In the United States, there are certain flowers that are more prolific and widespread than others. As you travel around the various states, certain flowers seem to be everywhere you look. From city parks to country roadsides, these floral species have established themselves as staples of the American landscape. Some are native to North America, while others were introduced by settlers and migrants over centuries. This blog post counts down the 50 most common flower varieties found across different regions of the country.
Table of Contents
Periwinkle
Perwinkle, a type of flower that is often pictured here, is also known as myrtle. Periwinkle, also known as myrtle, is a popular ground cover with shiny dark green leaves that blooms in April and May with purple, blue, or white flowers. They are great for erosion control, tumbling over rock walls in the sun, or spreading out underneath trees in the shade. Periwinkle is the flower of sweet and sad remembrance, and has often been planted over graves.
Dahlia
These attractive common garden flowers come in a wide range of colors and can be easily added to any existing or new garden. And unlike most plants, these types of flowers do very well in some shade. However, even though dahlias are perennials that come back every year, they have tuberous roots, so they should be replanted every spring after resting during the winter.
Daffodil
Daffodils go by many names depending on the species and variety — narcissus, jonquils, or paperwhites — but they are all daffodils and they all belong to the genus Narcissus. They will multiply every year in the garden as long as they have good soil with adequate drainage. They are resistant to deer and possess a natural pesticide, so few insects bother them other than for pollination.
Iris
The rhizomes of some iris species are called orris roots and are used in perfumery and for potpourri. They are the state flower of Tennessee, the flower for the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, and the national symbol of France, from the fleur-de-lis, a graphic representation of the iris. Irises also make great gifts for anyone in your life, particularly if you are looking for a non-traditional flower.
Azalea
Azaleas, a type of flower that is often pictured here, bloom in late spring. One of the signs of late spring are the vivid azaleas that bloom in yards, along trails, and in woodlands. These familiar shrubs are either evergreen or deciduous and display a profusion of white, purple, red, orange, yellow, or pink flower types that cover the bushes. Azaleas prefer shady locations under trees and thrive in acidic soil. But be careful — all parts of the azalea are poisonous.
Calla lily
The calla lily, sometimes also called the arum lily, is associated with faith and purity. For this reason, religious figures like the Virgin Mary are often depicted holding a bouquet of calla lilies. Calla lilies are also often associated with sympathy and rebirth, making them a popular flower for sympathy occasions. With continued care, these popular flowers for bouquets can grow up to two feet tall!
Carnation
Some varieties of carnations grow to 12 inches and are more commonly found in gardens. When planting carnations, take care to plant them in well-drained soil and in an area with ample sunlight. Carnations have different meanings depending on their color: A pink carnation symbolizes motherly love, a white carnation means good luck, a yellow carnation means disappointment, etc.
Chrysanthemum
Thousands of Chrysanthemum varieties with unique flower shapes brighten home gardens, containers, median strips, and parking lots from late summer until the first frost with their delightful orange, red, purple, or yellow flowers. Chrysanthemums are easy to grow perennials and they will come back year after year if planted early in the season, so that they become established before winter.
Marigold
Marigolds are a popular type of flower that is orange. These blooms symbolize wealth and the will to succeed. Beautifully orange and gold in color, marigolds symbolize a desire for wealth and success. They are such a bright color that their pigments are also used in the textile and food industries! Marigolds are easy to grow and are even resistant to deer.
Violet
Popular flower violets grow mostly in the temperate northern hemisphere. There are over 500 species of these cheerful little wildflowers, mostly in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, popping up in lawns, woodlands, streambanks, and hillsides. The violet is February’s birth flower, and the state flower of Illinois, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.
Begonia
Flower types with begonias. With over 1,800 species native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, begonias are one of the easiest to grow and the best-loved plants we have in our gardens and homes. These annuals are mainly grouped by their root systems, and are grown for either their attractive flowers or ornamental foliage — or both.
