These Flowering Plants Are Able to Grow in Wet, Poorly Drained Soil

Whether you’re gardening indoors or outdoors, it’s important to find a spot for your plants with the right combination of sun, shade, and moisture where they can flourish—or at least not immediately die. And so if parts of your...

Koichiko Koichiko
Mar 13, 2022 - 21:03
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These Flowering Plants Are Able to Grow in Wet, Poorly Drained Soil

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Photo: Peter Turner Photography (Shutterstock)

Whether you’re gardening indoors or outdoors, it’s important to find a spot for your plants with the right combination of sun, shade, and moisture where they can flourish—or at least not immediately die. And so if parts of your yard have issues with soil drainage, you may think that you won’t be able to grow any type of plants there, let alone ones that flower.

But according to agricultural experts at the University of New Hampshire and University of Illinois Extensions, that’s not true. There are several varieties of flowering plants that can survive—and even thrive—in soil that’s consistently damp. Here are a few to consider.

Black Snakeroot - Cimicifuga racemosa

Height: 2-5 feetWidth: 3-4 feetBloom colors: White, pinkBloom time: August to SeptemberCultivated varieties: Pink Spike, White Pearl, Brunette

Cardinal Flower — Lobelia cardinalis

Height: 2-3 feetWidth: 18-24 inchesBloom color: Red, blue Bloom time: July to SeptemberCultivated varieties: Angel Song, Ruby Slippers, Arabella’s Vision

Hardy Hibiscus — Hibiscus sp.

Height: 2-4 feetWidth: 2-5 feetBloom color: red, white, pink, bicolorBloom time: July to SeptemberCultivated varieties: Fireball, Copper King, Luna’ series, Lady Baltimore

Leopard’s Bane — Doronicum orientale

Height: 18-24 inchesWidth: 18-24 inchesBloom: YellowBloom time: April to May

Meadow Rue — Thalictrum aquilegifolium

Height: 3-5 feetWidth: 18-24 inchesBloom color: LavenderBloom time: July to AugustCultivated varieties: Black Stocking, Hewitt’s Double, Evening Star

Queen of the Prairie — Filipendula rubra

Height: 18 inches-6 feetWidth: 3-4 feetBloom colors: Pink, white Bloom time: June to JulyCultivated varieties: Flore Plano, Aurea, Kahome

Rocket Ligularia — Ligularia dentate

Height: 3-4 feetWidth: 2-3 feetBloom color: YellowBloom time: July to AugustCultivated varieties: Othello, The Rocket, Osiris Cafe Noir

Siberian Iris — Iris siberica

Height: 2-3 feetWidth: 2-3 feetBloom color: LavenderBloom time: JuneCultivated varieties: Caesar’s Brother, Little White

Spiderwort — Tradescantia x andersoniana

Height: 12-18 inchesWidth: 18-24 inchesBloom colors: White, blue, purple Bloom time: June to JulyCultivated varieties: Snowcap, Sweet Kate, Concord Grape