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When August melts into September, nights are suddenly noticeably longer, while flowering perennials seem to grow wilder, to compensate. One of the greatest gardening pleasures of this cusp-season is the effusion of a tousled collection of native plants whose flowers are the languid counterpoint to spring’s cheerful bursts of blossoms. If we must have winter, then these sultry blooms are a fitting way to celebrate the dying of the light. Here are 11 native perennials for late summer and fall.
Above: Anise hyssop (with foreground of skullcap), blooms for months, into fall.
Of all the native perennials that bloom late into the year, if I had to choose just one to provide summer-to-fall flowers, it would be Agastache foeniculum and its various cultivars. Tall in stature, with licorice or mint-scented leaves, and profuse little blue flowers, these sun-loving hyssops provide height and bulk and filler, all at the same time. They are also elegantly lanky, and are a day-long buffet for bees, other pollinators, and even hummingbirds. If you can bear it, grit your teeth and cut the waning flowers back in late summer for a late fall resurgence; and leave those flowers to set seed for seed-eating birds like goldfinches.
Asters (Symphyotrichum pilosum, S. ericoides, and others)
Above: Airy white asters sparkle in early fall landscapes.
No late summer garden seems complete without asters—low-maintenance and long-blooming. Heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides, above) likes full sun and is hardy from zones 3 to 10. Hairy aster (S. pilosum) can handle more shade and likes moist soil. It is hardy from zones 4 to 8. For woodland gardens, choose wood aster (Eurybia divaricata).
Flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata)
Above: Flowering spurge is a native Euphorbia.
Clump-forming flowering spurge is one of the native perennials that seems to fly under the horticultural radar. Also known as the baby’s breath of the prairie, it has a loose, breezy habit with wiry stems tipped by flower-like bracts and distinctive, three-celled seed capsules. Flowering spurge pairs well with grasses and golden rods, asters, helianthus, and partridge pea. It flourishes in full sun and is hardy from USDA zones 4 to 9.
Great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis)
Above: The wine-colored flower spikes of great burnet against a backdrop of Rudbeckia.
Great burnet is potentially statuesque, but it never dominates, visually. Instead, its threadlike stems hold burgundy flowerheads effortlessly aloft, adding tousled lightness to late summer and autumn gardens. Grow great burnet in full sun, and enjoy its cucumber-flavored leaves in salad. It is hardy from zones 4 to 8.
Ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata and other species)
Above: Ironweed beginning to bloom on Manhattan’s High Line.
The vivid amethyst tufts of ironweed are welcome relief from the cheery but often dominant yellow palette of the late summer native garden. Smooth ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata) is hardy from zones 4 to 9 and flowers best in full sun. Giant ironweed (V. angustifolia) grows better in partial shade, and is hardy from zones 5 to 8. Both species require ample moisture.
When to Cut Back Catmint and How to Do It Right: 3 Options
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Evergreen Groundcover Plants: 20 Choices for Year-round Interest
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I have planted different veronicas over the years, mainly because I always appreciate a very vertical plant that can contrast superbly with larger leaves like stachys or bergenias or play nicely with other vertical plants such as linarias. Despite my familiarity with the plant, though, I never stopped to question why it was named Veronica. Turns out, veronica is more than just a pretty flower.
Please keep reading to learn more about the story behind the name and how you can find the perfect veronica for your garden:
With more than 500 species of Veronica, it’s nearly guaranteed that you’ll find at least one that easily integrates into your garden. Veronicas come in different heights, colors, and shapes. Some grow as creeping groundcovers with shorter flower spikes (like Veronica peduncularis ‘Georgia Blue’, a low-growing evergreen with tiny, saucer-shaped blue and white flowers), while others have a decidedly vertical habit (including one of my favorites, Veronica spicata ‘Novaversky’, which has 12- to 14-inch-high spikes of bluish purple flowers that bloom from spring to frost). Their flowers can appear blue, purple, pink, or white, and nearly all are long-lived, easy to care for, and attractive to pollinators—a win-win-win for everyone.
The groundcover types tend to bloom in the spring and are perfect partners to spring-blooming bulbs like daffodils and tulips, while the taller ones bloom mainly in the summer and pair well with salvias, yarrows, and gauras. These taller upright species are great mixed into beds, borders, or containers. I like to add the white versions to an all-white garden, and the taller, colorful ones to cutting gardens, next to zinnias and dahlias.
The biggest issue I have had with veronicas is that without proper air flow and soil drainage, they are susceptible to mildew, which appears as white, talcum-like spots on stems and leaves. To prevent disease, don’t crowd your plants or over-water, and avoid overhead watering. If your plant becomes affected, try spraying with a yogurt/water mix. But don’t let this deter you from planting veronicas. Some varieties, such as the ‘Vernique’ series and ‘Marietta’, are known for their mildew resistance.
Now regarding that name: One popular theory is that the genus name was inspired by Saint Veronica. It is believed that Saint Veronica offered Jesus her veil to wipe his face on the way to his crucifixion, and when it was returned to her, the veil was imprinted with the image of his face. The plant’s markings, particularly in some white varieties, were thought to resemble the “veil of Veronica”. The plant is also commonly referred to as speedwell, due to its historical association with success and good luck.
Cheat Sheet
Above: Photograph of Veronica ‘Foxy’ by Marilylle Soveran via Flickr.
Depending on the variety, some are perfect for cutting, cottage, or rock gardens, and some mounding types are great for spilling over containers or as charming fillers between pavers.
Taller species are long-lasting and make superb cut flowers.
The flowers lure hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies, making them a great addition to a pollinator-friendly garden.
Veronica is not thought to be toxic to humans or pets.
Some report that veronicas are not especially tasty to deer or rabbits. (I have never planted them in deer country so I can’t vouch for this claim.)
Full sun is best, as too much shade reduces the flower load and creates floppy stems. Oh, and a shady spot without good air flow also increases the risk of funky fungal diseases.
Well-draining soil is a must to prevent root rot.
Regular water is preferred for best growth.
Prune back spent flower stems to encourage a re-bloom.
For their historic home in the enclave of Clifton in Bristol, UK, an energetic couple wanted an informal, biodiverse, and sustainable landscape where their grandchildren and dogs could romp. They called on landscape architecture firm Artisan Landscapes to come up with their dream garden, but the firm recognized that the grand Georgian-style home imposed a degree of formality on its landscape that couldn’t be ignored. As a compromise, they kept the classic formal courtyard layout and overlaid “soft, naturalistic meadow planting” to fulfill the clients’ desires for an environmentally friendly garden.
Above: “The homeowners are lucky enough to have both a front and a back garden,” say the architects, “so we could devote the entire back garden to ‘garden,’ while the front garden has a large lawn for the dogs and grandkids, a greenhouse, and informal borders of vegetables intermingled with perennials.” The back garden, they say, is a more intimate space, “although the grandchildren love whirling about the paths.” Above: The sunken octagon is a focal point of the garden but was also one of the more challenging features to install. “There was a one-meter-thick piece of limestone bedrock located under it that had to be removed to install drainage,” say the architects.
