If you want to start a garden and finding it difficult to select the plants to start with so that you don’t have to spend so much time maintaining them but rather enjoying them, then here are the 10 low maintenance plants you can grow.
We will be listing a few flowering plants. The ranking is based on the ease of their growth and care.
Plumbago
Topping our list would be plumbago auriculata or cape plumbago because by the ease with which this plant can be grown both in the ground and as well as a potted plant, it is native to South Africa, so if you are planning to have this in your garden then we would recommend having about 2-5 plants in a row so that when they bloom you will have an array of blue flower clusters covering your garden. when you try to pick them up in nursery make sure the size of the stem is also as thick as a pencil not that the others won’t grow but just to improve the chances of them taking root in the new pot once you re-pot them. Prune them once a year during the winter to have them bloom back during the summer.
Cultivation: Through cuttings
Popular Varieties: Plumbago indica (Blue flowers), Plumbago capensis Alba ( White flowers).
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
No pests and diseases
Lantana
Next in line is Lantana, you can have a great pop of colours in your garden with these wonderful trailing perennial plants when planted together in colour combinations and there are lots of varieties to choose from, these plants are also native to America and South Africa, the flowers are nectar-rich so one can expect a swarm of butterflies and bees flocking the garden, make sure to select a thick stem plant when you buy them. You can prune them to make bushes or just trailing plants covering the flower bed over the edge.
Cultivation: Through cuttings
Popular Varieties: Clear White, Trailing Yellow, Weeping Lavender, Patriot Popcorn, Miss Huff.
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
High resistance to pests and diseases
Bougainvillea
When I think of this plant the first thing that comes to my mind is overhanging gardens from a rooftop. These perennial plants are thorny ornamental vines, bushes or trees. The inflorescence consists of large colourful heart shape waxy papery flowers, these plants come in large variety from variegated to non-variegated hybrids, my favourite is the one in the photo, you can trim them back once they flowered for the season to promote new and healthy growth, they are prolific feeders so you need to fertilize them every 20-30 days during their flowering season, they need to be planted in an area which receives direct sunlight for 5-6 hrs a day, bougainvillaea can be grown in shade but you will end up with more foliage than the flowers.
Cultivation: Through cuttings
Popular Varieties: camarillo fiesta, gold rush, white stripe, cherry blossom, purple queen, barbara kast.
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
Susceptible to fungal diseases but high resistance to pests
Periwinkle
So if you are a person who wants to get your plant grown from seeds then we would suggest this plant, it has lots of medicinal value and it is used to cure many diseases such as cancer, diabetes etc. You need to take care if you are planting this in your flower bed as they can take over really quick because of their hardiness and drought resistance and they produce lots of seeds, these perennial plants have glossy dark green foliage and the flowers can be found in white, pink and rosy-purple they bloom prolifically, they can be planted in small pots as well.
Cultivation: Through seeds
Popular Varieties: Rosy periwinkle (white and pink colour).
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
No pests and diseases
Cockscomb
If you love coral and love velvet too then this is the plant for you, these plants produce flowers which look like coral and have a velvety feel to it, as for me I would have them as zombie prop for a Halloween party because they also look like velvet brains to me, these plants are annuals and are started from seeds, they could also be started from cuttings but they don’t grow good flowers, they are hardy plants. They can grow both in full sun or partial shade.
Cultivation: Through seeds
Popular Varieties: Celosia cristata magenta, Lemon lime celosia cristata, Brain celosia pink head, Celosia cristata coral giant.
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
Good Resistance to diseases and pests
Rain Lillies
As the name suggests, the rain lilies put out their blooms during the monsoon season, they are perfect for lawns and flower beds, they easily multiply with little or no care with the help of bulbs, they can also be grown from seeds which are planted on the onset of summer so that they can be ready to bloom during the rainy season, they are grown in full sun and after the blooming has finished they leave a grassy foliage
Cultivation: Through bulbs and seeds
Popular Varieties: Pink, white and yellow flower varieties.
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
No pests and diseases
Jasmine
If you want to have a fragrant flowering plant then look no further, because Jasmine is the answer, it can be grown both into a shrub and vine, the flowers set on during the beginning of summer and the blooms last till late rainy season so don’t forget to fertilize your plants in the early spring, they are raised from cuttings, they differ in fragrance and number of petals and some of them only bloom at night, they like well-drained soil and the soil must always be kept moist but not soggy as the roots can rot.
Cultivation: Through cuttings
Popular Varieties: Asian star jasmine, arabic jasmine, common jasmine, spanish jasmine.
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
Good resistance to pests and diseases
Canna
We must all have seen this plant in the home gardens collection but not be aware of its name, in fact, it not a true lily, it is just a misnomer. Canna lilies are perineal plants with dark green or maroon foliage with beautiful flowers of different colours like red, yellow, pink and orange. they also come in multitude of heights from dwarf ones growing up to a meter tall and from really tall ones growing up to three-meter, they love full sun and put out maximum blooms during the summer, they also do well in partial shade, they can be grown both from bulbs, seeds also by the a-sexual method that is dividing the rhizome from the mother plant and growing it individually, these plants attract a lot of small birds and butterflies because nectar-filled flowers.
Cultivation: Dividing the rhizome or through seeds.
Popular Varieties: Taney, The President, Tropicanna Gold, Tropicanna Black.
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
High resistance to pests and diseases
Mirabilis Jalapa
The easiest plant to grow would be the four ‘O’ clock flower, as the name suggests the flowers usually bloom in the late afternoon or at dusk, the flowers look like mini hibiscus flowers with their stamens hanging out. It does really well in full sun or partial shade, it is grown from seeds or bulbs. If it is planted in a flower bed, then one needs to keep a watch as the plants can take over very easily. They come in a variety of colours and they are easy to cross-pollinate. They are highly resistant to insects and diseases. They also have medicinal and culinary uses.
Cultivation: Through bulbs or seeds.
Popular Varieties: Pink, yellow, white, red, bi-colour and multicolor varities.
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
No pests and diseases
Gaillardia
Gaillardia or the blanket flower belongs to sunflower family and are native to north and south America, there are both annual and perennial varieties of these plants, they love dry hot summer sun, they are named as blanket flowers because when the Europeans saw these flowers covering the prairies they resembled the blankets made by the native Americans, they grow up to be 3 feet tall and produce to blooms up till late autumn season., they require very less fertilization.
Cultivation: Through seeds.
Popular Varieties: Fanfare blaze, Aristata, Pulchella, Mesa yellow, Sundance bicolour.
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade
Pests & Diseases
High resistance to pests and diseases
