Skip to content

Top Navigation

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Home
  • Garden
  • Holidays
  • Videos
  • current issue
  • Sweepstakes
  • Road Rally
  • About Us

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

    • On Chicago's South Side, a New River Trail Guides the Way Through Nearly Two Centuries of Black History

      On Chicago's South Side, a New River Trail Guides the Way Through Nearly Two Centuries of Black History

      Paddlers on the 7-mile-long American Heritage Water Trail learn the stories of African Americans who fought for freedom and equality. Read More
    • This 136-Year-Old Nebraska Ranch Welcomes Guests to Create, Work and Learn From the Land

      This 136-Year-Old Nebraska Ranch Welcomes Guests to Create, Work and Learn From the Land

      In a far-flung corner of northwest Nebraska, guests come for an experience that unfolds over miles—a story about a fragile ecosystem and the tough woman trying to preserve it. Read More
    • A Pair of Flower Farmers Sows a New Beginning—Twice—in Madison County, Iowa

      A Pair of Flower Farmers Sows a New Beginning—Twice—in Madison County, Iowa

      Jenn and Adam O'Neal put down roots at Pepperharrow Farm, a 20-acre homestead near Des Moines—and worked with nature to bring it back to life after a devastating 2022 tornado. Read More
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel
    Take a Day Trip to Charming Winona Lake, Indiana—Just 2.5 Hours from Chicago and Indy

    Take a Day Trip to Charming Winona Lake, Indiana—Just 2.5 Hours from Chicago and Indy

    In the sweet Indiana town of Winona Lake, restored cottages house shops while boats ply a peaceful canal.
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Family Travel
    • Around the Region
    • Beyond the Region
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Missouri
    • Nebraska
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • South Dakota
    • Wisconsin
    • Free Travel Info
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food
    Grill Your Biggest, Best Burger Yet with Chicago Chef Erick Williams

    Grill Your Biggest, Best Burger Yet with Chicago Chef Erick Williams

    The James Beard Award winner dishes on eating out, honoring roots and upping your burger game. (Hint: There’s a fried egg and bacon involved.)
    • Comfort Foods
    • Desserts & Baking
    • Breakfast
    • Quick & Easy
    • Chicken
    • Soups & Stews
    • Midwest Favorites
    • Fruits & Vegetables
    • Fish
    • Grilling
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    A Designer Turned Her Childhood Friend's Home into a Masterful Mash-Up of '70s and '80s Decor Hits

    A Designer Turned Her Childhood Friend's Home into a Masterful Mash-Up of '70s and '80s Decor Hits

    Shared style crushes help a designer pull from childhood memories to shape a new Chicago area home for a long-time friend.
    • Quick Decorating
    • Featured Homes
    • Organizing & Storage
    • Outdoor Living
    • Seasonal Decorating
    • Room Decorating
  • Garden

    Garden

    See All Garden
    New Rose Varieties for Frills, Fragrance and Victorian Charm

    New Rose Varieties for Frills, Fragrance and Victorian Charm

    Old-timey blooms are back in vogue—and none more so than roses. An Indiana pro shares her growing tips and recommendations.
    • Container Gardens
    • Flowers
    • Featured Gardens
    • Midwest Gardening Calendar
    • Garden Ideas & Inspiration
  • Holidays

    Holidays

    See All Holidays
    Fresh and Colorful Summer Salads

    Fresh and Colorful Summer Salads

    These bright, healthy salads—with veggies, fruits, hearty grains and more—are gorgeous enough to star at your dinner table or a picnic spread.
    • Easter
    • July 4th
    • Thanksgiving
    • Halloween
    • Christmas
    • Valentine's Day
  • Videos

    Videos

    See All Videos
    Chef Jorge Guzmán's Step-by-Step Guide to Making Tamales

    Chef Jorge Guzmán's Step-by-Step Guide to Making Tamales

    Tamales are a project, but many hands—even tiny ones—make lighter work.
    • Brighten Your Front Door with This Colorful Easter Egg Wreath
    • These DIY Orange Beeswax Candles Will Make Your Home Smell Amazing
    • Ring in the New Year with This Glam Star Garland
    • How to Make a Modern Fruit Cake Box
    • An Eye-Catching Oval Treat Box You Can Make
    • Make a Colorful Paper Raffia Wreath to Welcome Fall
    • How to Make a Dried Floral Arrangement
    • How to Make an Easy Pina Colada
    • How to Make an Amazing Pavlova
    • How to Make Pumpkin-Spice Icebox Cake
    • How to Make an All-Butter Pie Crust
    • DIY Pistachio Wheat Stalks for Fall Decorating
  • current issue

    current issue

    See All current issue
    About Us

    About Us

    • March/April 2022 Issue
    • January/February 2022 Issue
    • November/December 2021 Issue
    • September/October 2021 Issue
    • July/August 2021 Issue
    • May/June 2021 Issue
    • Summer 2022 Issue
    • Fall 2022 Issue
    • Winter 2022 Issue
    • Spring 2023 Issue
    • Summer 2023 Issue
  • Sweepstakes
  • Road Rally
  • About Us

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
Best for Fragrance
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 Email Send Text Message

Get growing

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 Email Send Text Message

Best for sun

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 Email Send Text Message

Best oldie-but-goodie

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 Email Send Text Message

Best native

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 Email Send Text Message

Best climber

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 Email Send Text Message

Best annual

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 Email Send Text Message

Best for shade

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 Email Send Text Message

Best plant-it-and-forget-it

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 Email Send Text Message

Best for Fragrance

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 & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    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
    • 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

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Sign Up
    MeredithMidwest Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2023 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 Do Not Sell My Personal Informationthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Midwest Living. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.midwestliving.com

    Sign in

    View image

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