Before
Above: The courtyard had a generous footprint, but the neglected landscape was uninspiring.
After
Above: An antique urn is a focal point in the garden. For more inspiration, see Landscaping: 8 Ideas to Add Antiques Artfully to Any Garden. Above: A long, slim reflecting pool is one of two major water features in the project. “They have a combined volume of five thousand cubic liters,” say the architects, and both are controlled by pumps on remote-control switches. Above: Salvia surrounds the pool. For everything you need to know about growing it, see Salvia: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.
We don’t hate chrysanthemums. Let’s just get that out of the way. There is a lot to be said for their instant, impulse-buy autumnal cheer. A pot on the stoop (with a pumpkin or two), as the clock ticks towards Halloween, is welcoming. But muffin-top mums, rounded and mounded in a way that nature did not intend—left to their own devices, naturally-elegant perennial chrysanthemums are leggy and loose—have saturated the market. Their inescapable presence as October unspools makes it very easy to forget how many other flowers relish autumn.
The list of fall flowers is long, so here is a choice (albeit biased) collection.
Above: Fall flowers from Willow Wisp Organic Farm, at the Grand Army Plaza greenmarket in Brooklyn.
Celosia
Above: Celosia is a warm-weather annual whose flowers peak in fall.
In terms of commercial success, annual Celosia is beginning to nudge chrysanthemums off that front stoop. I see potfuls at my local deli in Brooklyn, at Whole Foods, at the market. Their rich, cockscomb colors are made for fall. These African annuals have taken off in the US. Aside from their tasseled ornamental appeal, the plants are in fact vegetables. They are eaten as cooked, leafy greens in their homeland and are reminiscent of amaranth greens, in flavor and texture.
Zinnias are a genus of annuals native to Mexico and Central America. They are one of the most rewarding cut flowers to enjoy as the weather cools. Available in a rainbow of colors (only blues are missing), more zinnia cultivars are being developed to withstand the mildew that sometimes bothers their leaves in humid climates. The blooms attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.
Above: Dahlias at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in October.
Dahlias might be the queens of autumn bouquets. Ranging from compactly petite pom-poms to ruffled flowers the size of side plates, with colors from candy stripes to rich jewel hues, the long-stalked flowers are cut-and-come-again for weeks from late summer through frost. Dahlias are hardy from USDA zones 8 to 10.
Tithonia
Above: Tithonia blooms from late summer till frost and is a boon to bees.
After it begins to flower in late summer, Mexican and Southwestern native annual Tithonia continues to blaze with color as nights dip into the 50s. The plant grows tall (upwards of five feet) and the blooms are very attractive to bees and other pollinators.
Marigold
Above: Annual marigolds (flor de muerto), play a key role in Día de los Muertos rituals in late October and early November.
The assertive scent of marigolds is a floral signal that the season has changed. Days are losing light, and the year’s end is approaching, staved off by celebrations that honor souls that have passed. Garlands of marigolds are a necessity for the Day of the Dead, and have a place at Halloween tables, too: The flowers are long-lasting in a vase, and marigold petals are edible. The plants have long been valued in companion planting traditions, and science bears this out: They secrete chemicals that deter nematodes and other pathogens.
There are many reasons to visit Cape Town at South Africa’s southern tip in spring. It’s a so-called shoulder season, so there is no crush of summer visitors. Flights are less expensive. And flowers: One of the most awe-inspiring floral displays in the world unfolds along and adjacent to the South African region of the West Coast in the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces, from late winter through September. For a forager, there is one more incentive to travel: Veldkool (pr. FELT-khoowill). This native vegetable is the flower bud of several species of Trachyandra, a strappy-leafed geophyte that grows in sandy soil along beaches, in the veld, along roadside verges, and in a few enterprising urban gardens.
Join me on a culinary foray along the edges of a Capetonian spring.
Above: Veldkool buds (this is Trachyandra ciliata, sometimes known as slaaikool).
Veldkool’s unopened buds are reminiscent of asparagus and are sometimes called wild asparagus, which is no more accurate botanically than the more common Afrikaans name, which translates as field or meadow cabbage. The buds’ tender season spans several weeks, as different species of Trachyandra bloom. These unobtrusive, resilient plants have every potential to become a cultivated seasonal crop in South Africa’s winter rainfall regions, even as their natural populations succumb to development.
Above: Veldkool beside False Bay, in Cape Town.
On a recent visit to Cape Town, my first glimpse of veldkool was within spray-splash of the sea on a walkway that connects the communities of Muizenberg and Kalk Bay along the False Bay coast. Squeezed between railway tracks and the kelp-fringed blue water, remnants of coastal vegetation persist in the rocky and sandy shoreline, beside a path that skirts tidal pools and rock pools brimming with sea urchins and anemones, benches where people sit looking out to sea, and rocks where red-beaked African oyster catchers patrol exposed mussel banks for dinner. It is scenic. Among blankets of semi-succulent dune spinach (Tetragonia decumbens), the slender buds of Trachyandra ciliata, historically called slaaikool (salad cabbage) had just begun to bloom. Dark-bodied Cape honeybees buzzed the scented flowers.
Above: Trachyandra ciliata above Kalk Bay, post-burn.
Two weeks later and a few hundred feet higher, this veldkool species was blooming profusely above the bay, in sooty sand. Above its lush leaves stood the charred skeletons of burned pincushion proteas. Two fires swept these slopes last January and February. Now, after the wettest winter on record, green life is surging. While the fires can be devastating to humans, the fynbos biome—like California’s chaparral—evolved to burn, and its vegetation depends and thrives on it.
Above: A few plants can produce dozens of flowers. Above: The edible stems and tightly closed buds of T. divaricata emerging from the sand.
The other useful veldkool growing locally is T. divaricata. I think of it as smooth veldkool, because its stout stems are glossy, but it is known as sandkool—apt because it thrives in the deep sand of dunes, although it can also emerge improbably from rocky recesses where just enough grit has accumulated to sustain the plants.
In general, flowers are probably less important than form. Some have a fleeting season, perhaps blooming just once before doing nothing for the remaining eleven months of the year (I’m looking at you Iris germanica). Others have an important support act, providing an abundance of flowers or beautiful foliage for the majority of the year.
Yes, I want plants that are beautiful (and that work well together), but I also want them not to be too much trouble. So increasingly, as I’ve realized that you can never really fight the existing conditions in your garden, I just plant more of these low-work plants. If something does well, and needs little to no TLC then it’s very welcome in my garden.
