Green Flowering Plants for the Garden

Although green may be a garden’s most abundant colour, it is unexpectedly scarce as a flower colour. Perhaps it is because of this rarity that green flowers are so compelling. From the freshness of lime-green to the ethereal quality of sage-green, green flowering plants can create a spectacular effect in the garden.

Green flowers can be used to accent more loudly-coloured planting. For example, in a Summer planting scheme Gladiolus ‘Emerald Spring’ looks stunning when planted with the orange-red of Echinacea ‘Hot Summer’ (cone flower) or the purple of Agastache ‘Tutti Frutti’ (hyssop). However, it is equally at-home with muted planting schemes including grasses such as Miscanthus sinensis ‘Zebrinus’ (zebra grass).

Green Flowering Plants for year-round interest in your garden

Nevertheless, it is not just Summer schemes which benefit from these beautiful-hued plants. Some Winter-flowering plants come into their own when there is very little else in the garden. Helleborus (Hellebore) has many different varieties ranging from whites to pinks to greens that flower from deep mid-Winter through to Spring. Helleborus foetidus (stinking hellebore; stinkwort) and ‘Helleborus argutifolius’ (Corsican hellebore) are the most striking of the green flowering varieties and provide a long-lasting, stunning display particularly when planted en-masse.

Using different greens together can provide a minimalist, Zen-like quality without the distraction of other competing hues. In a mixed informal planting scheme Aquilegias are particularly favourable. Aquilegia viridiflora ‘Chocolate Soldier’ (granny’s bonnet; sweet columbine) makes a graceful statement at the front of a border; whereas Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Lime Sorbet’, being much taller than ‘Chocolate Soldier’, creates a delicate addition to the middle or back of a border. Although Aquilegia’s flowers tend to be short-lived, combine either or both of these with Euphorbia Amygdaloides Robbiae (wood spurge), whose lime-green flower bracts seem to last for half a year, and Veratrum Viride (false hellebore) to create an understated but eye-catching result.

Container Gardening with Green Flowering Plants

Green flowering plants do not need to be confined to borders in the garden but can be used to good effect in pots and containers. They can be particularly effective in gently brightening up a dull or shady spot without the blatant gaudiness of some of their cousins. Nicotiana ‘Lime Green’ (green flowering tobacco) couples a zingy, fresh lime-coloured flower with a heavy scent which is particularly pungent on a warm evening. Clematis ‘Early Sensation’ lives up to its name with large, white, goblet-shaped flowers enclosing parsley-green stamens. It looks equally sensational growing in a container or up a wall.

Amongst the green flowering plants are some of the most extraordinary forms – from the tassel-like flowers of ‘Amaranthus caudatus‘ Viridis (love-lies-bleeding) suitable for pots or hanging baskets, to the architectural ‘Acanthus hirsutus’. There are a wealth to choose from to suit any garden, climate or colour. Why not give them a try in your own planting scheme?