While most flowering shrubs are at their peak in the summer, Camellia is unique in that it primarily blooms in the late winter and early spring months. They’ve been bred for centuries to extend their natural range so they can be grown in areas too cold for practically any other plant to bloom during this period. In this guide, I’ll…
Some people mispronounce it as century, but the Centaury flower (Centaurium erythraea) has a slightly different name. It’s a plant with a long history of herbal use. Unlike many hybridized and crossbred flowers widely used in the garden and floral arrangement world, the Centaury flower is an unimproved wildflower. This makes it easy to grow in a wide range of…
Delicate and with a paper flower type of appearance, Clarkia flowers are a joy to behold. They’re also relatively easy to grow in the garden if you’re in the right climate zone. Many Clarkia varieties have doubled petals for a more eye-catching appearance, but even the single-petaled types are attractive and colorful. The beauty of the Clarkia flower also goes…
Bright and beautiful, Cineraria flowers are often referred to as a living bouquet. They continuously flower for a specific amount of time after germinating from seed, making it easy to plan for a cascade of constant color. While these flowers are a regular addition to gardens as annuals in cooler climates or perennials in USDA zones 9 through 11, they’re…
Stock flowers (Matthiola) maybe don’t have the most striking name, but they are among some of the most popularly grown flowers – both in personal and commercial gardens. They produce lovely racemes of flowers, attract pollinators, and perfume the world with their sweet fragrance. In this guide, I’ll run through everything you need to know about Stock flower meaning, its…
Chocolate lilies are fairly rare to encounter in the wild, which makes them even more special when spotted on a hillside or cultivated in a garden. While they have some fairly specific habitat requirements, it is possible to duplicate these conditions in your summer garden or greenhouse. In this guide, I’ll run through everything you need to know about Chocolate…
Chinese lantern plants (Alkekengi officinarum) don’t produce the most notable flowers, but they are well-loved for their ornamental calyces that house their tomato-like fruit and resemble paper lanterns. Easy to grow in a variety of climates and easy to love, Chinese lanterns are quickly becoming a favorite of gardeners around the world. In this guide, I’ll run through everything you…
When it comes to showy spring blooms, the crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis) stands out. With their large, bell-shaped, red and orange flowers nodding atop tall stems, these exotic-looking flowers can be show-stoppers in the spring garden. But Crown Imperial flowers aren’t just gorgeous; they’re rich in history and symbolism, too. In this guide, I’ll run through everything you need to…
If you want to add warm spikes of color to your landscape, look no further than Crocosmia. These gorgeous summer blooms — a staple of Victorian-era gardens — sway atop long, swordlike foliage resembling ornamental grass. Also known as falling stars or montbretia, crocosmia’s fiery red and orange blossoms are easy to cultivate and look right at home in various…
Got a boggy spot to fill in your garden? The delicate cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) might just fit the bill. Also known as lady’s smock or milkmaids, this perennial blooms with pale pink flowers in spring. The lovely blossoms are figured in Shakespeare and are so named because they bloom in spring when the cuckoos start to sing. In this…
A cottage garden staple, Canterbury bells are beloved for their unique blossoms and dramatic, upright stems. Also known as cup and saucer or Coventry bells, Campanula medium bloom in summer, bringing rich shades of blue, purple, pink, and white to the garden. In the language of flowers, a gift of Canterbury bells sends a message of gratitude. In this guide,…
The camas flower, also known as wild hyacinth or camassia, was long an essential source of food for indigenous North Americans. Today, these plants are also prized for their ornamental value. Camassia spp. is a long-lived perennial that blooms for many years and, when left to grow wild, can fill meadows with racemes of purple and blue blossoms. A gift…
If you want a long-flowering, fragrant plant that deer hate and pollinators love, look no further than catmint (Nepeta). A member of the mint family, this perennial is a favorite among gardeners thanks to its purple-blue blooms, attractive aromatic foliage, and low maintenance requirements. Along with its many ornamental uses in the landscape, catmint also has culinary, medicinal, and insecticidal…
