Nobody tells you how overwhelming flowers get once you start paying attention. Currently there are approximately 400,000 species of flowering plants existing on earth. Humans have had interactions with flowering plants for probably somewhere around 5,000 years; however, there is some fossil evidence indicating that humans may have had interactions with flowering plants for as long ago as 35 million years ago. I started growing and arranging flowering plants rather inadvertently, and 10 years later I continue to find new flowering plants that I have never grown before at my local nursery.. This is my honest rundown of 60 popular types, organized for someone who wants to actually grow them.
Roses, Daisies, Chrysanthemums — The Classics You Think You Know
Roses are one of the most widely discussed flowers due to their wide availability and the large number of varieties available. With over 150 species and 3,000 cultivated varieties (from wild climbing roses to hybrid tea roses), roses have represented various feelings including affections, faithfulness and eternity in many different cultures; too many to cover in this article alone. The general confusion surrounding Daisies is that they represent multiple types of flowers. When you think of the “Daisy,” however, you’re most likely referring to the Gerbera Daisy, which is a very bright, large, and cheerful flower that likes to grow in sunny environments with average quality soil.
The Black-Eyed Susan is a native plant to North America that blooms from the middle of summer until the first frost without a lot of effort. Finally, Mums are very tolerant hardy plants that make up many of the Mums found at most garden centers. You see them in bedding arrangements, cut flowers, boutonnieres, and landscaping. What most people don’t know is that mums produce pyrethrins naturally actual natural insecticides. They’ve been cultivated in China for 3,000 years. That’s a long time of people figuring out one plant.
Sunflowers, Dahlias, and the Annuals That Earn Their Keep
Sunflowers are annual plants, meaning they live one season, but they make that season count. Some varieties hit 15 feet tall and show heliotropism when they’re young that slow tracking of the sun thing. Dahlias grow from tuberous roots and push out spike-like petals from early summer right into autumn. They’re deer-resistant, which matters more than people admit, and they’ve even been used as a source of natural pesticide. I pull my dahlia tubers every fall before the ground freezes and store them over winter. It sounds like extra work until the first year you don’t do it and lose everything to a cold snap. Zinnias are the other annual I keep coming back to branching or single-stalk, dwarf or giant, they genuinely fill space.
Celosia is the strange one: the cockscomb form looks almost like a brain; the plume type is feathery; the wheat-grain type looks like it belongs in a field, and some plants hit four feet needing staking. Ranunculus come in layers of petals with dark centers and vivid colors the bloom that makes wedding florists very happy. Anemone has a similar poppy-like look with dark centers. Amaranth, sometimes sold as Love-Lies-Bleeding, trails dramatically and adds real height. Cosmos self-seed across prairies and meadows so freely that once planted in well-draining full sun, they mostly take care of returning. Larkspur belongs to Ranunculaceae, grows across the Northern Hemisphere into tropical Africa, and is toxic to humans and livestock. Gomphrena, or globe amaranth, produces small round blooms until frost and dries extremely well useful long after fresh season ends.
Perennials: The Plants That Actually Stay
Perennials grow back every year and after planting a few, it is a question you ask yourself: “Why did I buy so many annuals? Coneflowers are probably the longest blooming of all perennials that I’ve ever grown from same crowns in six years no divisions ever. Delphinium isn’t a plant for the front of the flower bed; it’s a tall spike that belongs in a cottage style border. Astilbe (False Goat’s Beard) is a wildflower that is perennial and makes it in light shade where most else fails. Hellebores Helleborus niger, or (occasionally) Christmas Rose flower under trees and shrubs from February onwards, in partial shade; they seem almost too easy to naturalise in lawns. Iris plants come from bulbs or rhizomes and grow to be 8 to 36 inches tall, with flat, sword-like leaves or leaves that curve. Flowers are blue, purple, white and yellow and the dried rhizomes (orrisroot) are used in perfumery and potpourris
. Iris means royalty in the language of ancient Egyptian palaces, it’s the state flower of Tennessee, the symbol of France’s fleur-de-lis, and it holds meaning on the 25th wedding anniversary. That’s a lot of weight for one plant. Peonies came to cultivation through East Asia and the Americas and carry meanings tied to love, fertility, thoughtfulness, charm, health, prosperity, wisdom, beauty, strength, nobility, and talent depending on the source. White, red, coral, purple, pink, and yellow varieties exist. They can reach 5 feet in full sun with 1 inch of water per week, and they show up in centerpieces and bouquets in a way that makes them worth every bit of waiting for them to establish.
Bulbs, Biennials, and Flowers That Come Back Differently
Tulips went so far into popular obsession that Holland experienced full Tulip Mania — single bulbs trading for gold. Now 150 species and 3,000 varieties exist, planted as fall bulbs in partial to full sun. The deer, rabbit and other pests will not consume daffodils (Narcissus), jonquils and paperwhites, which are in their natural state are poisonous plants. Spherical types of Allium, Gladiator, Goliath and Globemaster, are very dry and fall bulbs. The hyacinth fragrant during early spring; muscari armeniacum, commonly referred to as Grape Hyacinth, will spread out underneath trees with ivy and mini daffodils and become a naturalized ground cover there.
