Garden Tropical Jungle Landscape

Wildflower Meadow - Beautiful Wildflowers in a Meadow

Part of the genus Lilium, true lilies produce striking flowers in a huge range of colors. Their long vase life and dramatic blooms—think bright spots, ruffled petals, and elegant curves—have made them some of the most popular cut flowers in the world.

Plant this fragrant, winter-hardy annual en masse to cut a dramatic swath through your garden. It reseeds vigorously, so you can look forward to new blooms every spring. If you're in search of cool hues, check out the Lady Bird Johnson Royal Blue bluebonnet, a violet-blue overachiever named after the former first lady who advocated for the spread of wildflowers along Texas roadways.

Red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora), also known as hummingbird yucca, is actually a member of the century plant, or agave Americana, family. Its bright red tubular flowers keep on blooming even in summer's hottest months, attracting hummingbirds and butterflies to the garden.

A wildflower that thrives even in dry conditions, red feathers (Echium amoenum) have fringed 12- to 15-inch flower spikes in a beautiful raspberry-crimson color, Fradkin says. Pinch off spent blossoms to keep them blooming, but hold off late in the growing season to encourage reseeding.

Also known as woodland tobacco, Nicotiana sylvestris has a floral scent that is reminiscent of jasmine. Southern gardeners love its pendant clusters of trumpet-shaped white flowers, which resemble shooting stars and bloom from early through mid-fall.

This tropical perennial produces big, pink blooms with stunning red eyes from July to September. "The flowers are humongous," says Dawn Fradkin, a horticulturist with Colorado State University Extension in Arapahoe County, where intense sunlight and clay soils can be a challenge for gardeners. "They're just striking for our area and our environment," she says.

Globe thistle (Echinops) produces ball-shaped, bluish-purple blossoms that add a playful touch to your garden. Their height and whimsical nature make them look as though they're dancing above everything else, Whitinger says. These tough little blooms hold their own in arrangements, too.

Decades of dedicated breeding have produced nearly 100,000 different varieties of daylily (Hemerocallis). Newer selections with 44 chromosomes—twice the normal number—have bigger flowers and bigger, darker green leaves, so you get a much bolder statement in the garden, says Whitinger. Among his favorites are strawberry candy, which features yellow-and-pink blooms, and Webster's pink wonder, which has 13-inch flowers with spidery petals and a gorgeous chartreuse center.