Earlier this week I read a quote from the late plantswoman Beth Chatto, about her much-copied borders in Essex, England. “The point I need to stress,” she wrote in her ground-breaking book Drought-Resistant Planting, “is that copies of my gravel garden will not necessarily be successful or suitable if the principles underlying my planting designs are not understood. When visitors to my garden tell me they have attempted to make a gravel garden but the plants don’t look or behave as they do in mine, they wonder what they have done wrong. I ask ‘What type of soil do you have?’, ‘Very good,’ they reply. The amount of rainfall? ‘Twice what we have here,’ they tell me. I laugh and tell them if I had good soil and adequate rainfall I would not be growing drought-resistant plants.”
Favorite plants should always come with this disclaimer—what works in one garden may not work in another, because the soil, moisture, and conditions will vary immeasurably. Some of my most cherished plants will flourish in all conditions, but some do particularly well because they are especially suited to my garden, which has very free-draining sandy soil and is largely in full sun.
With that in mind, here are the plants I would not be without.
Above: I love almost all salvias and they all tend to love my garden, too, so long as I put them in a sunny spot. ‘Caradonna’ has the most intense deep purple flowers that will be smothered in bees for weeks on end. Once it’s finished flowering I cut it back and it will re-flower again, although less prolifically. This is a very upright salvia and looks best softened with hazy grasses or more unruly perennials such as Knautia macedonica.
Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’
Above: Arguably the most prolific, no-trouble plant I grow. Catmint springs into life early in the season, often flowering well before any other herbaceous perennial. It’s healthy, seems to cope with almost any conditions, and is particularly beloved by bees that smother this plant while it’s in flower. As soon as it starts to go over, I cut the whole plant back to a few inches from the base and it will usually regrow and flower again within a few weeks. It’s also very easy to divide and replant and looks fabulous flopping over a pathway.
Verbena bonariensis
Above: All the verbenas work really well in my garden, but the tall, billowing Verbena bonariensis is a brilliant border plant, emerging in mid-summer amongst other perennials and grasses. It’s a favorite of many butterflies and has an extremely long season. It looks wonderful though the autumn and winter as it holds its structure, but it will also happily self-seed so I am normally selective in how much of it I leave standing. Finches love to eat the seeds in winter, too.
Would you like to perk up your garden this winter? This guide to the best winter plants for pots has lots of gorgeous plant suggestions to inspire you.
What are the best plants for winter pots?
This post covers twenty five plants for winter pots that will give you a fabulous floral display or provide foliage and interest throughout the coldest months. There are also lots of tips on planting and caring for your winter containers so they really put on a show for you, plus a guide to the best tools for container gardening to help you get organised.
Why you should grow plants in pots in winter
Winter is a time of year when we tend to use our gardens less. The days are shorter, winter weather can be uninviting, and lots of plants shut down until spring arrives again.
Having said that, we’re all much more used to using our outdoor spaces regardless of the weather these days. As a result, you’re probably keener than ever to give your garden year-round interest. Your garden can make up a significant proportion of your home’s available space; when you think about it from this angle, it makes no sense to stop using it just because the season has changed!
If your winter garden is in need of a lift, growing winter flowering plants in pots is a simple and relatively low-cost way to create colour and interest. Growing plants in containers has many other benefits too.
Benefits of growing winter flowering plants in pots
For starters, gardening in containers can be very low maintenance. Looking after a plant in a pot is quicker and easier than dealing with an entire border. This is a particularly useful aspect of container gardening in winter, when you might prefer not to linger outdoors. If you’re short on time, focusing your efforts on container plants can allow you to quickly create a beautiful display that doesn’t take hours to look after.
If you don’t have much gardening experience, starting as a container gardener is an ideal way to ease yourself in. Growing plants in pots allows you to work on a small scale, then move onto bigger displays as you gain confidence and learn more.
That small scale gardening is also perfect if you don’t have much outdoor space. You can use pots and hanging baskets to create wow factor in the tiniest of spaces. You don’t even need a garden. You can squeeze a pot onto a window ledge, balcony, or doorway, and use hanging pots or stacking planters to create a vertical display.
When it comes to beginner gardening for kids, containers are ideal here too. Again, the smaller scale makes things easier, and it’s fun to give them their very own pot to look after. The container itself has lots of potential for nature play as well. Kids can personalise it with paints or chalk, make their own plant markers, or upcycle household objects to create unique decorations.
Another big plus for gardening in pots is their portability. If your plants aren’t thriving or you’d like to rearrange your display, you can easily move containers around. And if you rent your property or are planning on moving, you can take them with you!
Where should I put my winter containers?
You might be wondering whether it’s OK to grow plants in containers in winter when temperatures can get pretty low. The key to creating a beautiful winter container display is to choose hardy outdoor plants for pots, and get the location right for those specific plants. This last element is often referred to as ‘right plant, right place’.
The concept of ‘right plant, right place’ is very simple. If you embrace it, you stand a better chance of growing happy, healthy plants. The knock-on effect of this is a gorgeous garden that you can enjoy at any time of year.
All plants have specific conditions that they will grow well in. This is true whether you grow them in the ground, or in a pot. If you put your winter container somewhere that provides the ideal conditions for the plants, you take a big step towards making sure those plants thrive.
Conversely, if you put your winter plants in a spot that provides conditions they don’t like, you will limit their ability to do well.
Some plants enjoy full sun, some prefer full shade, and some are happy with partial shade. Your plants might prefer a sheltered spot, or be fine with weathering the elements. You may need to provide soil with good drainage, or water frequently. All of these things will vary according to the type of plant you’re growing.
To work out the ideal conditions for a particular plant, start by checking the care label. If there isn’t one, or it doesn’t have much information on it, you can use a plant identification app or look it up online.
Once you know how to make your plant happy, you’re ready to work out the perfect spot in the garden for your winter container.
Annual vs. perennial plants
Before you buy any outdoor plants for pots, it’s worth understanding the difference between annual vs. perennial plants.
Annual plants will grow, flower and die in one growing season (or year). This means you have to replace them regularly.
Perennial plants continue to grow year on year, so you won’t need to replace them very often. Some varieties of perennial plant die back in winter and have a dormant phase before emerging again in spring, while others are hardy evergreen perennials.
It’s absolutely fine to grow annual and perennial plants in pots. You can also combine the two in the same pot.
Most plants sold for container planting are annual plants. You will probably see them referred to as ‘bedding plants’ in garden centres and online. As you can imagine, relying on annual plants for your containers can quickly work out more expensive than using perennials.
A good approach is to go for a combination of annual and perennial plants in your containers. This allows you to keep costs down, but still refresh your display of outdoor plants in pots with seasonal plants.
When should I plant winter bedding plants?
The best time to plant winter bedding plants is late autumn and early winter. Planting containers at this point will give your plants time to become established, and give a natural progression from your late summer and early autumn flowering plants.
If you’re reading this later in winter, don’t worry. You can plant winter bedding plants throughout the winter months, and into early spring too. Obviously the later you plant, the longer it will take your plants to grow bigger and get established.
The best winter plants for pots and hanging baskets
Ready to get started on your winter flower pots? Here are some fantastic winter plants for containers and hanging baskets that will help you create a show-stopping display.
