Favorite Easy-To-Grow Wildflower Combinations

Zinnias and Cosmos are one of the easiest and most prolific annual combinations for endless blooms from summer through fall. Bonus: This combination makes an instant cutting garden!

One of the best things about wildflowers is how easy they are to grow and maintain, but designing a thoughtful wildflower garden can take time, research, and knowledge of when each variety blooms. To make your wildflower planting that much easier, we’ve put together some of our favorite easy-to-grow wildflower combinations and will talk about specific growing conditions for each.

Zinnias and Cosmos

Zinnias and Cosmos are one of the best combinations for long-lasting blooms in the first season. Both of these blooming powerhouses put out endless flowers from summer all the way through frost, and the more you cut them for bouquets, the more they’ll bloom. Both Zinnias and Cosmos attract a variety of bees, butterflies, and other beneficial bugs to the garden. This effortless combination can be seeded in a new garden bed for an easy, colorful solution, planted in large containers in a small garden, or sown in a meadow for a huge burst of summer or fall color. If you’re looking for the biggest color in the first year, you can’t go wrong with Zinnias and Cosmos. Plant Zinnias and Cosmos for quick, long-lasting color in the first season and to attract a variety of bees, butterflies, and other beneficial bugs to your garden.

Zinnia and Cosmos Stats:

Type: Annual. Will bloom in the first year but not in successive years (unless they self-seed).

Height: Zinnias grow to be around 36” tall (depending on the variety) and Cosmos grow to be around 72” tall (depending on the variety).

Sun/Soil Preference: This combination prefers as much sun as possible (at least 8 hrs per day) and grows in average to well draining soil.
The soft pink and white blooms of Cosmos offset the cheerful yellow Sunflower blooms perfectly. Plant this tall combination in border beds, along fences, or anywhere else on your property you’re trying to create easy privacy or screening.

Cosmos and Sunflowers

Nothing says “summer garden” quite like a garden full of Sunflowers opening up. And one of the best companions for Sunflowers are Cosmos! The soft pink blooms offset the cheerful yellow Sunflowers perfectly and with both varieties growing quite tall, this combination is great for back border gardens, planting along fences, creating privacy, and more. Sunflowers and Cosmos will bloom from summer all the way through fall and attract a variety of bees, butterflies, and birds along the way. Cosmos and Sunflower Stats:

Type: Annual. Will bloom in the first year but not in successive years (unless they self-seed).

Height: Wild sunflowers grow to be around 72″ tall, and cosmos grow to be around 72” tall (depending on the variety).

Sun/Soil Preference: This combination prefers as much sun as possible (at least 8 hours per day) and grows in average to well-draining soil.

Advantages: Attracts pollinators; fantastic-cut flowers; easy to grow; great for fence plantings or privacy plantings.Daisies and Lupine provide classic color to the early summer garden and come back year after year, requiring little maintenance to grow and thrive.

Daisies and Lupine

This classic, long-lasting combination creates an instant cottage garden look in garden beds, meadows, along paths, and other sunny spots in the landscape. Both lupine and daisies are extremely easy to grow, deer-resistant, require little supplemental water, and spread year after year. This early-summer combination starts the summer garden off right with purple and white flowers that look fantastic both in the garden and cut for summer bouquets.

Daisy and Lupine Stats:

Type: Perennial. It starts blooming in the second season and will bloom every year after.

Height: Daisies grow to be around 48” tall, and Lupine grows to be around 36” tall.

Sun/Soil Preference: This combination prefers as much sun as possible (at least 8 hrs per day) and grows in dry, average to well draining soil.

Advantages: Attracts pollinators; fantastic-cut flowers; easy to grow; deer-resistant. Red poppies are a garden icon, and when paired with yellow coreopsis, they make for a vibrant, energetic look in the garden.

Red Poppy and Coreopsis

You can’t go wrong with the fiery combination of red poppies and Coreopsis in the early summer garden. This pair creates an instant warm feeling in the landscape and is an unstoppable combination: drought-tolerant, deer-resistant, and extremely easy to grow. We recommend planting this energetic combination around your patio or other entertaining areas! Red Poppy and Coreopsis Stats:

Type: Annual. Will bloom in the first year but not in successive years (unless they self-seed).

Height: Coreopsis grows to be around 36” and Red Poppies grow to be around 30”.

Sun/Soil Preference: This combination prefers as much sun as possible (at least 8 hrs per day) and grows in moist soil types (clay, dry, well-draining, moist/wet).

Advantages: Easy to grow, drought resistant, deer resistant.  Black Eyed Susan and Echinacea grow effortlessly in almost any sunny spot and will attract a variety of pollinators to your garden year after year.

Black-Eyed Susan and Echinacea

An easily-recognizable native favorite in gardens from coast to coast, Black Eyed Susan and Echinacea can be planted from seed with ease. Growing this colorful combination is not only easier than trying to plug in plants but also more cost-effective, as ¼ lb of each variety can seed a very large garden bed. Black-eyed Susan and Purple Coneflower attract a parade of pollinators to the summer garden and bloom for weeks and weeks, coming back year after year. Black-Eyed Susan and Echinacea Stats:

Type: Perennial. Starts blooming in the second season and will bloom every year after.

Height: Black-Eyed Susan grows to be around 36” and Purple Coneflower grows to be around 30”.

Sun/Soil Preference: This combination prefers as much sun as possible (at least 8 hrs per day) and grows in dry, average, to well draining soil.

Advantages: Easy to grow, native, attracts pollinators.

Advantages: Attracts pollinators, fantastic cut flowers, easy to grow, great for containers.

Wildflower Design: Where to Begin?

Now that you have these easy wildflower design combinations, it’s time to start thinking about your landscape and what matters most to you. Are you looking for a “one and done” type of planting? If so, a combination like Black Eyed Susan and Purple Coneflower may be your best choice. Are you looking for a quick solution for a new garden bed you know you won’t be able to add perennials to this year? Cosmos and Zinnias are an awesome choice for this type of planting, and you may love them so much that you’ll keep planting them year after year!

You can also grow flower combinations in window boxes and containers.

No matter what your garden size, there’s always room to grow wildflowers from seed, and with these effortless combinations, you simply need to choose what reflects your style the best—no further design is needed!