Garden Inspiration: Black Flowers

Black flowers? Really, why not? I was curious about the varieties of black blooms as well as black foliage plants that are potential candidates for gardeners after seeing the interesting black and white flower gardens in Giverny, France.

All it took was a bit of web surfing to come up with a few example candidates to add a touch of black to the garden. There are many more seeds, bulbs and perennials available from a variety of sources. All you need is your imagination to add the intrigue of black to your gardens.

First up, unique "jewels" in the hellebore collection from Terra Nova Nurseries captured my attention.

The black Helleborus Winter Jewels™ Onyx Odyssey and the white Sparkling Diamond could be used for a beautiful late winter to early spring display.

Cottage gardeners may be interested in growing black hollyhocks, angel's trumpet, poppies or bachelor's buttons. While traditional cottage gardens are known for color, I can see using a dash of black with blue or white. Some of the gardeners who are fond of a "red garden bed" may find a touch of black fits well into that color scheme, especially when using red and black poppies.

Hollyhock 'Black Beauty'
Black Peony Poppy Seeds
Black Ball Bachelor's Button Seeds

Bearded irises are on my list of plants to add to my garden. After seeing photos of stunning black irises, I am very tempted to find a suitable space in my sunny gardens. I'd like to use the black irises with blue flowers, perhaps more irises or use salvia guaranitica 'black and blue' as a tall background perennial. Two black irises from Schreiner's Gardens bloom in mid and late season, which may work with the timing of the bloom on the salvia.

Iris 'Before the Storm'
Iris 'Anvil of Darkness'

Those looking for more exotic plants with black blooms have some interesting possibilities. How about a black agapanthus or jack-in-the-pulpit? Plant Delights Nursery, located here in North Carolina, offers these unusual plants.

Arisaema triphyllum 'Black Jack' (Black Jack-in-the-Pulpit)
Agapanthus 'Back in Black' PP 16,244 (Back in Black Lily-of-the-Nile)

For a black and white combination in one plant, why not black foliage with white blooms?

Terra Nova also offers a black bugbane with fragrant blooms, Actaea simplex 'Black Negligee'.

Annie's Annuals has a very unusual geranium with black foliage and tiny pink to white blooms. Geranium sessiliflorum ‘Nigricans’ (Dwarf Black Cranesbill) is a tiny, dwarf perennial for front of the border.

Another ground-hugger with black foliage and yellow blooms is Ranunculus ficaria 'Brazen Hussy' (Brazen Hussy Lesser Celandine), a spring ephemeral from Plant Delights Nursery.

Black Current Swirl Angel's Trumpet from Swallowtail Garden Seeds has black stems and purple swirled blooms.

If you prefer a more familiar black foliage plant, then Heuchera Obsidian from Bluestone Perennials may be a good option. Although the blooms are pink instead of white, they also offer an elderberry, Sambucus Black Beauty, that has near-black foliage in a shrub to small tree form factor, depending upon the growing conditions.

Speaking of tall plants with black foliage, Colocasia esculenta 'Black Runner' (Black Runner Elephant Ear) and Black Castor Bean are great candidates for making a huge impact in the garden. Castor bean is a poisonous plant, so use with caution.

Finally, if you'd like to recreate the black and white tulips for a spring display similar to that in the garden inspiration from France, then you can get a paired combination from White Flower Farm with their black and white tulips in the Nuit Blanche Tulip Mixture. Even the name is French!

Photos are courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries. Words by Freda Cameron. August 2009

Gardening on the Edge with Perennial Heliotrope

Hot sun, drought conditions, deer, rabbits - bring on the harsh conditions and this perennial heliotrope will stand up to all of them. In fact, it will bloom non-stop from early summer until a few frosts take it down in late fall.

I discovered this plant three years ago when visiting a local nursery in Chapel Hill. I had never heard of perennial heliotrope until that time. It is nothing like the sweetly fragrant, annual heliotrope. You may not want to stick your nose into these blooms because they will be covered with honeybees and butterflies. You won't like the fragrance anyway, so don't bother to put your face to the ground to try to smell this heliotrope!

Heliotropium amplexicaule 'Azure Skies' is the official name of this perennial. I have written about it so often that my regular readers are probably thinking "oh, not THAT plant again." Of course, when you're on to a good thing, it is difficult to stop talking about it.

This perennial heliotrope is a fantastic ground cover. The foliage and bloom shape is similar to verbena 'Homestead Purple' though the blooms never stop and it is very hardy.

This plant is now part of the Southern Living™ Plant Collection. When Southern Living's Grumpy Gardener, Steve Bender, and photographer, Ralph Anderson, were here in July, they got to see my overuse of this perennial!

The heliotrope edges one bank of the stream in the cottage garden. It is now started, and should completely edge the hellacious guest parking bed next summer. It is also here-and-there in spot plantings around the garden. Why not? It is just so reliable for me.

There's only one little downside to this plant. The taproot grows really, really, really long! If you decide to move it later, you may still grow little kids back at the location of the original mommy plant. I've not found that to be much of a problem, though I don't recommend planting it near roses like I did the first time. It may crowd the roots a bit.

If you live in zones 7-11, find it. It is now carried at Lowe's® Home Improvement garden centers and perhaps other retailers in your area, too. Give it a try for your hottest and sunniest locations. You don't have to prune back the blooms at all. I give the edges a trim (when I can get the bees off of it) only to keep it from taking over the bridge!

Let me make this perfectly clear - Heliotropium amplexicaule is totally deer and rabbit resistant!


Photos and words by Freda Cameron; Location: home garden; July 2009; This is NOT a paid advertisement and no products or discounts were received for recommending this plant or sources.

Container Garden: Just Peachy In the Shade

How do you select plants and flowers for a container garden? I like to walk around acres of greenhouses to see what is interesting for the focal point! Yes, it is time-consuming, but a lot of fun - if you can find suitable plants.

Finding a tall, spiky plant for a shade container almost had me baffled for awhile until I asked for some help at the greenhouse. An indoor plant for my zone 7, Dracaena marginata 'Tricolor', was suggested for my pair of outdoor summer containers. Tropical zones can grow this one outside year round, but I will have to bring these inside to overwinter.

The beautiful colors in the Dracaena marginata 'Tricolor' gave me cues for companions. The green, white and peachy stripes of the leaves are easy to use in a centerpiece plant. I decided to look for peach blooms and headed for the impatiens section.

I found a gorgeous impatiens, Fusion Peach Frost, to use as an accent plant. These impatiens were a bit expensive, so I purchased only one for each container. Little did I know that only one of these plants would later take over the large containers to steal all the attention! This is an annual that mounds beautifully and blooms non-stop. The delicate peach blossoms have a darker peach throat. The hummingbirds buzz up onto the front porch to sip from these lovely plants!

Keeping the budget in mind for the fillers, I selected a cell-pack of begonias for the waxy leaves with deeper orange-pink blooms than the impatiens. This is another annual with blooms that are loved by the hummingbirds.


Merlot Coleus adds a touch of darkness while Red Ruffles provides a touch of orange-red foliage. I already had Red Ruffles growing in my garden, so I lifted a plant or two to stuff the container a bit more.

When I say "stuff" a container, that is what I typically do for annual plantings. However, in the case of using this large impatiens, it's a good thing that I used only one!


For comparison and growth rate, the top photo was taken in late June, one month after planting the containers. The bottom photo was taken in late July, two months after planting. I used a good potting mix and have not fertilized the plants at all since planting in late May. Only the coleus have been pinched back to prevent blooms.

Photos and words by Freda Cameron