There are sections for flowering plants, bulbs, foliage plants and shrubs for pots, with twenty five gorgeous varieties to inspire you.
Flowering winter plants for pots
When it comes to winter flowering plants for pots, there are a lot of great options to choose from. Here are some perfect flowering plants to grow in winter containers and winter hanging baskets.
Winter flowering Pansies & Violas
You can’t have a list of favourite winter plants for outdoor pots without pansies and violas! They’re inexpensive, and readily available in a wide range of colours. These tough little plants are a great option for bulking out your displays and adding a shot of cheery colour right through winter. Deadhead them regularly for best results (scroll down to find out how to do this).
Cyclamen
Another must-have for a winter pot, hardy cyclamen will cope admirably with winter conditions and bloom from autumn right through to spring. Some cyclamen varieties need to be grown indoors, so make sure you go for Cyclamen hederifolium or Cyclamen coum for your outdoor pots.
When you decide to refresh your containers, you can transfer your cyclamen plants to a shady spot in the garden. They look particularly good alongside ferns and other woodland plants.
Primroses
If you’re wondering ‘What can I plant now for winter colour?’, then primroses could be the plant for you.
Pay a visit to any garden centre in winter, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to find a big display of primroses. They’re often available in strong colours, so if you like the idea of a powerful display they make a good, low-cost filler for your pots. If you’re gardening with kids, those bright colours are always a big hit too.
Heather
Heather plants will give your winter pots lots of texture. Choose from a subtle white or cream variety, or go for a big hit of colour with shades of pink and purple. Winter heather is a good choice if you want to garden for wildlife too, and will provide a source of nectar and pollen for pollinating insects at a time of year when other plants haven’t really got going. As such, it’s a fantastic plant for a bee friendly garden.
Heathers prefer to grow in acidic soil, so to give them the best conditions you should aim to plant them in *ericaceous compost.
Ornamental kale & ornamental cabbage
Ornamental kale and ornamental cabbages may look similar to their edible cousins, but they don’t taste great! They do however look wonderful when combined with other winter plants. Use them to add a modern, unusual twist to a pot display.
Bulbs for winter pots
If you’re looking to plant a winter container that’s thrifty and low-effort, but that also looks amazing, you should definitely include some flower bulbs.
Lots of flowering bulbs really put on a show in spring, but some varieties get going in late winter. These early bloomers are a fantastic way to keep your containers looking good until the spring flowers take over.
If you’re not very confident about growing bulbs, I’ve got a whole blog post on planting bulbs that will help you get it right.
Here are some suggestions for ideal bulbs to grow with winter plants in pots.
Iris reticulata
These compact varieties of Iris are one of the first bulbs to flower in late winter, making them a fantastic choice if you’d like to keep your winter planters going right into spring. Popular varieties include Pauline, Harmony and Frozen Planet (icy white).
Irises look gorgeous planted on their own in a pot, or you can mix them in with winter bedding plants to create extra impact. You can also ‘force’ iris bulbs to flower early indoors; my post on forcing bulbs indoors shows you how to do it.
Winter Aconites
Another great bulb for a winter display, *winter aconites will create a cheery clump of sunny yellow winter flowers for pots. Pollinating insects love them too.
Crocus
Early flowering and really low maintenance plants, crocus are a great option for winter potted plants. You’re spoilt for choice with varieties; there are shades of purple, cream, yellow and white, plus a range of heights to suit your pot.
*Crocus bulbs work well in a bulb lasagne too, this is a clever way to layer up bulbs in a pot and top them with bedding plants to create a display that lasts beyond the end of the season. My post on planting a bulb lasagne shows you how to do it.
Snowdrops
Snowdrops are often the first flowers we see in the garden towards the end of winter, and as such they can bring a taste of the spring to come when you plant them in winter pots.
*Snowdrop bulbs are usually planted in autumn, but you can also buy them as plants in late winter. This is often called buying them ‘in the green’.
Hyacinths
Hyacinths really deliver on flowers and fragrance, making them a great addition to a winter flowering container.
Like irises, you can ‘force’ *hyacinths for early indoor blooms. However you plant them, make sure you wear gloves while handling the bulbs, as they can cause skin irritation.
Winter foliage plants for pots
Foliage plants are an important part of a winter container display. They can provide texture, height and structure to your arrangement, and if you choose the right plants they can be a showstopper in their own right too.
Here are my favourite foliage plants for winter pots.
Heuchera
Heucheras (also known as coral bells) are fantastic foliage plants for a winter container garden. They flower in the summer, but it’s their leaves that we’re really interested in for winter.
You can get hold of *heuchera plants in a range of colours, which makes it easy to complement your planting scheme with these foliage stunners.
Ivy
If you’re looking for trailing winter plants for pots, ivy is a great choice. Ivys are great plants for hanging pots too.
Ivy can be a bit of a thug in the garden, crowding out other plants and generally taking over. Growing it in a container avoids all of this, allowing you to enjoy it’s beautiful leaves without the hassle. Ivy is a fabulous winter source of food and shelter for pollinating insects and local wildlife too.
The trailing habit of ivy is particularly useful for softening the edges of a container or hanging basket. It’s also a clever way to create a bigger container display from the same size of pot.
Cineraria
This is one of my favourite foliage plant for pots outdoors – my garden is full of it! Cineraria has silver-white foliage with a soft tactile surface, and it provides a beautiful textured backdrop for your winter-flowering plants. In my experience it’s a tough little plant too, so if you trim it back regularly you might find that it’s an element of your containers that you don’t need to replace.
Calocephalus
I love using this foliage plant in containers too. It’s super-tough, but the silvery stems look delicate and frothy; it always makes me think of coral. A great plant for contrasting with deep purple flowers or foliage.
Festuca glauca
An ornamental grass is an excellent choice for a pot display, and if you choose an evergreen variety you can enjoy it as part of your winter planters.
*Festuca glauca has slim, blue-green blades and forms a neat, compact dome of foliage. I think it works particularly well in contemporary container planters.
Phormium
This upright grass is ideal for giving a pot structure and height. There’s a range of colours to choose from, including varieties that incorporate yellows, pinks, and deep burgundy.
While *Phormiums are pretty tough plants, it’s a good idea to grow them in a sheltered spot in winter.
Winter flowering shrubs for containers
Don’t ignore shrubs when it comes to your pots. There are lots of lovely compact varieties that will provide you with flowers, structure or interest in winter. Here are some great varieties to try.
Skimmia japonica
This one isn’t strictly a flowering plant, but the berries more than make up for that. With its glossy evergreen leaves and bright red berries, Japanese skimmia is a brilliant plant to liven up a winter pot.
To guarantee those lovely berries, you need to buy a female plant (such as ‘Nymans’, ‘Temptation’ or ‘Kew White’), and also have a male plant (such as ‘Rubella’ or ‘Kew Green’) nearby.
