 1-4 weeks.

Another easy to grow, favorite of mine is the Shirley corn poppy. It is just like the Flanders field poppy but in a mix of colors. The blooms are 3 to 4 inches across with red, white and pink flowers and it looks great when planted in mass.

Blooms March - July
Height 2 - 2 feet
Sowing depth surface sow
Germination 1 - 4 week

No garden should be without these easy Indian Spring Hollyhocks which bloom with mostly single flowers in shades of rose, pink and white. These old-fashioned flowers grow 5 to 7 feet tall and are an excellent backdrop for shorter flowers in informal planting beds. Although a perennial, Indian Spring can bloom the first year if sown early. They can also be planted all summer long to bloom early the next year. Hollyhocks love the sun and heat. Space 4 inches apart to start with and thin to 2 feet apart once they have grown to 2 feet tall.

Blooms March- September.
Height 5-7 feet
Sowing depth 1/8 inch
Germination 2-4 weeks.

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