Gardenia
Gardenias are most famous for their scented and waxy white flower types that can bring a garden to life. Depending on your geographical location (and personal preference), you can decide whether your gardenia will live indoors or outdoors. To ensure that your gardenias bloom throughout their growing season, keep the soil well-drained and at a pH of 4.5 to 5.5 regardless of whether they are planted in a pot or outside in the garden.
Hyacinth
Hyacinths, with their powerfully sweet scent, are popular spring bulbs native to eastern Mediterranean countries, including Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon. Today, about 60 cultivars exist, with white, pink, blue, purple, or red flower types that grow in a tight column along short stems. Hyacinths can easily be grown outside in the garden or in containers, or indoors in pots.
Kale
Ornamental kale is a member of the cabbage family and is closely related to broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. Like its relatives, it is a cool-season plant that grows best and achieves its most vibrant colors in the fall, winter, or early spring. It has been hybridized for its ornamental value rather than taste, and it makes a colorful addition to a cold-weather garden when the other plants have faded.
Amaranthus
Amaranth comprises about 75 species that are native to every continent except Antarctica. Some are grown as ornamentals, some only for their highly nutritious seeds and foliage, and some are grown for both reasons. Many varieties that you can plant in your flower garden are ornamentals that can be eaten – and are available via a flower delivery service.
Geranium
Pink geraniums, the popular flower type pictured here, are native to South Africa and Australia. What we call geraniums are actually in the genus Pelargonium and are tropical perennials native to South Africa and Australia. Garden geraniums are grown outdoors as annuals in temperate zones and can be brought indoors to overwinter or grown as year-round houseplants.
Anemone
These members of the buttercup family are native to temperate areas around the globe, including North America. They thrive in full to partial sun in rich and moist soil, and can be grown from seeds or corms. But be careful — anemones, while lovely additions to your garden, are toxic to humans and pets due to them containing protoanemonin, a chemical compound that can cause skin irritation if contacted and gastrointestinal discomfort if ingested.
Gladiolus
They grow 2 to 5 feet high, with sword-shaped leaves and pink, yellow, red, purple, green, orange, or white flowers. Glads take 70 to 100 days from planting to flowering, so start planting the corms when the ground warms up in the spring and then continue to do so every two weeks until mid-summer for a continuous display from summer to frost.
Petunia
They are reliable flowers that will bloom from spring through autumn if grown in the sun and deadheaded consistently. Many of them feel sticky to the touch due to the sap that is exuded from the plant tissues to protect them from insect pests. Petunias are native to South America and are related to tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and tobacco.
Ranunculus
Their layers of paper-thin, glossy petals give the blossoms a rose-like appearance that is appealing for wedding bouquets or long-lasting cut flowers. Ranunculus are not commonly grown in home gardens, but they could be. Southern gardeners can plant the corms in the fall for spring blooms, and northern gardeners can plant them in the early spring for summer blooms.
Zinnia
Zinnias, a popular flower type available for local flower delivery, are often grown in beginners’ gardens. Colorful, easy-to-grow zinnias are a beginner gardener’s dream. They can be seeded from the last frost to early summer and will consistently produce blooms all season if dying blooms are deadheaded — truly a “cut and come again” flower.
Aster
Most of these beautiful perennials are native to Eurasia, with only two from North America — the New York and New England asters. Their 1-inch flowers are starbursts of closely packed, narrow petals in intense blue, purple, lilac, pink, or white. Aster brightens a garden from late summer through fall and are great for attracting butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.
Black-eyed Susan
Black-eyed Susans, a well-known type of flower, are native to North America. Cheerful black-eyed Susans, one of North America’s favorite perennial wildflowers, are frequently seen in fields and meadows. They are a popular addition to a sunny garden since they are hardy, can tolerate drought and a variety of soils, and can reseed and come back year after year.
Buttercup
They can be perennial, biennial, or annual; herbaceous, terrestrial, or aquatic; and they can be upright or creeping. They have reflective cells in their petals that make them shine the usual yellow color, but they can also be white, pink, or red. Although buttercups are a cute, familiar sight in spring and summer, it’s best to remember that all parts of them are poisonous to humans and animals.