Wintergreen
If you need a smaller berried plant, *Wintergreen (also known as partridge berry, checkerberry and Gaultheria procumbens) is perfect. It’s dainty and low-growing, and will give your pots a festive feel.
Hellebore
Another perfect candidate for low maintenance outdoor potted plants in winter. This lovely perennial plant will flower from midwinter onwards, providing delicate but impressive blooms at a time when most other plants are still dormant.
*Hellebores are available in shades of white, pink, purple and even apricot, and are perfectly capable of dealing with a cold season, frost, and snowy conditions. Combine them with other plants, or stick to a hellebore-only container for a simple but stunning effect.
Winter clematis will benefit from some shelter. Try to grow them close to the house or against a house wall, where they will enjoy the slightly warmer temperatures.
Winter flowering honeysuckle
Winter honeysuckles are another option for climbing plants for pots. Lonicera fragrantissima or Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’ both have creamy white flowers and that incredible honeysuckle fragrance.
To get the best out of climbing shrubs for pots, make sure the container has access to an *obelisk, trellis or other type of plant support.
Camellia
Camellias make fantastic low maintenance evergreen plants for pots. You can choose from shades of red, white, pink and cream, all with shiny green leaves and stunning flowers.
You need to grow camellias in acidic soil, so go for *ericaceous compost to keep them happy. If you can use rainwater to water them, they will be even more content. Camellias also enjoy a more sheltered location; an easy way to provide this is to position them near the house.
Photinia ‘Little Red Robin’
If you’re planting a large winter container, this evergreen shrub will make a great addition. It will put on a show with bright red leaves that change to deep green as they mature. In spring you get white flowers too.
Sweet box
Another good option for large containers, *sweet box (Sarcococca confusa) has dense evergreen foliage and produces an abundance of delicate white flowers from midwinter onwards. The flowers are highly fragranced too, so make sure you position it somewhere that you walk past regularly to make the most of the gorgeous scent.
Daphne Odora ‘Aureomarginata’
Still on the fragrant flowers theme, the flowers on *Daphne Odora ‘Aureomarginata’ are pale pink and deliver a huge hit of fragrance. It needs a larger container as it can reach heights of 1.5 metres, but it will definitely earn its space.
Should I repot my plants after buying?
Unless you’re buying a ready-made container display, you should always repot your plants after you’ve bought them.
The plants will most likely have reached the limits of their pots, and will benefit from a bigger container and access to more compost.
Take the pot off the plant, and you’ll probably see that the roots are filling up the space. If the roots have grown out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot, this is another sign that the plant is ready to move on!
When it comes to tools, gardening in containers is pretty low-tech. However, there are some basic tools that you should consider getting hold of to make things easier and help your plants do well.
A *hand trowelwill come in handy for planting, re-potting and weeding.
If you’d prefer to protect your hands, *gardening gloves are a must. There are lots of different sizes and materials out there, but for me the most important thing is to find a pair that allows your hands to move well while you’re wearing them.
A pair of *secateurs are ideal for pruning your plants and removing dead flower heads. If you’ve chosen smaller plants for small pots you might prefer a pair of *snips – these are fantastic for deadheading too.
And finally, a *watering can is pretty essential. Go for one that has a ‘rose’ head attachment, this will prevent you accidentally flooding your pots. A *mini watering can is a good option for smaller containers – and you can use it on your houseplants as well.
Don’t forget your pots and hanging baskets too!
Choosing containers for hardy outdoor potted plants
When you’re choosing your pots, stick to these two rules.
Make sure there are drainage holes in the bottom. If you’ve fallen in love with a pot that doesn’t have drainage holes, you will need to either make your own holes, or add an inner plant pot with drainage holes.
Choose a pot that’s the right size for your plants. How many do you want to put in it? How big are they going to get? Ideally you should go for a pot that’s big enough for at least a year, to keep your plants happy and save you from having to repot them regularly.
The rest of the decision-making process is absolutely up to you. There’s a huge amount of choice out there and you can easily find a colour, shape, style and material to suit your own tastes and the look of your outdoor space.
It’s also well worth considering a spot of upcycling here; so many household items make great plant pots. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
An old teapot
A chimney pot
A kitchen colander
An old sink
A storage crate
An old pair of wellies
A watering can
The best compost for outdoor container plants
If you’re growing plants in pots, it’s really important to give them good compost. Our best compost for pots guide covers this in detail, but here’s a quick overview.
Plants that grow in the ground can easily access the nutrients they need in the soil around them. Plants grown in containers however are restricted by the pot, and as a result they will eventually exhaust the nutrients available. When this happens, your plants will start to look less healthy and may struggle to grow.
To avoid the problem of starved winter container plants, always use a good quality *peat-free compost.
You should be fine to use general-purpose compost for the majority of your container plants, but some plants do need a particular type of compost in order to grow well. The plant label should tell you if this is the case.
There is also compost available that has been specifically designed to support plants grown in pots and baskets. This type of compost is usually enriched with slow-release fertiliser and water-retaining crystals. As well as helping your plants to thrive, it’s a good option if you’re keen to keep the plant maintenance to a minimum, or you’re not very confident about taking care of your pots.
How to plant a winter container
Once you’ve got your plants, your pots, and your tools, you’re ready to create some beautiful seasonal displays. Here’s a quick guide to planting outdoor pots for winter.
Start by adding a layer of ‘crocks’ (these are simply broken pieces of an old pot) or small stones to the bottom of your pot. This will help excess water to drain away.
Add compost to your pot until it’s almost full.
Carefully remove each plant from its pot – try to avoid damaging the root system. A good way to do this is to slide your fingers around the base of the plant, then tip the plant over and ease the pot away with your other hand.
Arrange your plants on top of the soil. You can move them around until you’re happy with the layout. It’s a good idea to position taller plants at the back of the pot, and make sure any trailing plants are near an edge so they can spill over.
When you’re happy with your layout, fill in any gaps around the plants with more compost.
Finish by watering your pot, and pop it in its final position.
Care tips for winter plants in pots
Caring for your beautiful winter plants display is pretty low-effort. Focus on these key areas, and you’ll be giving your plants the best chance of doing well.
Feeding winter plants in pots
As I’ve already mentioned, a container plant will eventually use up all the nutrients in the compost. To stop this being a problem, you can feed your plants regularly with a general-purpose plant food.
You can choose the format of your plant food to suit your own preference. A *concentrated liquid needs to be diluted before you use it (the packaging will tell you how to do this), so you will need a watering can for this option. Plant food is also available in *granule form which you add to your compost when planting, and *ready-to-use liquid feed which you simply pour into your pot. If you’re nervous about getting the feeding right, the last option is definitely the easiest way to do it, but bear in mind it’s probably also the most expensive and least eco-friendly way to feed your plants.
