The easy full sun annuals beginners should start with are marigolds, zinnias, and cosmos. These three flowers bounce back from mistakes that would kill fussier plants. You can forget to water them for a few days and they keep going strong.
I started my first flower garden with marigolds because a neighbor told me they were foolproof. She was right about that. I watered them too much some weeks and not enough other weeks. I forgot to feed them all summer long. Those marigolds still bloomed from June until frost. That success gave me the push I needed to try more kinds of flowers.
Beginner annual flowers share some traits that make them so forgiving in your garden. They handle drought better than most plants because they store water in their thick stems. Pests tend to leave them alone thanks to strong scents or fuzzy leaves. Many of them clean off their own dead blooms so you don't have to pick them off yourself.
Zinnias rank near the top for low maintenance sun flowers in most extension guides. They grow fast from seed and start blooming in about 8 weeks from planting. You can cut flowers for your house and the plant just makes more. I grow a row of them every year and they never let me down, even in poor garden soil.
Cosmos might be the most carefree annual you can plant in full sun spots. These flowers thrive in poor soil where other plants struggle to grow. Too much food makes them grow leaves instead of flowers. Just stick seeds in the ground after frost passes and step back. They can reach 4-5 feet tall by midsummer with almost no help from you.
Sunflowers give you big results with little effort in your first garden. The seeds are large and easy to handle for new gardeners. You plant them right where you want them to grow and wait. Most types bloom in 60-90 days from seed. Kids love growing these because they can watch the plants get taller each week.
Buying transplants gives you a head start if you want blooms sooner. You skip the tricky seedling stage where many plants fail. Nursery plants are already strong and ready to grow in your beds. I still buy marigold transplants even though I've grown them for years. The extra cost saves me weeks of waiting and worry.
Seeds work great for cosmos, zinnias, and sunflowers that grow fast on their own. Just wait until soil warms up in late spring before planting them outside. Plant seeds twice as deep as they are wide and keep soil moist until they sprout. Thin seedlings to proper spacing once they have a few true leaves. Your patience pays off with strong plants and plenty of blooms.
Read the full article: Full Sun Annuals That Thrive in Sunshine
