|
Varieties |
Bloom
Season |
Plant
Height |
Remarks |
Achillea
(yarrow)
Achillea filipendulina or millefolium |
Spring; summer |
1-3' |
Fernlike winter
foliage, flat round heads of spring and summer flowers; excellent
cut flowers; good companion to daylilies; pink or white cultivars
popular, 'Coronation Gold' suffers on Gulf Coast from heat
and humidity. |
Amsonia (blue
star)
Amsonia tabernaemontana |
Spring; summer |
2-3' |
Native, spikes
of blue in mid-spring, tolerates wet or dry soils, good cut flower;
Clump-former to 3 feet tall |
Artemisia
Artemisia ludoviciana |
Foliage |
2-3' |
Silvery-gray
foliage plant; invasive, but good companion; 'Silver King' and 'Powis
Castle' |
Asters
Aster sp. |
Fall |
2-5' |
Wide range of
plant heights depending on type |
Banana
Musa acuminata |
Foliage |
10-15' |
Foliage giant;
trunk needs mulch protection in winter |
Butterfly Lily
(ginger lily)
Hedychium coronarium |
Late summer and
fall |
4-6' |
Bamboo-like
summer foliage; pure white, fragrant flowers; rhizomes edible as a
mild ginger; mulch in winter |
Canna
Canna generalis |
Summer |
3-7' |
Dependable
summer flowers; coarse foliage; tolerates both very dry and very wet
soils; dwarf forms popular for landscaping; insects are a problem on
foliage, but easily controlled; pruning forces new growth |
Cardinal Flower
(Lobelia)
Lobelia cardinalis |
Late summer and
fall |
3-4' |
Native to moist
or lightly shaded areas; spikes of red flowers; cut flower; do not
mulch in winter or rot may occur |
Chives and
Garlic Chives
Allium schoenoprasum |
Spring |
1-2' |
Edible flowering
members of onion family; winter foliage |
Coreopsis
(Mississippi State Wildflower)
Coreopsis lanceolata |
Spring and
summer |
2-3' |
Several forms
include spring bloomers for cutflowers and invasive, low-growing
summer bloomers ('Moonbeam', 'Zargreb' with ferny foliage) |
Daisies (mums)
Chrysanthemum sp. |
Spring to fall |
1-3' |
Many forms and
colors |
Ox-eye Daisy
C. leucanthemum |
Spring |
2-3' |
Naturalized
wildflower 'May Queen' best variety |
Shasta Daisy
C. maximum |
Spring |
2-3' |
Very popular
white daisy |
Garden Mum
C. x morifolium |
Fall |
1-2' |
Often planted as
an annual; needs dividing in spring to prevent rot |
Clara Curtis
Aster
C. rubellum
(C. zawadskii latilobum) |
Fall |
2-3' |
Old garden
(favorite; large and pink; often called "Country Girls") |
Daylily
Hemerocallis |
Summer |
1-4' |
Very popular
clump-former with stems of large flowers; tolerates wide range of
soils except wet; many improved varieties |
Elephant Ear
Alocasia cucullata |
Foliage |
3-4' |
Favorite
large-leaf foliage plant; corms edible; may be invasive; many other
species and hybrids available |
Ferns
Examples:
Adiantum capillus-veneris, Asplenium sp., Athyrium sp., Leather
Ferns, Bracken Fern, Holly Fern (evergreen), Pteridium aquilinum,
Polystichum sp., Cyrtomium falcatum, Lady Ferns, Spleenworts,
Southern Maidenhair |
Foliage |
1-5' |
Many kinds,
mostly shade; Divide and transplant in winter |
Four-o'clocks
Mirabilis jalapa |
Spring to fall |
1-3' |
Fragrant evening
bloomer; easy and fast from seed; tolerant of every poor soils; good
for hummingbirds |
Hibiscus (rose
mallow)
Hibiscus moscheutos |
Summer and fall |
3-5' |
Several hardy
varieties; do not confuse with Chinese hibiscus; tall plants, 'Disco
Belle' series have dinner-plate-sized flowers; insects a problem on
foliage |
Hosta (plantain
lily)
Hosta plantaginea |
Summer |
10-24" |
Shade plant with
coarse foliage; cut flower; not heat tolerant near Gulf Coast |
Iris
Iris sp. |
Spring |
2-5' |
Louisiana iris
thrives in wet soils; Bearded iris popular, but often rots in heavy
soils or if planted deep; Siberian iris more dependable in central
and north Mississippi; Dwarf crested iris is a shade-loving
groundcover. |
Lamb's Ears
Stachys byzantina |
Foliage |
1-2' |
Silvery-gray
foliage, spikes of yellow flowers in spring; drought-tolerant
groundcover; container plant |
Lantana
Lantana camara |
Spring to fall |
2-4' |
Long-blooming
butterfly plant; drought tolerant; attractive berries poisonous; new
cultivars may not be hardy in the north |
Liatris (blazing
star)
Liatris spicata |
Summer |
2-3' |
Outstanding
native with tall spikes of lavender flowers that bloom from top
down; great cut flower |
Liriope (monkey
grass)
Liriope muscari |
Summer |
1-2' |
Tough
clump-former with evergreen foliage; variegated varieties available;
often overlooked as flowering plant for dry or shady sites |
Lythrum
(loosestrife)
Lythrum salicaria |
Summer and fall |
3-5' |
Tall spikes of
pink flowers; butterflies; named cultivars ('Morden's Gleam', etc.)