Magenta or light purple, Winecup flowers stand out against the surrounding landscape even at a distance. The neon-colored flowers have a distinct cup shape that is closer to the look of a Poppy than a Tulip. Sprawling plants help cover the ground, filling in flower beds or creating a distinctive look when allowed to cascade down a slope or stacked…
It’s undeniable that the Texas coneflower, or Rudbeckia texana, is part of the coneflower family once you look at it. Few other flowers in the group have such an exaggerated cone-shaped center as this variety. Found growing wild only in Texas and Louisiana, this wildflower is grown in other hot and dry climates worldwide. Golden yellow petals catch the eye…
Calendula flowers offer simple beauty with their daisy-shaped flower heads and a cheerful ambiance with their sunny, golden faces. They also have a wealth of symbolism and cultural significance that can be enjoyed along with their bright orange and yellow flowers. In this guide, I’ll run through everything you need to know about Calendula flower meaning and their cultural significance…
Mandevilla flowers, commonly called rocktrumpets, are large, colorful, and ornate. Plus, they grow on vines which means they can provide great versatility and potential for creativity to your garden designs. In this guide, I’ll run through everything you need to know about Mandevilla flower meaning, symbolism, popular types, uses, and essential growing tips. Mandevilla – The Essentials: Plant Family:ApocynaceaeGenus:MandevillaScientific Name:Mandevilla…
Indian paintbrush flowers are a wildflower that commonly grows in the more arid regions of the United States, including deserts, shrublands, high deserts, meadows, and plains. These flowers are beautiful to behold and have a rich history in legend and folklore. In this guide, I’ll run through everything you need to know about Indian Paintbrush meaning, symbolism, popular types, uses,…
If you’re looking for a reliable annual flowering plant that offers a wide range of flower color options, the good old-fashioned Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena) is definitely worth noting. The flowers, which bloom in shades of pink, white, lavender, and blue, make an excellent choice not just for gardens but also for container gardening, or even as cut flowers for floral…
Whether you want to add a dash of elegance to an outdoor garden or a bit of mystery to a bouquet, black flowers and plants can help you create the rare air of mystique you’ve been looking for. Keep reading to learn all about what makes a flower or plant black and to find some of the best types of…
Welcome to our essential guide to Ikebana. While you might appreciate floral designs of all styles and techniques, you might not realize how much thought, tradition, and design principles go into creating a beautiful floral arrangement. This is true of any type of floral design. However, few schools of floral design are infused with as much depth of theory, symbolism,…
One of those easily cultivated flowering plants that is hard to miss is the American Basketflower (Centaurea americana). It has this sweet honey fragrance and beautiful flowers that will make you take a second look and not think twice about why it’s a favored pollinator plant. What makes it unique is the large flowers in shades of white, pink, or…
If you’re looking for flowers that make a statement, the stunning, magnificent gloriosa lily is always a perfect choice. Also known as the flame lily or climbing lily, these dramatic blooms are beloved by florists and gardeners alike thanks to their bold colors and unusual flowers that bloom on twining vines. In this guide, I’ll take you through everything you…
Although most flowering plants are highly valued for their attractive fresh blooms, a few have gained popularity for other purposes. One example is the Honesty Flowers. While it’s true that Honesty Flowers plants present a showy display of blooms during their flowering period, these ornamentals gain more appreciation for dried flower arrangements because of their distinctive flat and rounded seed…
If you had to guess — right off the top of your head — which flower color is most commonly found in nature, what would your answer be? Pink? White? Yellow? Red? Not quite! The answer is actually green. Most types of trees and other plant species bloom with green blossoms, making verdant flowers the most common… at least we…
In this guide, we’ll run through everything you need to know about the meaning and symbolism of False Indigo flowers.