Readers Respond: Easy to Grow Plant Suggestions for New Gardeners

Responses: 23

By Marie Iannotti, About.com Guide

As a new gardener, one of the best picks I made was portulaca-they love sun and heat and have interesting leaves, too. I love the fluffy blooms.
—Guest Cathy

I highly recommend hardy geraniums. There are many cultivars, all with different colors, length of bloom, habit. My favorite is Rozanne. But I'm ordering two new ones to try this spring. My first was a bigroot variety from a neighbor, and it was so easy to transplant. Still thriving after 10 years. Good luck!
—Guest Kathy

For easy for first time gardeners & kids, I suggest sedums. I have many, easy to grow love full sun, will tolerate shade also, once established will tolerate dry soil. Honey bees love the flower heads. Easy to make new plants, simply pull off a few stems, pull from base of plant. Bury deep in ground, I strip off a good 6 inches of leaves and plant 6 inches deep, no need to root or use rooting powder. Water well daily till new growth appears at base. Look like little rosettes. Once established tolerate drought conditions. Flower heads turn from pink, to red, to deep rust in late fall. Hold up all winter, in early spring just cut off to ground & watch new growth emerge. we have RED CHIEF, grows about 25 inches tall & as wide, stays well shaped. A tough as nails plant. And also HOSTA's are easy to grow & come in so many different sizes from bushel basket size to little dwarf ones. With so many choices of foilage colors to chose from, greens, varigated ,white, even yellow.
—GARDENGRANNIE

I would recommend pinks. The flowers are pretty and fragrant, the foliage is beautiful even when they are not blooming, they spread nicely, but aren't too aggressive and the are easy to transplant. Best of all they are very low maintenance!
—Guest Sue N.

I think the easiest Annual flower to grow is the marigold and the flower heads can be dried and used the following year. I think the easiest perennial flower is the day lilly. They never give up...no fussing at all. My favorite easy vegetable to grow is leaf lettuce in window boxes...keeps the bunnies out of it!!
—mojo5501

If you like the red, pink, salmon, white color range, you can't beat geraniums! When established they are drought-resistant too. I use pink ivy-leafed geraniums with asparagus fern in window boxes with a tough western location and they do very well.
—Guest wendycat

One easy plant I found grows well in Utah is the Lambs Ear. It's a great perennial that grows without care. If you trim it back it comes back even bigger. One of my first spring plants, it works as a focal point in both shade & sun beds. I love the fuzzy leaves that look & feel like a lambs ear.
—Guest Tiff Smith

Here in our planting zone of 5a; My favorites include 'Jacobs Cline' Bee balm, the red color is very rich and intense, and is super easy. Also, I really enjoy all our Pansies. They re-seed themselves, and with our ever changing climate they seem to thrive. "We had a couple of hearty plants that even bloomed as early as late February, and stayed green all winter!" Anyone who lives in New England knows that is pretty incredible considering February's month is usually the harshest. The third favorite of my husband and I, is Salvia 'May Night'. We purchased four potted plants of it our very first year, and they completely thrived, giving us a unending show of spectacular, intense color well into early Autumn. They are an amazing variety, and never fails us. It has been 4 years, and they are still thriving.
—Guest Amanda

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Marie Iannotti
Gardening Guide