Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum. I would like to plant some no maintenance annuals. I have a lower back problem so although I love gardening, I cannot spend a lot of time doing it. Also, I am not very knowledgeable in this field. So hoping to ask questions from time to time.

Can someone suggest some beautiful annuals? I just want to plant them once and then just enjoy them every year.
I am in the Midwest. Thanks in advance.

Portulaca and Purslane are both very easy - require little or no watering and no dead heading. They do require full sun.

If you only have shade, impatience would be good.

WELCOME to NGA

Thanks a lot, Vic. I will try petunia.

I did put a lot of wildflower seed last year- it was a big bed of flowers, but was very uneven. Some plants very tall and some were small. So although people said it looked good, i did not like it. But that's just me being a perfectionist

maddyd said:Thanks a lot, Vic. I will try petunia.

Hello maddyd,
You do know that Vicki did not recommend Petunias, but Portulaca and Purslane. ???

ZM

So sorry. Thanks for pointing that out. I proved that I am really dumb in this area.

maddyd said:So sorry. Thanks for pointing that out. I proved that I am really dumb in this area.

Hello maddyd,
You are not dumb. That was just a simple mistake, and we all make them. I like to grow zinnias, but they do not qualify for your requirements of just planting them once and then just enjoying them every year. I spend a lot of time with my zinnias, and I breed them as a hobby. You can click on these photos to see larger versions of them.

I am a senior citizen and I do not like to stoop or kneel to work on my zinnias, so I use one of those rolling tractor seats that make it handy to remain seated while working on my zinnias. This is a link to a description of the rolling seat that I use.

https://www.gardeners.com/buy/...

They also have a lower version that I may purchase to try that out.

ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

You are possibly in luck. Once you plant an annual, you get flowers all year. I think Marigolds are almost indestructable Zinnias are close, and Salvias next, with the Salvias providing bright red, the marigolds orange, and the Zinnias mixed colors.

You probably can't go wrong with those.

I just want to mention, your post says you want to plant once and enjoy them year after year. Annuals are plants that grow quickly and put on a big show for one season. They do not return, like perennials do. If they do come back it will be from seed not from the plant, and there are some that will reseed well, but usually annuals have to be planted each year.

Nasturtiums are an easy going annual that often return year after year from the seeds they drop. They can grow in a garden bed or in pots.


Snapdragons are another annual I have had return. That is all I have. It would be helpful to know your zone, as what grows and returns well in one zone may not in other zones. If you have any neighbors gardening I would ask them what their favorite annuals are.
I found Clarkia very easy and really lovely for cut flowers, I grew them from seed which was just a matter of dropping them in some light soil. Not hard work at all. They did not reseed for me, but so easy anyway, I had to mention them.

Welcome, and Good luck. It will be fun to see what you choose to grow.

Hi & welcome!

Laurie has a good point, perennial plants live indefinitely. Annuals provide one garden-year of enjoyment, then are gone, either because they are true annuals that die after completing the cycle of blooming and producing seeds, or because they are not suited to permanent survival in the climate where sold and are killed by weather.

It sounds to me like you want perennials, not annuals. Relying on reseeding to keep the plants going year after year will mean that a lot of other seeds will be trying to sprout in the same area that is barren every spring. Not that planting perennials eliminate the need to remove unwanted sprouts, but each perennial plant stakes its' claim, and it's much less likely that other seeds will sprout in the same space.

If you are unable to bend, raised beds &/or tall containers might be the solution. Then you can plant whatever you want, whenever the weather allows.

Morning glories reseed themselves really well in my area. Tons of seeds. Nasturtiums also throw seeds around. With the morning glories they have to have something to climb up. While I believe that they are truly annuals, and with them throwing seeds I have even had them pop up in sidewalk cracks lol.😀😀😀

😀

Mindi

At my house, I have a number of annuals that return year after year.
The 'secret' is leave them alone... Don't cut off the flowers! Those seeds attract songbirds!
The goldfinches are at my garden now... They smelled the poppies...
They also like zinnias and sunflowers, both of which I see coming up... And..
Lots of cosmos and ... Cleome and 4 o'clock!



Cleome and hawk moth

By the way...
Planting morning glories could be a huge mistake for a southern gardener...
They took over a huge section of my previous garden, and nothing I could do about it.
At the new house, I'm sticking with night blooming impomea alba... Which is far less aggressive... Although... I do see seedlings...

Also... Plant cherry tomatoes... They should return... Certainly come back for me...
I even have some tiny variegated hot peppers that return from dropped peppers.

stone said:At my house, I have a number of annuals that return year after year.
The 'secret' is leave them alone... Don't cut off the flowers! Those seeds attract songbirds!
The goldfinches are at my garden now... They smelled the poppies...
They also like zinnias and sunflowers, both of which I see coming up... And..
Lots of cosmos and ... Cleome and 4 o'clock!



Cleome and hawk moth

By the way...
Planting morning glories could be a huge mistake for a southern gardener...
They took over a huge section of my previous garden, and nothing I could do about it.
At the new house, I'm sticking with night blooming impomea alba... Which is far less aggressive... Although... I do see seedlings...

Also... Plant cherry tomatoes... They should return... Certainly come back for me...
I even have some tiny variegated hot peppers that return from dropped peppers.

Reseeding is not possible for cosmos, cleome, zinnia, sunflowers, marigolds, or poppies in areas which have winters that are both cold and wet. Not sure where the original poster is from (there's no location listed that I can see), but just wanted to point this out because a lot of gardeners read that there's a secret or that these plants "should" reseed then, get mystified as to why they don't. It's not just the cold (they will reseed in colder, drier, places) but the combination of cold-and-wet which causes them to sprout, then rot.

IDK about Cleome. This thick patch of seedlings happened in central OH, Z5b.

In areas with winters that are both cold and wet, I think they have a better chance in more exposed, well-drained sites at lower elevations.

Central Ohio is outside the Appalachian rainforest/near-rainforest climate I'm primarily familiar with so it wouldn't surprise me if it's both better draining (i.e., less wet) and also at a lower elevation. It's amazing how comparatively "small" variations like this can matter so much.

I know somebody whose poppies reseed in Zone 4 because even though it's cold, it is still dry enough.

Hello Maddyd, welcome

Every annual mentioned above are all wonderful and grow fast and can reseed yearly. Ther best way to know which annual would be the best is by the zone you live in. Can you tell us what zone your in and how much area you wish to cover ?

Your local nursery can also help you with many annuals that reseed year after year and grow well in your area.

Bea