Step back and let these flowers fill in your beds.

Many annuals and perennials drop their seeds after they bloom, then those seeds grow and flower the following season, creating unexpected, intriguing new partnerships with other plants in the garden. These self-seeding flowers are also useful because they sprout up and fill open areas of the landscape that would otherwise be prone to colonization by weeds. And, because self-seeders emerge where conditions suit them best, they perform as well, or better, than painstakingly nurtured plants.

Before you add self-sowing flowers to any bed or border, however, you need to answer two questions:

1. Are the seeds hardy enough? The seeds must be able to survive your winter and germinate the next year. In most regions, these self-seeders return reliably season after season: Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica), cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), cleome (Cleome hasslerana), flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata and N. sylvestris) and common sunflower (Helianthus annuus).

2. Is the plant too aggressive? Some self-seeders become worse pests than dandelions and chickweeds, so check with fellow gardeners and local horticulturists to identify plants that may be problems in your area.

So, where do self-seeding flowers fit into the landscape? Here are a couple ways I like to use self-seeders and dependable plants for those purposes.

In the perennial bed
Self-sowing annuals are particularly useful in new or recently renovated perennial borders, making beds full and bright while the perennials mature. Once the perennials have taken hold, it's easy to uproot the annuals to provide more space.

· For color during spring, blend tulips, late daffodils, and early perennials, such as rock cresses (Arabis spp.) and basket-of-gold (Aurinia saxatilis), with self-sowing sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) or pot marigolds (Calendula officinalis).

· Mix summer-blooming perennials with love-in-a-mist, peony-flowered poppies, cleomes, common sunflowers, or Celosia spicata 'Flamingo Feather'.

· In wild gardens or cottage gardens, self-sowing perennials, such as purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), Virginia spiderworts (Tradescantia virginiana), gloriosa daisies (Rudbeckia hirta), and garden phlox (Phlox paniculata), add to the natural look of these designs.

In a woodland garden
If your landscape has mature shade trees-especially deep-rooted species, such as oaks and hickories-you have the perfect place for a self-sowing woodland garden.

· Spring-blooming woodland wildflowers celebrate the arrival of the growing season with a feast of color. Woodland plants, such as wild cranesbills (Geranium maculatum) and jewelweeds (Impatiens capensis), spread their seeds far and wide by flinging them through the air when their ripe pods snap open. Other successful woodland self-sowers are classic wildflowers, including Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), celandine poppies (Stylophorum diphyllum), spring beauties (Claytonia virginica), violets (Viola spp.), and wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata).

· For continuing color into the summer months, I also like cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) and meadow rues (Thalictrum spp.).

© Susan McClure, 1999

Last updated:  May 2010