For many of us, we are past our last frost dates and have prepped our garden beds and are getting our seedlings into their new homes outside.

If you didn’t get a chance to start seeds this year, don’t worry. There are some heat-loving flowers that you can direct seed right into your garden beds, and today we’re going to talk about 6 of our favorites.

Keep reading until the end — we’re sharing some of our best tips for direct seeding!

#1 — Zinnias

These low-maintenance flowers don’t mind being directly seeded right into the ground. They’re also pretty drought resistant (but should still be watered regularly) and like full sun, making them a great choice for the hot summer. Remember to pinch them when they are 8”-12” tall to encourage more branching. Also, these are cut and come again, which means the more you harvest blooms the more they produce.

#2 — Sunflowers

These classic summer flowers grow well in full sun after being directly seeded into their garden beds. They love moist, well-draining soil. Pay attention to which variety you have to know how much space they need. Some only produce one bloom (one-and-done), while others are branching and have multiple blooms. The single-bloom varieties are best for cut flower production. We succession plant the ProCut series every 2-3 weeks, spacing them 6” apart.

#3 — Cosmos

Cosmos is another flower that likes full sun, and they prefer medium moisture, but will still do well in more dry soil. These can get pretty tall so remember to stake or corral them. Cosmos also benefit from pinching to promote more branching, and they are also cut-and-come-again, so remember to keep cutting and deadheading.

#4 — Ammi

Ammi, also known as False Queen Anne’s Lace, is from the carrot family. It works well being direct seeded, as it doesn’t transplant well. It prefers moist, well-drained soil in full sun. These plants are also a great addition if you want to create a meadow.

#5 — Calendula

Calendula, also known as marigold, is an easy flower to grow and produces blooms all season long. It’s one of my favorite as it is also edible and has medicinal qualities. They add great texture and color to bouquets. It enjoys very fertile, well-draining soil. It’s pretty low maintenance, and can do well in full sun or part shade.

#6 — Amaranthus

There are several varieties of amaranthus; some have giant plumes, some have long tassels and others are more of a spike. They also come in bold colors of burgundy, gold, lime green or even soft, faded coral. It enjoys full sun and well-draining soil. This is another that should be pinched when 8”-10” tall in order to encourage branching and produce stems good for bouquets.

Going to give some of these a try? Direct sowing is pretty easy and definitely saves time compared with starting your seeds indoors, growing them out and then transplanting them into the garden. Here are a few of our best tips for direct seeding flowers into the ground:

• make sure you weed your garden beds before sowing your seeds directly into the ground, and keep them weeded

• we find that wetting down the soil first helps keep the seeds in place

• space your seeds to allow for the room the plant needs at maturity

• lightly mulching with hay after seeding helps keep seeds from being disturbed and may protect them from becoming bird food; laying netting over them can help as well

• for the one-and-done varieties, such as the sunflowers I mentioned, be sure to plan to plant a few successions throughout the season to ensure a steady supply of blooms

Save For Later