Earlier this year I wrote an article that talked about agastache and helenium - both really easy to grow and low maintenance. They should still bloom in their first year if you sow them in the next month.

Full details in the link.

Lynda

Here is a link that might be useful: Blog article on helenium and agastache

For my climate (side of a mountain, hot, very dry summers), here are a few of my top choices:

"Easy to grow, low maintenace annual" = Cosmos Sonata, knee high, good branching, easy to start, drought tolerant, takes heat and sun well. Love this plant.
Texas Hummingbird sage is another of my 'must haves'.

"Easy to grow, low maintenace perennial" = Columbines, dwarf snapdragon.

These are all "cast iron" type plants. Only the cosmos listed above blooms throughout summer in the heat - others spring or yes if they're in more shade.

Here is a link that might be useful: mists and enchantments my blog

Annuals

cleome
godetia
balsam impatiens
malva zebrina
chinese forget me nots
scabiosa dark red
bachelor buttons
salpiglosis
4 o'clocks
nasturtium
zinnias
marigolds
portulacca
morning glory
sunflowers
alyssum carpet of snow
california poppy

Perennials

coreopsis
foxglove
dianthus firewitch
lupin
chives
columbine
alyssum gold dust
balloon plant
candy lily

Fran

Daylilies and hosta are the top two perennials for a good reason. Both are very easy, yet extremely beautiful. I enjoy garden phlox for long blooming period. My absolute top favorite flower is peony, especially singles.

Rudbeckia belongs on both lists.

mao

All of the ones listed above, especially daylily & hosta, plus one I really enjoyed last year: gaura lindheimeri/wand flower. Thrives on neglect and blooms not only first year from seed, keeps blooming non-stop, no deadheading right up until frost.

Other than cutting it back in spring, buddleia/butterfly bush is maintenance free too with the added plus of attracting butterflies to the garden. Salvia nemerosa/meadow sage is another low-maintenance, drought-tolerant perennial that needs little more than admiration plus it adds welcome blue color to the garden.

i LOVE 4:00s-- they grow so quickly even in crappy soil and so many flowers! my favorite annual by far. i also have very good luck with malva-- i couldn't believe how much one tiny plant grew! they are supposed to be perennial i think but so far no sign. i expect it self seeded though so i am not worried :) if you're looking for guaranteed, dramatic display this year, definitely try those

Daylily and hosta, IMO, are not as easy to start from seed as some others (although I have successfully WS both - both need cold strat). My choice for perennials would be gaillardia and gaura - both easy to start and easy to maintain, long blooming periods for both. I'm in zone 7b; the gaura that was still blooming in November last year is budding now; the gaillardia I WS last year also is budding.

Annuals - there are so many easy ones it's hard to pick. WS alyssum & bachelor buttons - they germinate early and so have a high satisfaction rating. Don't know your zone, but cosmos is definitely a winner - you can start nearly all your annuals now. Other low maintenance would include marigolds/calendula and arctotis venusta.

drippy - I grew both hosta and daylily from seed with no cold strat--just tossed the daylily seeds in a Ziploc bag with some damp Perlite and 14 days later had 100% germination. One even bloomed last year. Hosta I sowed in pots indoors on June 20, 2009 (wrote the date on the plant label) and they sprouted in just a few weeks. I grew them in quart pots. Last year they got some size to them and they're coming up again this year after spending the winter inside my unheated garage.

where you do guys daylily, hosta and other seeds mentioned here? I haven't seen those seeds in local markets such as walmart or Lowes.

This is the beauty of winter sowing and growing from seed, you get seeds that aren't carried at generic, big box stores. You get these seeds from trading, going to specialized and truly local nurseries, and seed collecting.

Also, "easy to grow and maintain" is largely dependent on location/soil, too. Clay soil versus sandy soil is going to make certain plants easier or harder to grow and maintain.

cheers,
Norabelle

jaggudada - I harvested the daylily & hosta seeds from my own plants. I still have plenty of seeds if you would like to try growing them. They're yours for BEAP (Bubble Envelope and Postage). Email me if you are interested.

Eileen..can you explain about the use of wet perlite to get seeds started? How much perlite to how much water? Do you put this ziploc bag in refrigerator or under lights or in a dark room? What do you do when you have sprouts? Do you transplant the sprouts into another container till the seed starts getting some growth on it? Do you have a picture or know of a picture or tuitorial showing this process? How many seeds do you put in that ziploc bag? How do you remove those fragile sprouts? Does it work for any flower seedS?

I'm going with gardenweed's methods for lily and hosta seed growing! I had success with both my first year (3 years ago), but squirrels and slugs have decimated my little babies. No success WS either since then. I keep collecting seeds though, and always hold some in reserve, so this year I will try these methods. I'll keep both in containers until they are big enough to fend for themselves this time! Thanks!