Do you want to start a flower garden but worry your lack of a green thumb will leave you with lifeless flowers? Here are a few hard-to-kill flowers for your garden that don’t take much effort to keep alive – perfect for the non-green thumb gardener.
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Hard to Kill Flowers for Your Garden
So, you’re looking for flowers you can plant that are hard to kill because you tend to kill them, right? I completely understand. Though I wouldn’t say I like the thought of killing anything alive, I’ve been known to over-water flowers to the point of it going lifeless. Yes, you can over-water plants, even in the hot months.
I remember my mom spending hours upon hours in the backyard of her and my dad’s lake house planting and watering and pruning and making sure every flowerbed and every piece of grass got the love and care it needed. That backyard was a sight to see, and the lake was right there too. I loved spending time in my mom’s garden, especially in the spring and summer.
So, if you don’t have a green thumb, I think you need to plant flowers that can handle a little neglect. Buy a few outdoor and garden decor, and give these hard-to-kill flowers a try.
Related: Seven Edible Flowers for Your Garden(Opens in a new browser tab)
A wildflower that’s hard to kill – Zinnias
Zinnias are a beautiful wildflower with enough varieties to make your whole garden seem different from one section to the next, with nothing but zinnias in it. Zinnias are a true wildflower that doesn’t need much care at all. Full sun, the occasional rain, and they will thrive. If you have a habit of killing your plants, you can not go wrong with this one.
Grow beautiful daffodils year after year
Plant some daffodils in your garden once, and they will pop back up every spring. It’s a great way to make sure you will have spring flowers even if you have a habit of forgetting about them. They will thrive wherever you put them while being 100% hands-off. AND daffodils will pop up first signs of warm weather, so if you suspect a frost is coming, be sure to cover them up to protect them.
Related: 8 Tips for Starting an Organic Garden(Opens in a new browser tab)
Cosmos love the sun
Cosmos is a pretty flower that loves the sun and another hard-to-kill flower for your garden. They can handle a drought once you get them well established, so if you forget to water them, you can sit back and relax, knowing that they will keep going.
Morning Glory
Morning glory is a favorite if you want a climbing plant. These will grow like wildfire, and after you plant them, they don’t need any help to keep going. You want to mulch around them if you do not wish to see your morning glories spread and take over the area. Other than preventing them from spreading, you don’t have to worry about them. Morning glories will take care of themselves.
Begonias are easy to grow and good for your garden.
If you need a flower that can handle sun or shade, check out begonias. These summer-blooming flowers can feel the sun and shade and even live if you forget to water them. Begonias are a perfect choice for hanging planters too. They are also one of the least expensive flowers to buy.
Four O’clock flowers smell sweet in the afternoon.
Give four o’clock some sun, and away they go. These smell-good flowers will come back year after year with colorful flowers that smell so sweet. Don’t forget; they are called 4 o’clock for a reason – they bloom around 4 o’clock!! I love going out to my garden at this time to smell these flowers. And, my four o’clock get so overheated by the end of July that I cut them down only to grow back full force to enjoy through August-September.
These hard-to-kill flowers are lifesavers and money savers to anyone who loves flowers in the garden and who may or may not have a green thumb. Happy Gardening!
if needed, seek out Stockton arborists to help you in your garden. You may be glad you did.
Thanks for sharing the list and ideas! I have a big backyard and still don’t know what to do with our garden this year!
We’re working on our garden next month. So excited to learn how you do it.
I don’t have a green thumb at all so, having a hard to kill flower would be great. I will have to plant some more this season.
Zinnias should be everyone’s friend. BUT, morning glory is invasive and a farmers nightmare. It grows wild and you can’t kill it!!
I love flowers, I love garden, but I don’t love gardening. I am sure that these tips will be helpful for my father!
Awesome, all these flowers are so pretty. I have to say, I learned something new today, I did not know all those different types of flowers! I do not have a garden, I live in an apartment, what plants or flowers are good for indoor? I have been loving the idea of getting some house plants 🙂
Oh, I love all these! A little effort and my garden will still look pretty!
You had me at the title. I’m the worst with flowers so thank you!!
Cosmos are absolutely beautiful! I wanted to start a garden this year and this would be my first time doing it on my own – I’ll have to definitely consider these flowers!
Wow, these are great lists of flowers that’s hard to kill and I am sure it will help to those people who can’t grow a plant like me. Hahaha! I will definitely try to plant these kinds of plants to add beauty on my garden.
I have such a black thumb! I wish this post were around last year when I was trying to make something bloom in my flower beds…LOL!!
When it comes to gardens, I am the worst! I’ll have to try these flowers next!
A word to the wise on morning glories: they are invasive. Plant in a pot. Also, they don’t bloom in the midwest until late summer, so mostly what you see is green. LOTS of green! But when they bloom, amazing!
I have a seriously black thumb, so these are great suggestions! I had purchased some type of flower for our front yard, and I’d killed them in 2 weeks 🙁
This is a great list. I love Zinnas! Dad called them “poor man’s roses”,
I’ll have to try these. I have not had the success of keeping plants alive. Maybe some of these kill resistant ones would actually make it in my house.
This list of hard to kill flowers will be helpful for those who want flowers but don’t like to garden that much. All very pretty flowers.
I do have a black thumb, so I’ll try these out. My Mom got me a flower that was hard to kill, and I still managed to do it, so we shall see. I am terrible at watering, you see.