not invasive; tolerates wet soils or water gardens |
Mistflower (wild
ageratum)
Eupatorium coelestinum |
Fall |
2-3' |
Native; blooms
in fall with masses of blue flowers |
Monarda (bee
balm)
Monarda didyma |
Summer |
2-3' |
Native to
lightly-shaded moist sites; flowers used for herbal tea; good
butterfly plant |
Mondograss
Ophiopogon japonicus |
Summer |
4-8" |
Dwarf lily turf;
good ground cover; full sun to part shade |
Phlox
Phlox sp. |
Spring |
1-3' |
Most kinds
native; early spring 'Thrift'; (P. subulata) good for rock
gardens and edging; "wild sweet Williams" (P. divaricata)
good for ground cover; "summer phlox" (P. paniculata) taller
cut flower (suffers from mildew) |
Physostegia
(obedience)
Physostegia virginiana |
Summer and fall |
2-4' |
Invasive native
with spikes of cut flowers; 'vivid' pink cultivar |
Purple
Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea |
Summer |
2-4' |
Native summer
cut flower; attractive seedheads |
Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia)
Kniphofia uvaria |
Late spring to
summer |
2-3' |
Striking stems
of late spring flowers above clumps of thin foliage |
Rudbeckia
(Black-eyed Susan)
Rudbeckia fulgida or hirta |
Summer |
2-4' |
Traditional
native wildflower; R. hirta is a short-lived spring
perennial; reseeds readily; R. fulgida 'Goldstrum' is a more
dependable, spreading groundcover with many mid-summer flowers on
stiff stems. Winter foliage |
Salvia
Salvia sp. |
Summer |
3-4' |
Several hardy
species and cultivars (S. greggii, S. farinaceae,
S. guarantitica), mostly blue cut flowers on spikes |
Saponaria
(soapwort, bouncing bet)
Saponaria officinalis |
Spring to fall |
8-10" |
Old-world plant
used by pioneers to make soap lather; spreading groundcover with
pink and white flowers in clusters; good winter foliage |
Sedum
Sedum acre or spectabile |
Spring or summer |
10-18" |
Several hardy
species include cascading S. acre with yellow spring flowers,
and S. spectabile ('Autumn Joy') or house leek; very hardy,
easy to root or divide; excellent outdoor pot plants |
Stoke's Aster
Stokesia laevis |
Spring |
18-24" |
Native,
low-growing clump-former with large blue aster-like flowers;
tolerates wet soils |
Verbena
Verbena x hybrida |
Spring to Summer |
1-2' |
Spreading ground
covers for sunny, dry areas; garden verbenas are propagated from
cuttings, not seed like the annual species; V. rigida and
V. tenuisecta (moss verbena) are wild along roadsides and are
too invasive for most gardens, but do best in very poor soils; prune
in summer to control mites |
Violets
Viola williamsii |
Late winter and
spring |
6-10" |
Woodland natives
that also grow in full sun; may become weedy in lawns; winter
flowers edible |
