Strawflower, Straw Flowers

These flowers grow in shades of blush, orange, red, white, and yellow, and produce paper-like petals. Since they bloom into different shapes, the O'Neals love using this as a "filler flower" in an arrangement. These can be grown as annuals in zones 2 to 7 and as perennials in zones 8 to 10. "We give strawflowers the wiggle test to make sure the bloom is mature to cut," they say. "When cut at the proper stage, strawflowers can have a vase life from seven to 10 days."