Favorite Easy-to-Grow Wildflower Combos
- Lanceleaf Coreopsis & Blue Flax Combo
- Texas Bluebonnet & Snapdragon Combo
- Zinnias & Cosmos Combo
- Cosmos & Sunflowers Combo
- Daisies & Lupine Combo
- Red Poppy & Coreopsis Combo
- Black Eyed Susan & Echinacea Combo
Lanceleaf Coreopsis & Blue Flax Combo
Like sunshine and blue skies, our Lanceleaf Coreopsis & Blue Flax Combo is the perfect pair of easy-to-grow native wildflowers. Both are easy to grow, are known for pest and disease resistance, and will spread over time. Great for attracting butterflies and bees, especially in areas with dry or poor soil. Coreopsis is a key to colorful blooms in established meadows; its clumps are very tough and increase rapidly with more flowers year after year. Blue Flax also spreads and naturalizes easily in dry soils and most sunny meadows, making it an excellent option for hillsides that you’d like to see covered in wildflowers.
Lanceleaf Coreopsis and Blue Flax Stats:
- Type: Perennial. These typically establish their foliage and root system in the first season, with blooms taking off in the second season and returning each year.
- Height: Coreopsis will grow to about 48" tall and Blue Flax will grow to around 24" tall.
- Sun/Soil Preference: This combination prefers as much sun as possible (at least 8 hrs per day) and will grow in average to dry soil, and can tolerate poor soil.
- Advantages: Attracts bees and butterflies, easy to grow and low maintenance, multiplies and naturalizes to fill in over time.
Texas Bluebonnet & Snapdragon Combo
Our Texas Bluebonnet & Snapdragon Combo pairs two wildflower gems, creating a rainbow of summer blooms! Texas Bluebonnets and Snapdragons both bloom from spring to summer. In warmer areas, Texas Bluebonnets reseed and come back year after year, but in colder areas, they may bloom for just one season. Blooms spring to summer. Bright bell-shaped blooms attract hummingbirds and butterflies to the garden. Dwarf Baby Snapdragons are extremely easy to grow, while Texas Bluebonnets are notoriously picky and can be slow to grow and flower (but with a little patience, well worth it!) Bluebonnets will do best with 6+ hours of sun. Favorite for cut bouquets, this annual combo is sure to become your favorite, if it isn’t already.
Texas Bluebonnet and Snapdragon Stats:
- Type: Annual.Will bloom in first year but not successive years (unless they self-seed).
- Height: Texas Bluebonnet will grow to 8-12" tall and Dwarf Baby Snapdragons will grow to around 18" tall.
- Sun/Soil Preference: This combination can be planted in full to part sun, and will grow in average to sandy soil
- Advantages: Attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees, deer resistant, easy to grow and low maintenance, great for cut flowers
Zinnias & Cosmos Combo
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.
Zinnias and Cosmos are one of the best combinations for long-lasting blooms in the first season. Both of these annual flowers are blooming powerhouses that put out endless flowers from summer all the way through frost -- 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 space garden, or sown in a meadow for a huge burst of summer/fall color. If you’re looking for the biggest color in the first year, you can’t go wrong with Zinnias and Cosmos.
Zinnia and Cosmos Stats:
- Type: Annual. Will bloom in first year but not 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.
- Advantages: Attracts pollinators, fantastic cut flowers, easy to grow, great for containers.
Sunflower & Cosmos Combo
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.
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 first year but not successive years (unless they self seed).
- Height: Wild Sunflowers grow to be around 72” 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.
- Advantages: Attracts pollinators, fantastic cut flowers, easy to grow, great for fence plantings or privacy plantings.
Daisy & Lupine Combo
Daisies and Lupine provide classic color to the early summer garden and come back year after year, requiring little maintenance to grow and thrive.
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. 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 Poppy & Coreopsis Combo
Red Poppies are a garden icon and when paired with Yellow Coreopsis make for a vibrant, energetic look in the garden.
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 & Coreopsis Stats:
- Type: Annual. Will bloom in first year but not 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 & Echinacea
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.
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 a 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 blooms for weeks and weeks, coming back year after year.
Black Eyed Susan & 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 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 dry, average, to well-draining soil.
- Advantages: Easy to grow, native, attracts pollinators.
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 that will provide colorful flowers for years to come? If so, a combination of low-maintenance native perennial wildflowers, such as the Black Eyed Susan & Purple Coneflower Combo, may be your best choice.
Are you looking for a quick solution to add color in a new garden bed? A combination of quick-growing, long-blooming annuals, such as the Cosmos and Zinnia & Cosmos Combo or Sunflower & Cosmos Combo, would be great choices. Annual wildflowers bloom all season long. You may love them so much, you’ll keep planting them year after year!
No matter what your garden size, there’s always room to grow wildflowers! With these effortless seed combos, simply choose your favorite for an easy garden design.
