Herbaceous ornamentals add interest to our yards and gardens with bright, beautiful flowers and interesting foliage. Whether native, non-native, sun-loving or shade-tolerant, herbaceous plants invite wildlife, provide for pollinators, and bring us enjoyment with color, texture and fragrance.
Native & Naturalized Selection
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In the heat of summer many flowering plants struggle, but Portulaca grandiflora loves those conditions. This semi-succulent annual native to South America has showy flowers that bloom all summer long. To learn more about this relative of the weedy purslane and its many cultivars and hybrids, read this article…
Looking to add fragrance to the garden? Flowering tobacco offers dramatic foliage and sweet-scented flowers in late summer. This annual plant with clusters of tubular white flowers atop huge, chartreuse to green leaves is easy to grow and combines well with many other annuals. To learn more about Nicotiana sylvestris, read this article…
Looking for a different annual to add some zing to your garden? ‘Fireworks’ gomphrena is a tough, low-maintenance plant with long-lasting, intense hot iridescent pink blossoms with tiny yellow flowers that together resemble exploding fireworks. To learn more about this relatively new cultivar that works well in masses or in containers, read this article…
In the middle of summer some plants start to look stressed, but not caladiums – they thrive on heat and humidity. These tropical perennials have been cultivated as ornamentals for centuries, grown for their dramatic, brightly colored foliage. To learn more about these shade-loving “summer bulbs” read this article…
If you’re looking for an airy flowering plant with a long bloom period, gaura is a great choice as it starts flowering on long, wispy spikes in early summer and continues through a hard frost – making it useful as an annual where not hardy. There are also many compact cultivars. Learn more about this native North American perennial in this article…
Sage may be best known as a flavoring but there’s much more to this aromatic plant, including attractive foliage and interesting flowers. Learn more about this versatile plant in this article…
Geranium maculatum is a pretty flowering plant native to eastern North America. In addition to filling natural woodland openings, this herbaceous perennial works well in informal gardens as well, offering loose clusters of pink flowers in late spring to early summer. Learn more about wild geranium in this article…
Here’s a quick-growing annual that produces lots of pendant chartreuse flowers on branched flower stems at the top of the plant. This makes it a great filler among other herbaceous plants, and the soft green color makes it a perfect buffer between clashing colors. To learn more about Nicotiana langsdorffii, read this article…
Spring is heralded in Wisconsin woodlands by a number of wildflowers. One of the earliest of these is Hepatica, with delicate, starry flowers in a range of colors from white to purple. Learn more about these native plants in the buttercup family, whose tri-lobed leaves were once thought to have medicinal properties, by reading this article…
Voodoo lily is a member of the philodendron family that grows from a tuber. Each tuber produces a single tripartite leaf on a tall, mottled stem. This unusual tropical plant is easy to grow as a seasonal conversation piece and store indoors as a dormant “bulb” during the winter. To learn more about Amorphophallus konjac, read this article…
Star-shaped flowers of blue, pink or white and ferny foliage makes laurentia a great filler in the flower bed or containers. Although this plant is really a perennial, since it is only hardy to zone 7, most Wisconsin gardeners use it as an annual to add pleasingly fine foliage and soft color in the garden. Read more about laurentia in this article…
Looking for a native plant with winter interest? Rattlesnake master is an herbaceous perennial from the prairies whose unusual golf ball-like flowers heads are rather sculptural. Although at home in native gardens, it also works well as an accent in the perennial border. To learn more about this plant, read this article…
