Gardening has many benefits: it’s good for the environment, beautifies your property, and is even beneficial for your health. But not everyone has the time—or desire—to fuss over demanding plants all season long. The good news? Plenty of gorgeous flowers are fine with a little neglect while still delivering serious curb appeal. Whether you love wild, cottage-style blooms or prefer tidy rows of color, these easy-care plants will make neighbors stop in their tracks.
Even better, they’re simpler to grow than you might think. Even novice gardeners can have success with colorful irises, striking foxgloves, and other breathtaking blooms that just so happen to be wonderfully low-maintenance.
Gladiolus
These tall stalks covered with tightly packed rows of ruffled flowers will stop people in their tracks. Ideal for cutting gardens, they come in a rainbow of bold colors and are extremely easy to grow from bulbs. Even better, gladiolus will return year after year and multiply each time, so you get more blooms for your buck.
Peonies
Beloved for their piles of petals and sweet fragrance, peonies are guaranteed to make flower lovers swoon. A flower this gorgeous may seem finicky to grow, but the opposite is true. Once established in a sunny spot, they require little care and will return every year. After the flowers bloom and fade in the spring, you’ll be left with deep green foliage.
Camellias
In the fall or early spring, when most plants aren’t blooming, these evergreen shrubs become covered in peony-like blooms in hues ranging from white to hot pink, and even peppermint-like stripes. As the flowers fade, their petals fall to the ground, creating a dramatic carpet of color. Camellias are fairly easy to grow—they like partial shade and well-drained soil. If they are happy where they’ve been planted, they can live for decades.
Foxglove
A cottage garden favorite, foxglove stands out among other flowering plants. It has tall stalks with delicate bell-shaped blossoms that are magnets for hummingbirds and other pollinators. This old-fashioned plant may look fussy to grow, but all it needs is full sun, moist soil, and stakes to hold up heavy stalks.
Irises
With their graceful shapes, ruffled petals, and watercolor hues, irises are one of the showiest flowers in the spring and summer. Grown from bulbs or rhizomes (underground stems), they thrive in full sun and make a dramatic addition to your garden beds or borders. Bearded irises are known for being low-maintenance and are a good variety to try if you’re new to growing them.
Lupines
Like foxgloves, lupines are tall and eye-catching, like colorful torches. These hardy native plants thrive in sunny but cool climates and prefer sandy soil. If conditions are right, they will self-seed and grow prolifically. Also called bluebonnets, when they bloom in meadows throughout Texas in the spring, it’s an annual event.
Dahlias
For many gardeners, nothing compares to dahlias—it’s hard not to “ooh” and “ahh” over their poppy colors, fun shapes, and range of sizes. From 15-inch “dinner plate” varieties to tiny pom-poms, there’s a dahlia for everyone. Grown from tubers, they like direct sun and nutrient-rich, well-drained soil and will reward you with waves of beautiful blooms. Depending on your gardening zone, the tubers can be left in the ground during the winter. In colder zones, you’ll have to dig up the tubers and replant them in the spring if you want to keep them from year to year.
