Red spider lily is my favorite because of its blood red hue and symbolism.
Gerbera, to me those are the “floweriest flowers” I know.
Hellebores (aka Lenten Rose) because they flower early in the spring, and their flowers stay for a few months and change color during that time.
I also love Virginia Bluebells because the blossoms are so durn pretty :)
For flowering shrubs, I love lilacs. I planted four of them along the side of my house. They were maybe a foot tall when I planted them 7 years ago, and now they’re at least 10 feet tall. The blooms are so fragrant - I love opening the windows to let the scent into my house.
For annuals, lantana are one of my favorites and every year I put a bunch of them in my pots and planters. In some zones they’re perennial and invasive, but in mine they die out in autumn. They have such bright, happy flower clusters, it always makes me smile to see them :)
Gardening season is starting soon and I’m excited in case you couldn’t tell!
Glad to see some lilac love here. Anytime I’m out on a walk past some lilacs, I always make a point to stop and smell them.
I love lilacs but they won’t grow here.
I tend to go between classics like Sour Diesel or Blue Dream.
Dandelion. F**k yeah, concrete!
politics be damned, I like the alberta wild rose
Black-eyed Susan. They grow in big bunches and expand outward each year in a ring where the seeds fall. Just a simple flower that stands out in late summer in my area and lasts through fall. It’s low maintenance too.
I love these, they are so robust, and beautiful. Maybe not my favorite but I do think they are my MVP.
I don’t know that they deserve favorite because of what they are, they don’t even have much of a smell! But there is just something about them I love, and maybe it’s memories or how “wild” they look as they grow in bunches. It reminds me of wildflowers in a field.
Couldn’t tell you my favorite, but I could easily tell you I absolutely HATE rafflesia because it kinda creeps me out in a similar way that mushrooms do.
Snapdragons. My wife sometimes plants them to attract bees to her vegetable garden. The sight of bee butts wriggling to get inside those flowers never fails to make me smile.
I love Lily of the Valley. They are so tiny and cute and smell amazing. Breaking Bad taught me they are also poisonous
That giant one that smells like a festering corpse. Because it’s funny but also I don’t have to deal with it.
I don’t have a huge oppinion on this, but whenever I think about it, I constantly find myself liking the snake’s head:
Smell-wise, night blooming jasmine. Effortless beauty, rain lilies and the black eyed susans. Pollinator attracting, I don’t know what it’s called but there is a lanky bush in my backyard with flowers like morning glories and when it blooms, it is a bee club, absolutely stuffed full of bees. So many bees come to that one plant every year late summer.
By usefulness: Yarrow, it’s an incredibly useful plant. Helps with bleeding, heartburn, indigestion.
By looks: Bird of Paradise Flower, lives quite a long time when cut from the plant.
Scariest: Poison Hemlock, it’s everywhere. And you wouldn’t think much of it.
Even scarier: Giant Hogweed. It’s like Poison Hemlock, but apocalyptic in size.
Best smelling: Wax Flower
Least favorites Limonium, it smells like cat piss. Roses due to thorns, plus if you don’t get them in water ASAP they tend to get air bubbles in the stem that makes the plant die faster. Gebera Daisies; they have a very weak stem. 2inch Carnations, because they break at the nodes
I used to be a florist and my hobbies involve foraging.
Roses, but only the heirloom types that have a scent. Their shapes and colors vary widely, but they are so satisfying to my soul, I’d fill up acres with them if we didn’t need to raise food. Bit finicky to grow, bit of a challenge to maintain them.
Venus fly traps because they’re one of the only flowers that will fight you
