If You Want Nonstop Summer Color On A Budget, Here Are 19 Cheap Flowers That Bloom All Season
Keeping your garden bright all summer does not have to drain your wallet. Plenty of flowers cost just a few dollars for a seed packet or starter plant, yet they keep blooming from spring until the first frost.
If you have ever watched your petunias fizzle out or worried your beds looked bare by August, this list is for you. Here are 19 budget-friendly flowers that reward you with color week after week, with barely any fuss.
1. Marigolds
Ask any grandparent about the easiest flower to grow, and marigolds almost always come up. A single packet of seeds costs about the price of a candy bar, yet it can line an entire bed with gold and orange blooms.
Heat and dry spells barely faze them. Keep pinching off the spent flowers, and they will pump out fresh color right through the hottest weeks of summer.
There is a bonus, too. Marigolds may help deter certain pests when planted near your tomatoes and other vegetables, so they earn their spot in more ways than one.
2. Zinnias
Cut a bouquet of zinnias and, almost like magic, the plant sends up even more flowers. Gardeners call this the cut-and-come-again habit, and it makes zinnias one of the most rewarding summer annuals you can grow.
Hot pink, fiery red, and sunny yellow blooms shrug off heat and humidity that would flatten fussier plants. A packet of seeds costs next to nothing.
Many varieties also drop seeds and pop back up next year on their own, giving you free flowers season after season.
3. Cosmos
Toss a handful of cosmos seeds into a sunny patch of dirt and you will be amazed at what happens next. These airy, daisy-like flowers practically raise themselves.
They ask for almost nothing beyond full sun, and they often self-seed, meaning next summer’s crop shows up without you spending another dime.
Their tall, feathery stems add a soft, meadow-like movement to any bed. For pure bang-for-your-buck color, cosmos are hard to beat.
4. Petunias
Few flowers deliver as much color for as little money as petunias. Whether they spill over a bed’s edge or fill a hanging basket, they bloom nonstop through summer heat.
If your petunias have ever gone leggy and stopped flowering, the fix is simple. Pinch them back and give them a regular drink, and they bounce right back into bloom.
You will find them as cheap starter plants at almost any garden center, or you can start them from seed for even less.
5. Impatiens
Got a shady corner where nothing seems to flower? Traditional impatiens are the answer gardeners have leaned on for decades.
They thrive in partial sun and shade, offering steady blooms from spring all the way to frost. Beginners love them because they are just about impossible to mess up.
Best of all, they stay cheap. A tray of small starter plants covers a lot of ground without stretching your budget.
6. Geraniums
Bright red geraniums on a front porch are practically a summer tradition, and there is a good reason they never go out of style.
Zonal geraniums bloom again and again with very little care, and you can usually snag them as inexpensive starter plants. They shine in both beds and containers.
Want them to flower even longer? Snap off the faded blooms regularly, and your geraniums will reward you with a fresh flush of color all season.
7. Sweet Alyssum
Lean in close to a patch of sweet alyssum and you will catch its honey-sweet scent drifting on the breeze. It is a small pleasure that costs almost nothing.
The plant forms a low carpet of tiny flowers, perfect for filling awkward gaps between bigger plants or softening the edge of a container.
Grown easily from seed, it keeps blooming through the season and works beautifully as a fragrant groundcover.
8. Salvia
Watch a stand of salvia on a summer afternoon and you will likely spot bees and hummingbirds stopping by for a visit.
Annual varieties send up spikes of vivid color that keep coming all summer long, adding height and structure to a flat-looking bed.
They are sold cheaply at most nurseries, and their pollinator appeal makes them a smart pick for anyone wanting a busier, buzzier garden.
9. Verbena
When summer turns brutal and the watering can feels heavy, verbena keeps its cool. This heat-tolerant annual barely blinks at dry spells.
It produces cheerful clusters of small flowers that bloom continuously, trailing nicely over walls and container edges.
Its drought resistance means less fussing and lower water bills, which is exactly what a budget gardener wants from a low-maintenance bloomer.
10. Celosia
Some flowers look like they were designed by an artist having fun, and celosia is one of them. Its feathery plumes and velvety cockscomb shapes stand out from everything around them.
Beyond the wild looks, these annuals are easy to grow and tolerate summer heat like champs.
The vibrant reds, oranges, and pinks hold their color for a long time, giving your garden a bold, long-lasting punch.
11. Begonias
Torn between a sunny spot and a shady one? Begonias can handle either, depending on the type you choose.
Wax begonias in particular are famous for being low-maintenance, pushing out abundant blooms without much attention and staying affordable at the same time.
Their glossy leaves and steady flowers make them a dependable choice when you want continuous color in tricky light.
12. Calibrachoa
Imagine a petunia shrunk down and multiplied by the hundreds, and you have calibrachoa, better known as million bells.
These annuals cover themselves in tiny, petunia-like flowers that never seem to quit, cascading gorgeously from hanging baskets and containers.
Unlike full-size petunias, they rarely need deadheading, so you get all that spilling color with even less work.
13. Mandevilla
Once considered a specialty plant, mandevilla has become a garden-center regular, and that is great news for anyone who loves a flowering vine.
Its large, trumpet-shaped blossoms in red, white, and pink keep coming all summer, especially in warmer US zones where it thrives in the heat.
Train it up a trellis or let it climb a mailbox post for vertical color that makes a real statement.
14. Pentas
If you want your garden to double as a butterfly buffet, pentas belong on your list.
Also called Egyptian starcluster, these annuals form domes of tiny star-shaped flowers that bloom nonstop through the summer.
Pollinators can’t resist them, so planting a few means more fluttering visitors and steady color from a single, easygoing plant.
15. Vinca
The hotter it gets, the happier vinca seems to be. When other flowers wilt in a July heat wave, this tough annual keeps right on blooming.
Also known as Madagascar periwinkle, it flowers from spring until frost in a lovely range of pinks, whites, and reds.
For a scorching, sun-baked spot where nothing else survives, vinca is your budget-friendly hero.
16. Snapdragons
Squeeze the sides of a snapdragon bloom and it opens like a little dragon’s mouth, a trick that has delighted kids for generations.
Grown as annuals, they send up tall, upright spikes of color that add welcome height among lower-growing flowers.
Keep snipping the faded stalks and they will keep flowering from spring through summer, giving you vertical color that lasts.
17. Black-Eyed Susans
Nothing says late summer quite like a sweep of black-eyed Susans nodding in the sun, their golden petals circling dark, button-like centers.
Many varieties act as annuals or short-lived perennials and readily self-seed, so a small planting can spread into a cheerful colony over time.
They bloom long and hard on very little care, making them one of the most cost-effective ways to fill a bed with warmth.
18. Coreopsis
Think of coreopsis as the gift that keeps giving year after year. As a perennial, you plant it once and enjoy the payoff for many summers to come.
Its sunny, daisy-like flowers, often in cheerful yellow, bloom for a long stretch with almost no coaxing.
That return-on-investment makes it a smart buy for gardeners who want reliable color without replanting every spring.
19. Daylilies
Each daylily bloom lasts just a day, but the plant makes up for it with a nonstop parade of fresh flowers.
These hardy perennials come in a dazzling range of colors and, once established, shrug off drought while putting on a spectacular show.
Plant them in a sunny spot, give them a season to settle in, and they will reward you with easy, long-lasting color for years.
Pair a few of these budget bloomers together and your garden can stay colorful from the first warm days of spring right up until frost, all without stretching your wallet.