Are you a fan of gardening? Rather than planting the common ones, how about you spice it up and add odd flowers to your garden this time? This is not only making the place look unique but will also make you stand out to whoever visits your garden. Being a gardener needs a lot of knowledge about the needs of each plant. Listed below are some of the odd flowers you can choose to plant in your garden this season.
List of odd flowers to grow in your garden
Bird of paradise
The bird of paradise is not only bicoloured but also formed differently. Strelitzia reginae is a tropical plant native to South Africa that grows in the forest to thrive in hot and humid environments.
Only USDA plant hardiness zones 9 to 11 have it as a perennial. Thus Northerners will have to cultivate it as an annual. It rises to five feet in the wild and has banana-like leaves. Grow it in healthy soil in full sun to moderate shade. It’s a plant that flourishes in acidic soil.
Snail Vine
Beginner flower gardeners will succeed with the snail vine, also known as the corkscrew vine since it is easy to germinate and develop (Vigna Caracalla). It’s a fragrant, pale, delicate flower with spiral petals resembling a snail shell.
Plant the seeds in a sunny position in typical soil, and the fragrant and delicate pink blossoms should appear in six weeks or less. Your vine will become happier and more vigorous as the summer progresses, rising to a height of 25 feet if you let it.
Himalayan Poppy
Himalayan poppies (Meconopsis Grandis) are recognized by their blue umbrellas that protect fuzzy, golden cores. The plants can grow up to 24 to 36 inches tall, with four- to five-inch-wide sky-blue flowers. Grow them in dappled shade and in-ground that drains well but can be kept consistently moist in zones 5 to 7.
However, these are not straightforward plants to grow. In terms of humidity and temperature demands, they’ll remind you of Goldilocks. They contain small amounts of moisture around their roots at all times, but not overly so. Summers which are not very hot and winters that are not very chilly are whatever they want.
Flower of Passion (Passiflora)
Passionflowers are an excellent choice if you’re seeking a wild and unusual flower. These beautiful, frilly-looking flowers, sometimes known as passiflora, grow on trailing vines or shrubs and favour warmer regions.
Passionflowers, which belong to the Passifloraceae family, contain many layers of varied coloured petals. The petals are usually comprehensive in the shape of a star. On top of that, thinner hair-like petals give it a spiky look. The stamens in the centre are shaped like a hammer, giving them a decorative appearance.
These rare and magnificent blossoms are mostly lavender or light purple. Multicoloured ring patterns in reds, purples, whites, and yellows can be found on exotic cultivars.
Pitcher Plant
The carnivorous Venus flytrap is well-known, but carnivorous Northern pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea) are native to colder climes. They’re exciting plants to grow because the way the blossom begins as a tight ball and then unfurls as it matures is fascinating. The “pitchers,” as the name implies, are modified leaves that will also entice gardeners.
Other genera have pitchers that are even more unusual, such as tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes), which grow pitchers that resemble the powder horns used by American pioneers.
Northern pitcher plants reach a height of 20 inches. They prefer whole light and plenty of water and can be grown in zones 3 to 7.
Sundew
Sundew (Drosera), another carnivorous plant, has a one-of-a-kind “flower.” The titular dewdrops that sparkle on its small stalks fool insects into thinking it’s a natural flower: to naïve insects, they appear to be drops of nectar. However, because the drops are sticky, the insects become trapped when they descend on them.
Because of their incredible attractiveness, you can be fooled into thinking they’re flowers. However, unlike insects, the illusion will not damage you. Sundew occurs in various forms. D. intermedia thrives in a wide variety of climates. They’re good plants for moist locations because they like swampy environments.
Red Hot Poker Plant
Red hot poker plants scientific name: Kniphofia are so-called due to their cylindrical shape and the “hot” colour of their flower spikes. Many types have bicoloured flowers. The species plant, Kniphofia uvaria, is also a South African native; it can grow up to four feet high.
However, growers like Pineapple Popsicle (yellow), Mango Popsicle (orange), and Red-hot Popsicle (red) stay smaller (two feet).
