10 Easy, Breezy Meadow Flowers & Grasses For A Magnificent Low-Maintenance Landscape

Meadows are casual, easy and lovely, like windblown hair and dappled sunshine. Unlike formal gardens, meadow plantings require little maintenance, often including native meadow flowers and grasses. If you are considering planting a meadow lawn or turning a flower garden to a meadow, careful selection of landscape plants is an important first step.

The visual appeal of meadows lies in their diversity, mixing easy-care flowers with grasses in a wild, wonderful botanical collage. To get you started, we’ve put together a short list of fabulous meadow flowers and meadow grasses that could work well in your space.

Beautiful Meadow Flowers

Flowers in a meadow are the highlights of the landscape. Pick drought-tolerant perennials for easy-care beauty. My favorites will have your meadow garden looking great all summer long and provide great texture and color.

Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)

Liatris blazing star is an ideal plant for a meadow since it is both grass and blossom. This perennial wildflower has narrow, grass-like leaves that turn bronze in fall, and it blooms most of the summer. Its unique bottlebrush-style flowers – purple-pink - are spikes of tiny star-shaped blossoms. Blazing star is the tallest of the genus, growing to 5 feet (1.6m). Consider massing it in the garden as a magnet for pollinators and hummingbirds.

Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

You can rely on all black-eyed Susan varieties to light up the garden with bright yellow petals around a dark center. This wildflower is popular with pollinators – including bumblebees and butterflies – and self-seeds readily. It grows to 3 feet (1m) tall and blooms the first summer after planting.

Aster 'Vibrant Dome' (Aster novae-angliae 'Vibrant Dome')

A meadow requires at least one bushy plant with mounds of flowers, and this aster is a super star. Its forest green foliage fills up with hot pink starry flowers that last from late summer into autumn. Place it in a sunny location where it will grow to almost 2 feet (.6m) tall and resists deer. You can find 'Vibrant Dome' in the Gardening Know How Shop.

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Count on purple coneflower – with its daisy-like rays around a central brown cone – to grow well anywhere from hot, dry areas to cooler regions. As long as this perennial gets full sun and well-drained soil, it will provide color all summer long.

Common Milkweed Heirloom (Asclepias syriaca)

Common milkweed is a North American native perennial closely associated with the beloved monarch butterfly. Growing milkweed is hugely beneficial to our ecosystem as it is a critical food source for the monarchs during their caterpillar stage – but also helps many others beneficial insect species. But it’s more than a butterfly workhorse plant – it’s a beauty in flower meadows with its clusters of deep pink to purple flowers on a plant growing to 3 feet (1m) tall with a lovely fragrance. You can find our choice for common milkweed heirloom seeds in the Gardening Know How Shop to get started.

Cosmos Flowers 'Sonata Mix' (Cosmos spp.)

Cosmos flowers are well known to gardeners. They grow easily from seeds into stunning daisy-like flowers in brilliant colors. For a gorgeous mix, consider the 'Sonata' series found in the Gardening Know How Shop. With a mix of white, red, and two shades of lavender-pink flowers, they are sure to charm. Compact yet bushy, the plants grow to 2 feet (.6m) tall. You won’t find easier plants to grow, even in less-than-ideal conditions, as long as they get full sun.

Low-Maintenance Meadow Grasses

What is a meadow without tall grass swaying in the breeze? Ornamental grasses are loved by pollinators and are so different from a standard lawn. Plant for a sensual landscape element that offers color and movement while attracting wildlife.

Little Bluestem 'Twilight Zone' (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Little bluestem ornamental grass has narrow leaves in a handsome neon blue that shimmers to purple and silver at summer’s peak. It grows upright to 5 feet (1.6m) tall The flower spikes are also purple and mature into seed heads in autumn. The grass resists drought and deer while attracting wild birds.

Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans)

Indian grass is a classic prairie grass that grows to 5 feet (1.6m) tall with blue-green foliage. This warm season native perennial grass was one of the dominant grasses of the Midwest prairies. It turns orange yellow in autumn and holds onto touches of that color into winter. The flower stems are also attractive, topped with feathery flower panicles (light brown with yellow stamens) that rise above the grass clump in late summer.

Muhly Grass or Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia capillaris)

Muhly grass or sweetgrass is a native ornamental grass with green or purple foliage to 3 feet (1m) tall. It is popular for its gorgeous pink-purplish panicles and its low maintenance ways. It is a magnet for wildlife, attracting birds, butterflies, and small mammals, providing nesting sites. The strong root system helps stabilize the soil.

Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

Not every meadow grass has to be waist high or higher. If you want a shorter prairie grass, consider prairie dropseed grass, a low-growing vigorous grass that spreads easily and tops out at 2 feet (.6m). It blooms in September and October, and its reddish oblong grains provide food for wild birds.

More Meadow Inspiration

• Learn why you should ditch the grass and grow a prairie lawn. Lawn alternatives are becoming increasingly poplar and are great for the environment.
• Want a meadow, but your yard is in shade? Explore these shade tolerant wildflowers for a solution!
• Not quite ready for a full meadow, but want something different than turf? Check out our picks for lush lawn alternatives for more sustainable spaces.
• Get more ideas and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox when you sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter.

This article features products available from third party vendors on the Gardening Know How Shop. Keep in mind that our plant inventory is limited - so if you’re thinking of purchasing, don’t wait!