If you’re keen on sustainable gardening or are gardening on a budget, you can have a go at making your own plant feed from nettle or comfrey leaves. This is a particularly good option if you like to garden organically. This video shows you how to make natural plant food:
Watering outdoor potted plants in winter
Plants grown in containers will dry out faster than plants grown in the ground, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there’s a limit to how much water that the compost can retain. Plus, the sides of the pot get exposed to warmer temperatures than the ground, this heats up the compost which in turn causes more evaporation.
You might not need to water your container plants at all during winter, but it’s still a good idea to check the soil regularly. To do this, simply poke your finger into the soil surface; if it feels dry, you need to water your plants. Moist soil doesn’t need to be watered.
Winter plants for pots: the importance of drainage
While it’s important to make sure your plants aren’t too dry, it’s also crucial to prevent your pots from getting too damp.
The majority of plants really dislike having their roots in a puddle of water. Soggy roots can quickly rot, and root rot will kill your plant. This is particularly relevant in colder months, when water is much less likely to evaporate and the weather is generally more wet. In addition, excess water can freeze, which is also really bad news for plant roots.
The way to avoid this problem is to do everything you can to allow excess water to drain out of your containers and provide your plants with well-drained soil.
Those drainage holes I keep going on about play a big role here – so choose your containers for your winter displays carefully.
Putting crocks or stones in the bottom of your container will also help with drainage.
You can also improve the drainage of your compost by adding materials such as grit or *perlite. This creates a more open soil structure which allows water to drain more effectively, resulting in better drained soil.
Another simple way to avoid soggy containers is to use *pot feet or bricks to lift your pots off the ground. Leaving your pots on the ground makes them more likely to become waterlogged in winter. Raising them up an inch or two will help water to drain away more easily.
How to keep your winter flowering plants blooming
Would you like to get as many flowers as possible from your winter plants? Of course you would!
Deadheading is a brilliant way to make sure your winter plants in pots give you a long-lasting display of flowers. The added bonus is it’s really quick and easy to do.
Deadheading is all about removing flowers that are dead, drooping, or forming seed heads. Taking these off the plant prevents it from setting seed, which in turn stimulates it to grow more flowers.
To remove old flowers, just pinch them off with your fingers, or use *secateurs or *snips to make the job even easier.
You should aim to deadhead your plants regularly, this will help to create a steady supply of blooms. It’s the kind of gardening job you can tackle whenever you’ve got a couple of spare minutes, so it’s not hard to fit it in.
How do I protect my potted plants in the winter?
By choosing plants that are happy to grow outdoors in winter, you will go a long way towards keeping your potted plants healthy.
One of the key things to pay attention to is drainage, which we’ve already covered. Getting the water levels right in your containers is really important in winter, so make sure you stay on top of this by checking your pots on a regular basis.
If your plants look like they’re struggling, you can try moving the pot to a more sheltered spot such as near a house wall or away from wind.
Can you leave potted plants outside in the winter?
If you’ve chosen winter hardy container plants, they should be OK outside in winter. If, however, you have tender plants in pots, it’s a good idea to move them to a more sheltered location until the weather warms up again. My post on protecting plants from frost and cold weather covers this in more detail and talks about plants that can survive winter outside.
And that’s it! Everything you need to know about the best outdoor winter plants for pots, and how to take proper care of them. I hope this guide has inspired you to create some fabulous winter plant displays – tell me what plants are on your wish list in the comments 🙂
More container gardening ideas and resources
If you’d like some more ideas for container gardening and plant inspiration, I’ve got you covered.
Any article about Physostegia begins with the acknowledgement that this plant’s most-common common name, obedient plant, is a misnomer: Physostegia is anything but complying. The name obedient plant refers not to its behavior in the garden, but to the nature of the plant’s stems. “You can move the flowers from side to side, and they stay put—a welcome trait making this a fun cut flower,” explains Christina Koether, a garden and floral designer based in Weston, Connecticut.
While obedient plant’s blossoms are snapdragon-like (it’s also known as false dragonhead), it is a member of the mint family, and like mint, it spreads quickly by stolons—hence its reputation for disobedience, something Chris Liloia, the habitat gardens curator and the North Carolina Botanical Garden (NCBG) has experience with. While the plant now grows in NCBG’s Piedmont habitat, Liloia says, “It’s actually a remnant of the perennial border that I can’t get rid of. It has just cropped up in different spaces.”
But Koether says, “Its disobedience, or toughness, is what I love most.” Marissa Angell, a landscape architect based in Brewster, NY agrees, noting, “When I use Physostegia, it’s because I want a more aggressive plant to fill a space quickly, which is ideal for restoration or seeded meadow settings.”
Here’s everything you need to know about this tough and beautiful native:
Photography courtesy of North Carolina Botanical Garden, unless otherwise noted.
Where should you plant obedient plant?
Above: P. angustifolia is seen here in Norris’s prairie garden. He grew the plant from seed, which is available through Prairie Moon and Missouri Wildflowers Nursery. Photograph courtesy of Kelly D. Norris.
All the experts we spoke to say obedient plant does best in a damp, sunny spot in a naturalistic design with other native species.“Like any plant, they require context for maximal appreciation,” says Des Moines-based ecological garden designer Kelly D. Norris, who is the author of New Naturalism. “These plants evolved to compete in grass-dominated environments. You can commonly find P. virginiana in wet ditches growing cheek-to-jowl with cattails, sedges, and tall grasses. Is it any wonder when gardeners remove them from that context that they sprint in every direction?” Place obedient plant in spots with poor drainage, in bioswales, or any place where spongy, absorbent vegetation has value.One place never to use it? In more “curated” gardens where you want plants to stay in one spot, says Angell.
Is obedient plant invasive?
“Tough natives like this are sometimes accidentally called invasive, a term reserved for non-native plants that are monitored by individual states and are bad for biodiversity and pollinators,” says Koether. Physostegia virginiana is, in fact, helpful to pollinators. “Long blooming from summer to frost, the blooms are loved by hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies,” Koether adds. Obedient plant’s thuggishness can also crowd out invasive weeds.
What are the different varieties of obedient plant?
Above: Physostegia virginiana at the North Carolina Botanical Garden.
There are purple, pink, and white-flowered varieties of Physostegia. Physostegia virginiana is the species most commonly available at nurseries, but Liloia notes that there are actually two subspecies of virginiana, a northern and southern one. There are also a few cultivars, including ‘Miss Manners,’ which is advertised as a less aggressive, compact, and white-flowered version of the plant. Koether hasn’t had much luck growing it and Angell notes “it’s not as delicate or nice but you get some of the same feeling as the native, straight species.” Norris has both Physostegia virginiana and P. angustifolia, which is native to the central United States, in his garden and says, “P. angustifolia has been comparatively less aggressive than P. virginiana in my experience, and its paler flowers add an ethereal quality to the garden.” Koether adds, “The renewed interest in this plant is exciting. I’m hoping to try more cultivars soon.
What plants are good to grow next to obedient plant?
Above: Physostegia virginiana grows next to ‘Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ in the Piedmont habitat of North Carolina Botanical Garden.