Larkspur
It is beautiful in mass plantings, mixed groupings, or containers, but it is toxic to both humans and animals. The five-petalled, spurred flowers come in colors of blue, red, purple, pink, or white. Since larkspur is a cool-season annual, its seeds should be sown in the early spring, right after the last frost, for springtime blooms that extend into the summer.
Pansy
Pansies are cool-weather plants and are only perennials in mild climates that have cold winters and summers that are not too hot. In warmer climates, they can only be grown as annuals during the spring and fall.
Snapdragons
Snapdragons, a popular type of flower shown here, are native to both the United States and Europe. They come in colors such as yellow, peach, pink, orange, purple, red, white, and two colors. Snapdragons are picky about which insects help them with pollination: only large bumblebees are strong enough to open the upper and lower lips of the snapdragon flower.
Delphinium
Delphinium, which may also be called larkspur, is a plant with tall spikes of blue or purple flowers. It is very important in English cottage gardens and is regularly used as a common flower in arrangements because of its height and vivid blues and purples. Additionally, there are cultivars that have colors of white, red, and even yellow. Delphiniums make a beautiful addition to the garden. However, do not let them escape to a grazing field – they are highly poisonous to humans and other animals.
Gerbera daisy
Also known as the African daisy, the gerbera was discovered in 1884 in South Africa and then brought to England, where breeders grew a variety of gerberas that had bright colors and sturdy quality. Additionally, the popularity of Gerberas slowly spread to the Netherlands, which became one of the largest distributors of gerbera daisies in the world – a title it still holds today.
Yarrow
Yarrow is a plant that lives for many years and is part of the sunflower family that is native to Europe, Asia, and North America. If the dead flowers are removed, it will bloom again in the fall season. Yarrow does well in containers and its flowers are good to use in fresh or dried flower arrangements. However, it is attractive to pollinators but poisonous to dogs, cats, and horses.
Allium
There are ornamental alliums that are close relatives of onions, but since they cannot be safely eaten, they belong in the flower garden instead of the vegetable garden. Tall, straight stems hold pompoms of star-shaped flowers that come in shades like white, lilac, pink, and purple. Similar to onions, ornamental alliums grow from bulbs and must be planted in the fall season.
Astilbe
Astilbe, with its 25 species native to Asia and North America and many types of plants specially bred from which to choose, is an easy flower for a beginner gardener to grow. This plant that lives for many years grows from root-like structures called rhizomes. Once established, it will flower for years to come.
Cornflower
“Cornflower blue” is a color named for this cheerful garden flower that used to grow abundantly in European cornfields, where it originated. The frilly types of bouquet flowers that bloom from May to mid-July grow singly on tall stalks that can reach 48 inches high. It is good as a planted flower, in containers, or in a garden for pollinators, and is excellent to use as cut flowers for arrangements, bouquets, and boutonnieres.
Crocus
For many people, the first hint of spring is the little crocus pushing up through the snow. There are 90 species of these beautiful bulbs native to North Africa and areas around the Mediterranean Sea, all the way east to China. Crocuses are not only grown for their cheerful blooms, but also for the parts of autumn-blooming crocuses that are harvested in Iran to make the highly valued saffron spice.
Dianthus
Dianthus is a large group of plants that includes carnations and various pinks (given names for their jagged-edged petals, which look like fabric cut with zigzag scissors). The most common types are plants that live for many years and are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. They are excellent for rock gardens, pollinator gardens, and borders and are unattractive to deer but can be poisonous to pets.
Phlox
Phlox come in enough sizes and types to nearly fill any spot in the garden. The most familiar type is creeping phlox, a low-growing ground cover. These five-petaled flowers appear in various shades, depending on the variety, and also have differing bloom times, in categories as early, middle of the season, or late.
Alstroemeria
Popular flowers like Alstroemerias, known as Peruvian lilies or lilies of the Incas, are native to South America. Peruvian lilies come in a variety of warm shades like pink and orange, and represent friendship, wealth, and commitment. These types of pink flowers are popular in flower arrangements and also have a wide variety of hues. These flowers bloom in late spring/early summer when situated in direct sunlight and watered weekly. (Water more often when you notice the soil looking dry and less when the soil looks soggy.)