Amorphophallus
Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is a plant that develops from a corm and is native to Sumatra and Indonesia. It has the largest flower on the planet (10 feet tall). It takes so long to blossom that it’s a big deal when it does.
Don’t take “flower” too literally, though: The foul-smelling flowers are hidden in the bottom of the hooded plant portion known as a “spathe.” The spathe is punctured by a showy spike (the “spadix”). An “inflorescence” comprises spathes, spadixes, and flowers. Titan arum, thus, boasts the world’s largest inflorescence.
A similar devil’s tongue (Amorphophallus konjac) doesn’t grow as large, but its inflorescence blooms once a year.
Because Amorphophallus is a tropical plant, it can only be grown in zones 8 to 10. Thus northerners must dig up the corm in the fall and bring it inside. During the summer, grow it in dappled sunlight. The soil must drain well while remaining moist.
Silk Tree
Silk trees (Albizia julibrissin) may appear tropical, although they are hardy in zones 6 to 9. Their fragile, silk-like blossoms are fragrant and reach a height of 20 to 35 feet. The fern-shaped foliage is beautifully dark on some types, such as Merlot Majik.
In some places of the United States, they’re invasive, so check with your county extension office before planting. They must be kept in full sun or partial shade.
California Firecracker
In the early summer, this hot pink bloom can reach a height of 2 feet, and because of its vivid flowers and conspicuous location, it attracts hummingbirds.
While the exotic plant is native to the Californian Channel Islands, it is also found in other parts of the United States.
Batik Bearded Iris
Some of the toughest, most appealing, and most fragrant blooms in the plant world are found in the Iris genus. If they didn’t have anything else going for them, this trinity of traits would be enough to distinguish them from other flowers.
The bicoloured flowers of the Batik bearded iris (Iris germanica Batik) sweeten the deal even more. The plant can grow up to a height of two to three feet. In zones 3 to 8, the Batik iris can be developed. It prefers full sun and avoids very moist soil.
Bat Flower
This tropical plant, known as the bat flower, hails from Southeast Asia because of its black colouration and bat-shaped petals. The bat flower, primarily found in Thailand, may grow up to 3 feet tall and has 28-inch-long “whiskers.”
Perfect Storm Hardy Hibiscus
The Summerific series includes the Perfect Storm hibiscus (sometimes known as “rosemallow”). It’s a Hibiscus moscheutos hybrid cultivar known as the “hardy hibiscus” to distinguish it from its more well-known tropical cousins. This perennial plant grows at a height of three feet. The bicoloured blossom measures approximately 7 or 8 inches across. When it isn’t in bloom, the black foliage is impressive enough to be used as a foliage plant.
Zones 5 to 9 are perfect for growing Perfect Storm hibiscus. It prefers whole, light and moist, well-drained soil.
Hoya Plant
The hoya plant also referred to as a wax plant, is an epiphytic plant that lives in a tree branch or bark fissure as a non-parasitic partner. It’s a fragrant and beautifully lovely low-maintenance tropical flower.
Hoya plants grow in ball-shaped clusters and can be trained as a vine to reach a height of 2 to 4 feet. Give your hoya a well-draining soil mix, such as orchid potting soil, and spray it frequently. Hoyas prefer a shady place where the temperature never drops below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Feather leaf Rodger’s Flower
Feather leaf Rodger’s flower (Rodgersia pinnata Elegans) is one of the best plants most people have ever heard of. It provides irregularly-shaped flowers growing to as much as 18 inches long. Just as special as the flower cluster is the foliage. It’s also a huge enough plant (three to four feet tall) that it will create a statement in the terrain.
This is a great perennial for a shade that is useful at the edge of a water garden, where it’s easier to give it the ample water it needs. Another Goldilocks (like Himalayan poppy), zones 5 to 7, are just about right for it: It likes cool summers but not cold winters.
Conclusion
Being quirky isn’t easy; however, sometimes being out of the box is want makes you stand out. Planting odd flowers in your garden will increase your knowledge about plants and make the space beautiful.
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