Where would you expect to find a meadow filled with native flowers and grasses, where once an expanse of lawn grew? In a suburban front yard, as the short-back-and-sides neighbors give the gardener’s tousled vision the stink eye? At the summer home of weekend warriors who have newfound respect for the perils of mugwort? Or in an urban cemetery that doubles as a laboratory for biodiversity? Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, is home to an experimental wildflower meadow, seeded in October of 2022, and part of the cemetery’s Urban Grasslands initiative.
This summer, from June through July, I visited the meadow over the course of six weeks, watched its palette evolve, learned about the reasons for the transition from lawn to wildflowers, and some of the challenges unique to this unusual site.
Above: Coreopsis and Penstemon in the experimental meadow in early June.
Set on a ridge in South Brooklyn, with views of New York Harbor, Green-Wood is no ordinary cemetery. The green space is a haven not only for the dead but for the living: for birds and the birders who watch them, for a monk parakeet colony, for honey bees in hives, for native pollinators, for artists in residence, for researchers, and for the local community, who find respite from urban life among the towering trees of this nationally accredited arboretum and historic landmark.
Above: In early June the meadow’s palette is yellow with white relief from Penstemon and Achillea.
Stippled with weathered marble and brownstone headstones, the 1.2-acre wildflower meadow is one of four re-wilded areas in close to 30 acres of public lots on the cemetery’s historic perimeters. “These lots were some of the first areas to be developed as an affordable internment option when Green-Wood was established in 1838,” said Sara Evans, the Director Of Living Collections and Curator at Green-Wood. In contrast to the large opulent family lots, she explained, “the public lots are dense with small graves characteristically marked with modest headstones primarily made of more delicate stone.”
Collectively, they are now the site of the ongoing project to transition from high-maintenance turf that requires noisy and carbon-unfriendly mowing (which also risks damaging these modest headstones), “to resilient native species more tolerant of drought, an increasing feature as the planet warms and the climate changes.”
Each of the six sections in the experimental meadow is seeded with a different combination of native grass and wildflower species “that also differ in species-richness (low-to-medium-to-high diversity),” said Sara. The goal is to “test and see what communities evolve, especially in terms of mowing stresses.” Paths are mown to allow access for visitors and researchers, and each wildflower block is given at least one annual mow with a weedwacker or hedge trimmer, “cut very high, at eight to ten inches, to leave material for nesting pollinator habitat and seed heads to establish a seedbank,” she said.
Above: Coreopsis leaning over a mown path in the meadow.
To prepare the site prior to sowing, the existing lawn grasses were treated with herbicide. Sara explained that such a large area, “with hundreds headstones,” cannot be solarized. (This technique involves placing expanses of plastic sheeting over unwanted vegetation to heat the soil underneath, spurring the germination of seeds, and their subsequent death. With established plants it can take a very long time.) Despite the treatment, some resilient invasive and naturalized plants persist: Mugwort, as well as bermuda, foxtail, sweet vernal, and brome grasses remain a perennial challenge.r
On March 18th, 2020, we closed our Brooklyn Heights shops, Salter House and Picture Room, along with just about every other business in New York City as the Covid pandemic swept through the city. We packed as much of the inventory as we could into our Volvo and settled in to quarantine at Meadowburn for an unknown length of time. [N.B.: See Sandeep’s Brooklyn apartment here.]
Like millions of others this past spring, we struggled to keep our businesses afloat, all while frantically navigating Zoom school and an unfathomable amount of anxiety. It was around this time that the Gerards asked us if we would like to join them in reviving one of the vegetable plots in the upper garden. I was thrilled.
Above: Me and my green bean joy! Photograph by Sita Bhuller.
Our first crop, sweet peas, failed. But after that, it was pretty smooth sailing! We fumbled our way through seedings, divided up watering and weeding duties, and formed friendships along the way. Soon enough, this Londoner, who has killed every house plant ever fostered and has not successfully grown a single sprout from seed since primary school Daffodil Days (and even then, her daffodils were always the weakest looking in the class), was sprouting everything she could get her hands on: tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, Brussel sprouts, watermelons, cucumbers, sage, and much much more.
I quickly learned choreography to seed the dirt and relished the hours spent in the garden. It was my time. The kids usually got bored after five minutes of following me around, and so would leave me in peace.
Above: A sampling of the crops we grew this summer.
As more of our crops came to maturity, we began to buy less and less at the grocery store. I became obsessed with preparing full meals solely from crops we had grown and felt immense satisfaction when I was able to achieve it. Gardening was fully nourishing, meditative—and absolutely practical. Any problems that arose could be literally weeded out, tossed onto the compost heap, or simply devoured and attempted again. As dilettante gardeners, there was nothing necessary, but something wholly precious, and certainly privileged about the whole endeavor.
I can’t get enough of the blue flax in my yard, but it wasn’t always this way. With most other perennials, it’s a binary case of love or hate. With blue flax, though, it was more complicated.
Above: Blue flax’s five-petaled flowers range from a pale blue to a bright cerulean. Photograph by Debbie Ballentine via Flickr.
I’m newish to Central Oregon, where I relocated after a lifetime of living on the East Coast, and unfamiliar with the plants native to this high desert region. Hydrangeas, a landscape leitmotif on the East, are rarely seen in these parts, but Linum lewisii, another plant with vividly blue flowers, peppers the landscape. I see blue flax thriving in the wild on the trails; swaying in the wind next to the the chain-link fence that surrounds the local high school track; and growing in my own front yard, where it was planted by the previous owners.
Above: Once established, one blue flax plant can generate many, many petite flowers. Photograph by Philip Bouchard via Flickr.
While I was immediately smitten with the delicate blue flowers (measuring just 1 to 1.5 inches across) that float over thin stems, I was less than happy to learn that they wither by day’s end. I have always had a bias for durable, long-lasting blooms, and these ephemeral flowers, with an expiration date that measures in hours (not even days), offended my practical sensibility. The thing is, the spent flowers are replaced the next morning with a flush of new blooms. All summer long, this 24-hour cycle of birth, death, and rebirth is repeated.
Above: This flower will die by the end of the day, but new buds are standing in the wings, ready to bloom the next morning. Photograph by tdlucas5000 via Flickr.
I’ve come to admire blue flax. Every morning, like a child waking up to look for fresh snow, I eagerly grab a cup of coffee and peer out our front window searching for the new blooms. Throughout the day, I check on them. And early evening, I do one last inspection to see if, by some miracle, they’re still around, gently swaying in the breeze. They never are. But come morning, I fill up my cup again—and delight in their rebirth.
Cheat Sheet
Above: Its stems can look messy and leggy, so best to plant them en masse or crowd them next to tall grasses and wildflowers. Photograph by George Wesley and Bonita Dannells via Flickr.
Discovered by Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark fame) in the Rocky Mountains, Linum lewisii is commonly known as blue flax, wild blue flax, prairie flax, Lewis flax, and Lewis’s flax.
