No-fail flowers

If you live in the middle of America like me, you probably know gardening can be a challenge.  With our unpredictable weather, high winds, and hard clay soil, you never quite know what a year will bring!  But after gardening for a few years, I thought I'd share my favorite flowers that have done well in years of drought and years of steady rain.

Bulbs-
     Daffodils... Every spring I am so thankful I took the time and effort to plant daffodils!  They are the first flower to bloom after a long winter and they bring lots of joy as well as bouquets for Easter dinner!

     Tulips... They are the second flower to bloom and I just love them.  When we moved to our house I planted some red ones along the woods behind our house and they are so pretty and cheerful.

     Irises...  Irises just might be my favorite flower, or maybe roses, or lilacs, or peonies...  But yes, back to irises, they are so beautiful, and smell so sweet, and once you plant them they are good to go for many years.  We have irises growing in ditches around here with no house in sight.  The flowers lasted longer than the farm.

     Daylilies...  I'm talking about the old-fashioned orange ones.  They grow really well and are hard to kill.  We see these at old farmsteads around here as well, where they've been faithfully blooming for a hundred years.

Seeds-
     Zinnias...  These are my favorite flower to grow from seed.  They don't bloom till a little later in the summer, like July/August, so when the May flowers are a memory your garden is still beautiful and full of color.  Plus they attract butterflies, so that's fun.

     Marigolds...  These little cheerful flowers are easy to grow and give lots of color.  They are a little pungent, but are pretty if you don't get too close!

So there you have a few no-fail flowers for our part of the world.  Do you have any additional suggestions?  My flower beds are full so I might need to do some expanding this year! (:

I am joining No Place Like Home.