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a biennial plant that germinates as an annual plant. As long as the seeds mature, they continue to self-sow; however, they only appear in the second growing season from seed planted. Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea), Canterbury Bells (Campanula medium), Forget-me-nots (Myosotis) and Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) are also biennial plants. Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena), Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima), California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) and Cleome (Rose Queen) are essentially annual plants that reseed themselves for the following growing season, yet do not fall into the biennial category.
Orchids, Lilies, Lavender — The Ones People Think Are Complicated
But orchids actually are not as picky as their reputation: most of the apprehension is the result of oversaturating phals. There are 25,000 species in rainforests and temperate areas. Numerous cultivated orchid species exist; however, phalaenopsis (moth), dendrobium (sparkling), and cattleya (butterfly) are by far the most widely grown orchids. Vanilla is, also surprisingly, an orchid!
The true lily is described by 100 different types. Oriental lilies are known for their size, scent (to be sweetened), and colors, including white, pink, red, yellow, and the occasional spotted flower originally found in Japan. Asin (Asian) and trumpet-shaped lilies are “easier to produce and can be found in the home gardening market.” Asiatic and trumpet lilies are also used as wedding anniversary flowers; the Oriental lily for the 30th wedding anniversary and lilies for Easter, and Asian lily for the 10th wedding anniversary, and as the national flower of Wales.
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), part of the mint family, is a perennial herbaceous plant or a subshrub; it needs to have good drainage to flourish in Mediterranean climates. The hairy linear shape of the leaves and the purple, violet, lavender and pinkish white flowers are identifiable, but the plant is as hard working as it is on the outside. Its aromatic oil is used in perfumery, bath products and stress, anxiety and sleep aromatherapy. Flavours teas and yields monofloral honey in late spring/early summer. Spanish, French and English varieties are very different in terms of their hardiness and fragrance.
Climbers, Specialty Blooms, and Ground Covers
Ipomoea purpurea, also known as a morning glory, is an annual vine that grows quickly and has large, heart-shaped leaves and trumpet-shaped flowers that are a deep purple blue and unfurl in the morning and fold back up by late afternoon. Morning Glories will provide a stunning visual display with their vines climbing in a spectacular way over trellis and fence structures from the beginning of spring season to the end of early autumn. Another good example of a flowering plant that will add color to any outdoor or indoor setting is Blue Passion Flower (Passiflora caerulea), which is noted for its vigorous growth as well as its brilliant display of blue and purple filaments along with its edible mildly flavored orange fruit. For example, Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) can reach heights of 8 meters while also producing tubular flowers that bees find irresistible during their blooming period from July through September.
The national flower of South Africa, King Protea (Protea cynaroides), produces large bowl-shaped clusters of colorful bracts (greenish-white and red) with each bloom, and the amount produced varies depending on the growth habit of the individual; plants typically have 6-10 blooms per season. Similar to a bird in mid-flight, the Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) must be provided with bright indirect light if grown inside or full sun if grown outside. The Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is a perennial aquatic plant with tall strong stems that produce very large fragrant (pink and white) flowers, and a distinctive cone-shaped seed pod for use as dried arrangements. The Freesia provides yet another opportunity for flowering plants as part of your commercial building beautification; in addition to producing sweetly scented trumpet-shaped flowers in clusters of 5-10 per vertical stem (on one side), Freesias can be found in both single and double forms and require minimal care.. Gardenia jasminoides Cape Jasmine is an evergreen shrub with extremely fragrant creamy-white blooms where temperatures don’t drop below 60°F.
Periwinkle (myrtle) covers ground with shiny dark green leaves in 30 varieties, including variegated leaf and burgundy types, useful for erosion control on rock walls and in shade. It carries a sweet, sad association historically planted near graves Azaleas belong to the Heath Family (Ericaceae) along with Mountain Laurel and prefer a somewhat shaded area and acidic soil. The Quechua language used by Incan emperors gave rise to alstroemeria’s name and means “lord” or “ruler”, while being native to South and Central America with tiger-striped throats. Anthuriums are a family of approximately 1000 species that comprise the Golden Lilies (Araceae) in addition as part of the structural family consisting of laceleafs/tailflowers. Both Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and Crocosmia ‘Emily McKenzie’ produce bright arching stems from August to October. The poppy carries a sweet, sombre memory throughout Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America when placed on graves during the Victorian period and for many decades afterwards.
Conclusion
The variety of flowers available is larger than most people can manage to either cultivate themselves or use; this is absolutely okay! There is no need to grow every single flower species out of the approximately 400,000 total; a few flowers that will work well for your local soil conditions and your climate are all that you really require. Personally, I have had mixed results with flowering plants because I have grown roses which died within one week and then grown coneflowers that have flowered every year for six years, with very little effort expended on my part. What flowers are really for most individuals is not as much learning about every individual flower type but rather learning about the ones that are currently in front of you. For those who are interested, I suggest choosing a small number of flowers and finding out what they need in order to grow successfully. Once you have mastered this process, everything else will typically follow suit.