The drought-tolerant, deer-resistant perennial is native to Western North America, growing wild in prairies and mountain trails.
Grows to 18 to 30 inches tall, with needle-like blue-green leaves.
Will readily self seed once established.
Exhibits a clumping habit; looks best en masse or mingling in a dense planting with tall grasses.
The cultivar commercially grown for its fibers, seeds, and oil is common flax (Linum usitatissimum), but blue flax’s seeds are edible, too, as long as you cook it first.
Its bloom period covers a long span, from April to September (though in Central Oregon, where the last frost date was in late spring, mine didn’t start blooming until early June).
Keep It Alive
Above: Blue flax happily mingling with coast sunflower, California fuchsia, Sulphur buckwheat, California sun cup, and ‘Margarita BOP’ penstemon. Photograph by Debbie Ballentine via Flickr.
Hardy from USDA zones 5 – 8.
Extremely easy to grow, the wildflower is both cold-hardy and heat-tolerant.
Fairly shade-tolerant but happiest in full sun.
Drought-tolerant, it has low to medium water needs.
Best planted in well-draining soil; preference for rocky or sandy conditions, dislike of clay soil or wet conditions.
To prevent self seeding, prune almost down to the ground at the end of the growing season; if not a concern, leave them standing for birds to snack on during the winter and cut back in early spring.
In summer our thoughts turn for refuge to cooling streams and pond edges, and to memories of a spring blaze of marsh marigold and moving water. Early to bloom, and in lush leaf through summer, marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris) are a cold-hardy and water-loving perennial. They are also a native alternative to their diminutive lookalike, the highly invasive lesser celandine (Ficaria verna). Differentiating between the two plants is helpful to curb the spread of one, and to encourage the cultivation of the other.
Photography by Marie Viljoen.
Above: Marsh marigolds have between 5 to 9 petal-like sepals, and have a mounding habit. Above: Lesser celandine has 8 to 12 petals, and a carpeting habit.
Both marsh marigolds and lesser celandine have buttercup-perfect, iridescent yellow flowers that signal their kinship: they belong to the Ranunculus family. But in North America lesser celandine, a transplant from Europe (it is also occurs natively in North Africa and West Asia), has mastered the insidious creep, smothering regional swathes of riverside and forest floor, altering habitats as it spreads its low but impenetrable canopy. Lesser celandine’s invasive status is mostly associated with the Northeast, but it is moving into the Midwest and occurs in the Pacific Northwest, too. In places where it grows beside moving water, flooding carries parts of the plant downstream, where they take root.
Above: Marsh marigolds at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Marsh marigold’s species name palustris means “of marshes.” Varieties of marsh marigold have an unusually wide native distribution, described as circumboreal: The plants occur across the northern part of the planet (boreal means north), in North America, Europe, and Asia. The plant’s flowers are larger and more showy than lesser celandine’s. In terms of function, marsh marigold can stabilize stream banks, forming mounded, clumping colonies over time. The flowers’ pollen and nectar are a rich food source for native pollinators, and small mammals and ducks eat the seeds.
Above: Lesser celandine is very difficult to remove where it is widespread.
Lesser celandine removal sidebar: The removal of lesser celandine is not easy. If you have a few clumps, remove them at once. By the time a carpet has formed, the task is daunting, and complicated. Methodical mechanical removal, by hand, is best (although difficult), and vigilance is essential. Personally, I cannot recommend glyphosate (usually sold as Roundup).
Why not use glyphosate? There is its implication in the evolution of so-called super-weeds, for one thing. And while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers glyphosate “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) does classify glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Quite the contradiction.
For your own rabbit hole research consider that the studies that the IARC relied on seem more in keeping with real-world situations and exposure than those employed on by the EPA. Glyphosate has been banned by California, and in 2020. New York banned the use of glyphosate on state property. Its use is especially problematic near water, or when associated with water tables (everything lands up in the water table). Glyphosate has been showing up in stream and air samples since 2011, and its knock-on effects on life forms other than the target-plant (from soil microbes to aquatic invertebrates) are being studied.
Above: Marsh marigolds favor flowing or oxygenated water.
One of the realities of enjoying a garden is that there’s not always a lot of time to do so. We work, we commute, we parent, we scroll. By the time we step outside it might be late, so it is with twilight in mind that we bring you the brightness of our 14 favorite white flowers. They are all perennials, and they are all North American. Many of these blooms are pollinator-friendly, and each is easy to care for, so long it’s in the right spot. From petite ephemerals that will appeal to your inner wood sprite, to big-statement drama plants, our list will set you on the path to a soothing evening escape. You might even sneak out to enjoy them in daylight.
The frothy exuberance of aptly named foam flower begins early in spring, the flowers floating above maple-shaped leaves. The blooms last for about two pleasing weeks. This woodland native grows well in full spring sun if it receives some summer shade (under deciduous trees, for example). It naturalizes easily, by sending out questing runners in late spring and summer. Foam flower makes a very low maintenance ground cover and is an effective green mulch, protecting the soil beneath. It is hardy from USDA growing zones 3-9.
2. Canada mayflower, Maianthemum canadense
Above: Tiny Canada mayflower
In shady gardens, diminutive Canada mayflower (or false lily of the valley) will naturalize to form a lush, low green carpet that produces a shower of snowy blossoms in mid-spring. It needs consistent moisture to become established, but will then spread and naturalize via rhizomes. By fall the flowers will have formed red fruits that are attractive to birds. Canada mayflower is hardy from zones 3-6.
3. Starflower, Lysimachia borealis
Above: Starflower growing among Canada mayflower.
Another small jewel for light shade and woodland-friendly gardens is starflower, whose identifying whorl of leaves frames the exquisite bloom, or blooms. This is a good companion plant for Canada mayflower, as it is summer-dormant, and fades from view as nights begin to grow longer after the summer solstice. Starflower is hardy from zones 3-7.
4. False Solomon’s seal, Maianthemum racemosum
Above: False Solomons seal
Unlike its tiny Canada mayflower, false Solomon’s seal grows to about three feet tall, and its plumes of fluffy white flowers can be elegantly dramatic if planted in swathes in dappled shade. It has a very wide native range in North America, and blooms in mid-spring. It, too, will produce attractive, non-toxic red berries in fall that are appealing to migratory and resident birds. False solomon’s seal is hardy from zones 3-8.
5. Doll’s eyes, Actaea pachypoda
Above: The perfumed flowers of doll’s eyes.
Close your eyes and breathe. The sweet, citrus-blossom scent of doll’s eyes is reason enough to plant this shade-loving perennial. Its tall slender stems are topped with perfumed puffs of flowers in mid-spring. By fall, they have morphed into ghoulish white berries that resemble a horror-flick’s idea of a botanical Halloween. They are eye-catching and as toxic as they look. Doll’s eyes are hardy from zones 3-8.
