If Your Beds Look Bare And You’re On A Budget, Here Are 17 Cheap Flowers That Bloom Nonstop Through Fall
Empty garden beds can make late summer feel a little sad, especially when your wallet is thin. The good news is that plenty of cheap flowers keep pumping out color right up until the first frost.
Below are 17 budget-friendly picks that fill gaps fast and reward you with weeks of blooms. Grab a seed packet or a few cheap starts, and your beds will look full again in no time.
1. Mums (Chrysanthemums)
Walk into any store come September and you will spot mums stacked in cheerful mounds for just a few dollars each. They practically shout fall with their red, orange, yellow, and purple blooms.
Cooler weather is when mums really shine, so they pick up the slack when summer flowers fade. Give them a sunny spot and steady water, and they will hold their color for weeks.
Pinch off the spent flowers now and then to push out even more buds. That one small habit keeps a single plant looking full instead of tired.
2. Asters
Just when it seems like the show is over, asters throw a late-season party of purple, blue, pink, and white daisies. Bees and butterflies love them, so your bed turns into a busy little hangout.
Once they settle in, asters shrug off dry spells and ask for very little. Full sun keeps them thick with flowers.
Their timing is what makes them special. While other blooms are winding down, asters are just getting started, stretching your color all the way to frost.
3. Pansies
Forgiving is the word that fits pansies best. If you have ever worried about killing a plant, these little charmers are hard to mess up.
They come in a rainbow of colors, and their flat faces almost look like they are grinning at you. Even better, they shrug off a light frost that would flatten other flowers.
Tuck them into containers or use them as ground cover along a path. Keep the soil draining well and water when it dries out, and they will keep smiling.
4. Gaillardia (Blanket Flower)
Native to the US and tough as nails, blanket flower blazes in fiery yellow and red from midsummer clear through the first frosts. It earned its name by spreading color like a warm quilt across a bed.
Heat and skimpy watering do not faze it once it is established. In fact, the biggest mistake people make is being too kind with the hose.
Plant it in full sun with well-drained soil and then mostly leave it alone. Blanket flower rewards a little neglect with nonstop blooms.
5. Echinacea (Purple Coneflower)
Pollinators treat coneflowers like a favorite diner, buzzing in from midsummer straight into fall. Their lavender petals and spiky orange centers give a bed that easy cottage-garden look.
As a native, echinacea handles drought like a champ once its roots dig in. The one thing it cannot stand is soggy feet.
Give it full sun and decent drainage, and it will bloom on and on. Skip the heavy watering, and you will avoid its only real weakness.
6. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (Cranesbill Geranium)
If you want a plant that just keeps going, ‘Rozanne’ is your workhorse. Its violet-blue flowers open in late spring and refuse to quit until frost arrives.
Unlike the fussy bedding geraniums many folks know, this perennial comes back year after year with almost no fuss. It happily fills gaps and weaves between other plants.
Full sun to a bit of shade suits it fine, as long as the soil drains well. Set it and mostly forget it, and it will still be blooming in October.
7. Coreopsis (Tickseed)
Sunshine in plant form is the best way to describe coreopsis. Its cheerful daisy-like flowers pop up in early summer and stay for the long haul into fall.
Hardy and easygoing, this perennial keeps the bright color coming without much attention from you. It loves a sunny spot and does not sulk during dry stretches.
Snip off faded blooms to keep the flower factory running. A single clump can carry a whole corner of the bed for months.
8. Daylily ‘Happy Returns’ (Hemerocallis)
The name says it all: ‘Happy Returns’ comes back to bloom again and again. Its ruffled, lemon-yellow flowers open in June and keep repeating right up to frost.
Daylilies are famously tough, and this cultivar is one of the friendliest of the bunch. Each flower lasts a day, but there are always more waiting behind it.
Drop it into a sunny bed and give it average soil, and it thrives. For a plant that basically runs itself, the payoff of soft yellow all season is hard to beat.
9. Verbena
When the thermometer climbs and other flowers wilt, verbena just keeps partying. It sends out cheerful clusters of tiny blooms without missing a beat.
Heat and dry soil barely register with this annual, so you can water less and still enjoy the show. It also trails beautifully over walls and container rims.
Use it to spill color where a bed meets a path or a pot. That easygoing, cascading habit sets it apart from the stiffer flowers on this list.
10. Celosia
Nothing else in the bed looks quite like celosia, with its feathery plumes and brainy velvet cockscombs. Kids and grown-ups alike want to reach out and touch it.
These annuals soak up summer heat and hold their bold reds, oranges, and pinks for a long stretch. They are simple to grow and easy on the budget.
Their oddball texture is exactly why they earn a spot here. Plant a few for a splash of drama that lasts well into fall.
11. Marigolds
Ask any beginner what to try first and marigolds usually top the list. A cheap packet of seeds turns into a flood of gold and orange flowers.
Heat and dry spells barely slow them down, which is a relief during a scorching August. They just keep churning out blooms while other plants gasp.
Pinch off the faded flowers and you will get even more through the hottest weeks. Bonus fact: their strong scent is often used to keep certain garden pests at a distance.
12. Begonias (Wax Begonias)
For that stubborn shady corner where nothing seems happy, wax begonias come to the rescue. They pump out blooms whether the spot is sunny or dim.
Low-maintenance is an understatement here. These little plants keep flowering without begging for attention, and they cost next to nothing.
Their glossy leaves look tidy even between flushes of flowers. If your bed has tricky light, begonias may be the dependable filler you have been missing.
13. Zinnias
Scatter a few zinnia seeds and you get a bouquet factory that runs until frost. They sprout fast, grow easily, and reward you with big, bold blooms.
Heat does not bother them one bit, and they ask for very little care. The more you cut them for vases, the more they bloom.
Butterflies drop by all day long, adding movement to the bed. For cheap, cheerful color that keeps giving, zinnias are hard to top.
14. Salvia
Spiky and dramatic, salvia adds height and structure that many low bloomers cannot. Its flower spikes stand tall while everything else sprawls.
Both annual and perennial types bloom for a long stretch, some carrying on into fall. Mexican bush sage, for example, throws up showy purple, pink, or white spikes from late summer to frost.
Hummingbirds and bees can hardly resist those tubular flowers. Plant salvia when you want vertical color that stays late in the season.
15. Petunias
Chances are you already grow petunias, and for good reason. Modern varieties are bred to bloom from spring straight through fall.
They are budget-friendly and come in nearly every color you could want. A quick pinch of the spent blooms keeps them flowering strong instead of getting leggy.
If your petunias have stalled out, a little deadheading is often all the rescue they need. Give them that small nudge and they bounce right back.
16. Cosmos
Airy and carefree, cosmos wave on tall slender stems like they have not a worry in the world. A single cheap seed packet can fill a surprising amount of space.
They bloom from summer until frost and come in a fun range of colors. Butterflies flock to them, turning your bed into a lively scene.
Because they thrive in poor soil, they are perfect for that neglected patch you never got around to improving. Sow them, step back, and let them do their thing.
17. Sweet Alyssum
Lean in close and sweet alyssum greets you with a soft, honey-like fragrance. Its tiny white, purple, and pink flowers form a low carpet that blooms from spring until frost.
Cheap and quick to grow, it is a natural for edging beds or softening the front of a border. It also spills prettily out of containers.
Where taller flowers leave a bare gap near the soil, alyssum fills it in with delicate texture. That finishing touch is exactly why it rounds out this list.