Skip to content

Top Navigation

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Home
  • Garden
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • Videos
  • Sweeps and Contests

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Midwest Living

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 40 Favorite Comfort Food Recipes

      Macaroni and cheese, Amish apple dumplings and chicken pot pie are among our Midwest comfort food favorites. Read More Next
    • 50 Romantic Midwest Getaways

      Romance, of course, can be wherever the two of you are. But wonderful surroundings help. We found some of the most romantic places anywhere in the Midwest—in the city and country. All you have to do is get away together! Read More Next
    • 50 Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes

      Chocolate lovers, these are for you: 50 of our best rich-and-gooey chocolate dessert recipes, including pie, pudding, cake, cookies, fondue and brownies. Read More Next
  • Travel

    Travel

    See all Travel

    50 Midwest Resorts We Love

    Our favorite Midwest resort destinations range from cozy lakeside lodges to indoor water park behemoths. Dive in to check out our top picks for a fabulous Midwest getaway.
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Missouri
    • Nebraska
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • South Dakota
    • Wisconsin
    • Around the Region
    • Free Travel Info
  • Food

    Food

    See all Food

    Midwest Living November/December 2020 Recipes

    • Comfort Foods
    • Desserts & Baking
    • Breakfast
    • Quick & Easy
    • Chicken
    • Soups & Stews
    • Midwest Favorites
    • Fruits & Vegetables
    • Fish
    • Grilling
  • Home

    Home

    See all Home

    50 Quick and Easy Holiday Decorating Ideas

    Give your home holiday style in a flash with these simple yet creative decorating projects.
    • Quick Decorating
    • Featured Homes
    • Organizing & Storage
    • Outdoor Living
    • Seasonal Decorating
    • Room Decorating
  • Garden

    Garden

    See all Garden

    14 Cheerful Winter Container Gardens

    Create bountiful outdoor winter arrangements with a little help from Mother Nature.
    • Container Gardens
    • Flowers
    • Featured Gardens
    • Midwest Gardening Calendar
    • Garden Ideas & Inspiration
  • Holidays & Entertaining

    Holidays & Entertaining

    See all Holidays & Entertaining

    40 Easy Christmas Crafts

    Decorate your home, make a gift or create an ornament with our 40 ideas for fun and easy Christmas crafts.
    • Christmas
    • Valentine's Day
    • Easter
    • July 4th
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
  • Videos

    Videos

    See all Videos
    • How to Make an All-Butter Pie Crust
    • How to Make Pumpkin-Spice Icebox Cake
  • Sweeps and Contests

    Sweeps and Contests

    See all Sweeps and Contests

    Warm-Weather Getaways Sweepstakes

    • Winter Getaways Sweepstakes
    • Warm-Weather Getaways Sweepstakes

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow us

  1. Midwest Living
  2. Garden
  3. Can't-Miss Midwest Plant Picks

Can't-Miss Midwest Plant Picks

By Writers: LuAnn Brandsen and Sandra J. Gerdes
February 23, 2017
Skip gallery slides
Pin
For can’t-miss plant picks, we peeked into the test garden outside our office and asked a panel of Midwest experts for their favorite blooms.
Start Slideshow

1 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Get growing

Shade-friendly ground cover Solomon's seal (pictured) is as tough as it is pretty. Want more ideas to get growing with top Midwest plant picks? Click or tap ahead to see the recommendations from our panel: Sandra J. Gerdes, Manager of Better Homes & Gardens Test Garden, Des MoinesRichard Hawke, Plant evaluation manager, Chicago Botanic GardenBob Henrickson, Coordinator, Great Plants program at Nebraska Statewide ArboretumEd Lyon, Director, Iowa State University's Reiman GardensSusan Martin, Michigan-based perennials expert and noted garden lecturerScott Stewart, Executive director, Chicago's Millennium Park and Lurie Garden 

1 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best for sun

IN OUR TEST GARDEN: Hibiscus ‘Dave Fleming' (pictured)is a reliable perennial whose big, bold flowers wow all summer.FROM THE PANEL: Catmint ‘Joanna Reed' will attract pollinators to your garden (Richard Hawke).Arkansas Blue Star goes gorgeously golden in autumn (Scott Stewart).Lambs' Ears ‘Big Ears' offers dense rosettes of velvety and silvery leaves, and it's great for ground cover (Richard Hawke). 

