The Passionate Garden, Part 2: Flowers and Flowering Plants

By J. A. Young

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Flowers and Flowering Plants for the Romantic Garden

Many ornamental cabbages offer surprising textures with unique colors. Most varieties have frilled or fluted leaves and are grown as hardy annuals. These cabbages need a rich, well-drained soil.

• Since the ornamental cabbages do best in southern states, try Teucrium Scorodonia as an alternative evergreen plant with gorgeous crimped light green leaves.
• The breathtaking California Glory or flannel bush does best against a sunny wall. This upright shrub needs well-drained soil to produce its dish-like golden flowers that are stunning against the deep green leaves.
• "Blood Red" wallflowers are a deep red that prefer a well-drained chalky soil. For a colder climate try the Siberian wallflower for a orange-tinged bloom with a spicy scent.
• The exotic crown imperial is a hardy bulb that prefers a fertile well-drained soil. This stalky plant boasts a crown of green foliage with flowers of bright red-orange or gold that hang from the crown rather like upside down tulips.
• The maidenhair spleenwort is a lush fern that works well in dry shade - especially in crevices of pavement or stone. It is very adaptable and tolerates sun quite well too. Its olive green fronds suggest fertility and warmth.
• The ostrich fern provides lush greenery for a garden setting with damp, even boggy conditions. This fern is both hardy as it is decorative.
• The rose of Sharon tolerates poor, dry soils well. It boasts bright yellow sacer-like flowers with readily apparent stamens. As it grows, you'll find that it also suppresses weeds rather well.
• The tiger lily is a hardy bulb requires full sun and a well-drained soil. It bears double flowers of a salmon-orange hue. Although they are prone to disease (ah, even disease in a sexy garden), working with them is worth the chance as they are surprisingly tolerable of the conditions.
• The red flowers of the bottlebrush seem to beckon to be touched. Best suited for warmer climates, they need a moist well-drained soil. For a great-textured plant for a cooler region, try the cross-leaved heath that needs a lime free soil with damp conditions.
• Blue Diamond Group rhododendrons require a moist, well-drained soul that is lime-free. The branches of this hardy shrub are loaded with dense flowers - perfect for a lush setting.
• The silver sage produces deep green leaves that are also silvery and woolly to the touch. The plant does best in well-drained soil exposed to full sun.
• Sweetheart variety snapdragons are ideal for light dry soil. This variety is hearty and resists rust well. The colors are a lovely mix of white, yellow, orange, pink and red.
• The Gibraltar azalea sports dense bright orange-red blossoms with frilly edges. They are beautifully decorative and add a great splash of color to any setting. They prefer a well-drained lime-free soil.
• The lovely Magnolia liliiflora "Nigra" is the epitome of a passionate flower. It is a pale purplish-pink whose leaves are a glossy green. Compared to other magnolias, it is small, but the goblet-shaped flowers are utterly breathtaking. It needs a well-drained soil. It grows where other magnolia variety shrubs grow.
• With hydrangeas, the soil composition can dramatically influence the blooms' color. The "Ayesha" has beautiful cupped pink flowers that make any setting look bountiful. It needs a sheltered spot with fertile soil and good drainage.
• The Himalayan blue poppy is a rare sky blue flower that requires a moist acidic soil. Its bloom is usually short-lived, but alas, sometimes passion is too.
• Oriental poppies are a dusky plum-color that prefer a deep soil that is well-drained. It's difficult to leave them outdoors however; they are often cut for the indoors vase.
• Rosemary is a great choice for a romantic garden because you can bring some fresh inside and add it to your romantic dinner. This tasty herb does well in a light dry soil with lots of sun.
• The cherry garden iris is a rich maroon-plum color with velvety petals and spear-shaped leaves. It must be grown in well-drained soil and exposed to lots of sun.
• Houseleek is a gorgeous deep mauve-hued succulent that thrives in crevices and even in stone walls. Makes a great ground cover as well.
• Stafford variety daylilies are a deep red and yellow that grow best in damp soils. The star-shaped blooms are rich and well-defined. Another great variety of daylily is the aptly-named "little wine-cup" and is colored a wine-red.
• Wand flowers are traditionally romantic. Their elegant little pink blooms can usually be seen swaying in the breeze above a water source. It needs a light, rich soil that stays moist.
• Bleeding hearts are pink and white flowers that seem to appear like heart-shaped lockets. They need a humus-rich soil and a cool, sheltered spot.
• The cup and saucer vine has flowers that change to a rich purple and are slightly fragrant. The bell-shaped flowers are balanced on thick stalks. They require a well-drained soil and warm sheltered spot.
• Shooting stars are magenta colored flowers that prefer a damp soil with woodland conditions. They do well near ponds and the blooms sit erectly above the deep green foliage.
• Ground cover roses can dramatically impact a garden with their exuberant abundance. The "Korlanum" has a great shade of pink and the flowers continue to bloom over a long period of time. They prefer a well-drained fertile soil with good moisture.
• The waterlily should be planted in water with its roots in deep, rich, loamy mud. They spread vigorously and are rather hearty. They signify romance with their serenity and sweet-scents.

There are endless combinations of plants and flowers for any passionate garden. Study your space and soil and find out what will work best in your landscape. Try incorporating some of those listed here - they are utterly romantic and their romance will doubtlessly inspire romance in those who gather in their midst.

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