California poppy
It is either an annual or a plant that lives for many years depending on the climate – annual in colder areas and perennial in warmer regions. The California poppy is a sun lover that opens its petals in sunlight and closes them on cloudy days and at night. Native Americans used preparations of the plant to relieve anxiety and for various kinds of pain, but unlike its cousin the opium poppy, it does not contain any opium.
Celosia
A native of the Mediterranean region and East Africa, celosia is a member of the amaranth family. Like its relative, the amaranth, celosia’s young leaves are safe to eat. There are three main types of flower structures: plumosa (feathery plumes), which is the most common type with single flower spikes; and cristata (cockscomb), with dense, coral, or brain-shaped flower heads.
Agapanthus
Agapanthus, with their round clusters of blue, purple, or white flowers sitting atop long, stiff stems, are showy and exotic additions to a garden as accent plants or in a grouping. These plants are native to South Africa and grow from root-like structures called rhizomes that can be planted in the spring after the danger of frost has passed and the ground has warmed to 50° F.
Lisianthus
This elegant flower, native to the grasslands of North America, is often grown as an annual plant in cool regions even though it is a perennial. While it’s possible to grow them from their tiny, dust-like seeds, lisianthus takes between 15 to 20 months for them to mature into blooming plants. Spring planting is a good choice for most homeowners.
Freesia
Freesias are delightful members of the iris family that are native to South Africa. They feature five to seven fragrant, upward-pointing flowers that bloom one after another in a line on slender, arching stems. Freesias will flower 10 to 12 weeks after planting and stay fresh for six weeks or more, making them excellent cut flowers for arrangements or wedding bouquets.
Campanula
Over 500 species of campanula, or bellflowers, are native to the Northern Hemisphere. They can be annual plants that live for one year, perennial, or biennial, and come in various heights and colors depending on the species and variety, but they are all charming additions to any garden. Tall bellflowers can be used in mass plantings as border plants, and shorter varieties are perfect for rock gardens.
Dusty Miller
Dusty Millers, a popular flower type shown here, are known for their lacy silver-gray leaves. Dusty Miller is a half-hardy perennial valued for its lacy, woolly, silvery-gray foliage. It is usually grown as a bedding plant or in containers where it acts as a light-colored accent against darker plants.
Liatris
These herbaceous plants that live for many years are native to the eastern United States and can be grown from root-like bulbs, small nursery plants, or seeds. They are perfect in meadows or wildflower gardens and attract bees and butterflies nicely.
Gypsophila
Delicate sprays of baby’s breath, with their tiny white or pink flowers at the ends of threadlike branches, are a favorite choice as common bouquet flowers. Once established, they are resistant to drought, deer, and rabbits but can be poisonous to humans and pets.
Scabiosa
Scabiosa, or pincushion flowers, are native to Europe and make beautiful additions to any sunny garden. They are set apart by individual spherical flower buds sitting atop tall, wiry stems. These buds open into flowers with wavy petals surrounding flattened centers where stamens stick up like pins.
Stock
Stock, known as gillyflower in Britain, has adorned cottage gardens for centuries and was a favorite flower of the Victorian era. It originated in Mediterranean Europe, and is an annual plant in cooler areas and a biennial in warmer zones. Clusters of colorful, softly fragrant flowers grow on spikes and bloom throughout the spring and summer seasons.
Hypericum
Commonly called St. John’s Wort, this cheerful little plant is one of the easiest to grow in a home garden. A herbaceous perennial native to Europe to China and northern Africa, it was brought to America by early settlers in the 1600s and has naturalized widely. It has a long history of medicinal use, having been used to treat everything from anxiety and depression to cuts and burns, in addition to gracing many gardens.
Eryngium
Blooming from June through September, eryngium, called sea holly, is a striking perennial plant that is a member of the carrot family. It is native to Europe, with steel-blue, thistle-like flowers sitting above spiny purple, green, white, or silver bracts. They are drought tolerant and tolerate salt spray. An excellent pollinator flower for bees and butterflies.
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