2 of 9

3 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best oldie-but-goodie

IN OUR TEST GARDEN: Iris ‘Best Bet' (pictured) provides elegant cut flowers and may re-bloom in fall.FROM THE PANEL: Bleeding Heart shows off its status as a puffy-blossomed (and bumblebee-friendly) classic (Susan Martin).Shasta Daisy ‘Becky' adds much-needed white to a perennials bed (Ed Lyon).Pale Purple Coneflower performs beautifully once established (Scott Stewart).

3 of 9

Advertisement

4 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best native

IN OUR TEST GARDEN: Geum triflorum (pictured), a tough ground cover, has wispy fruiting heads that give it the common name prairie smoke.FROM THE PANEL: Prairie Dropseed has a wonderful popcorn-like smell when in flower and seed (Scott Stewart).Blue False Indigo is an everlasting perennial with indigo blue flower spikes (Bob Henrickson).Butterfly Weed lives up to its name and is a butterfly paradise (Richard Hawke). 

4 of 9

5 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best climber

IN OUR TEST GARDEN: Clematis ‘Double Rose' (pictured) will cover an arbor with shades of pink for most of the summer.FROM THE PANEL: Climbing Hydrangea can grow 75 feet tall and is one of the most substantial flowering shade vines (Susan Martin).Honeysuckle Vine loves the sun, flowers profusely all season, and attracts wildlife (Ed Lyon).Golden Hops is a trendy choice to quickly cover a pergola (Susan Martin). 

5 of 9

6 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best annual

IN OUR TEST GARDEN: Coleus ‘Juicy Lucy' (pictured) adds 
as much vibrant color as any flowering plant 
and is sun-tolerant.FROM THE PANEL: Salvia ‘Black and Blue' offers deep cobalt flowers, each with a black calyx (Richard Hawke).Begonia ‘Surefire' promises masses of color on sturdy plants that grow up to 2 feet tall (Susan Martin).False Banana (Musa Ensete) is sure to get looks-not much is more dramatic than bananas in the garden! (Ed Lyon)

6 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best for shade

IN OUR TEST GARDEN: Hellbore ‘Golden Sunrise' (pictured) is one of the late winter/early spring blooms commonly called Lenten rose, with large, cheery flowers.FROM THE PANEL: Barrenwort is long-lived and easy to grow (Bob Henrickson).Heartleaf Brunnera ‘Jack Frost' brightens dark spaces with its metallic silver foliage and blooms with sprays of tiny blue flowers in spring (Susan Martin).Wild Geranium debuts showy pink flowers in the spring (Bob Henrickson). 

7 of 9

8 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best plant-it-and-forget-it

IN OUR TEST GARDEN: Polygonatum ‘Variegatum' (pictured), the showy version of native Solomon's seal, grows in shade and blooms in late spring.FROM THE PANEL: Hosta ‘Elegans' grows very large and features dusky-blue leaves (Richard Hawke).Ozark Bluestar has early star-shape flowers, but any Amsonia such as this is plant-it-and- forget-it (Bob Henrickson).Stonecrop ‘Autumn Joy' is a bit overused, but there's a reason for that-it's tough as nails (Ed Lyon). 

8 of 9

9 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best for Fragrance

IN OUR TEST GARDEN: Lily ‘Black Beauty'
 (pictured) can grow to 5 feet tall, multiply over the years and fill gardens with heady sweetness.FROM THE PANEL: Downy Phlox has pretty, delicately scented pink blooms (Bob Henrickson).Peony blooms' powerful perfume makes up for their short bloom time (Ed Lyon).Late Lilac is one of the most fragrant species of lilac, whose scent defines a Midwest spring (Susan Martin).Easy-PeasyFind ideas for starting a low-maintenance garden at midwestliving.com/easyplants. 

9 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Writers: LuAnn Brandsen and Sandra J. Gerdes

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 9 Get growing
2 of 9 Best for sun
3 of 9 Best oldie-but-goodie
4 of 9 Best native
5 of 9 Best climber
6 of 9 Best annual
7 of 9 Best for shade
8 of 9 Best plant-it-and-forget-it
9 of 9 Best for Fragrance

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Login

Midwest Living

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Contact Us
  • Help
  • Free Newsletters this link opens in a new tab
  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
  • Renew this link opens in a new tab
  • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Affiliate Program
  • Free Travel Info this link opens in a new tab
  • Special Promotions this link opens in a new tab
  • Sweepstakes this link opens in a new tab
  • Video
  • Home Advisor this link opens in a new tab

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Midwest Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.midwestliving.com

View image

Can't-Miss Midwest Plant Picks
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.