Most of the flowers selected for a border are low-growing but tall plants that make bold vertical statements have their place in the garden, as well.
Too often they are relegated to the back of the border but they can look good as specimen plants or on their own. The few that I will tell you about here may be best located in full sun but others can do well in part or dappled shade.
A plant that is so well known that it is frequently passed by is the hollyhock. It can grow anywhere from four to seven feet in height. It may grow as a biennial that reseeds itself but I have also found it to be a short lived perennial. Its flowers may occur as singles or doubles but in my opinion the doubles look too much like the decorations for weddings. Colours vary from white through red, pink to yellow. Against a wooden fence they are outstanding.
Delphiniums or larkspur are one of the classic garden perennials that remind one of the traditional English-style herbaceous borders. The four to six feet tall Pacific Giant Hybrids bear spikes of double flowers that are white, pink and blue. These and other delphiniums are best suited to the back of a sunny border and do best in rich, moist but well-drained soil. The taller plants often need staking which is best done in late May but the mid-sized varieties seldom do.
Another plant with tall, long-lasting spikes is blazing star or gayfeather. They are tough, drought-resistant plants that may naturalize in a meadow situation as they are native wildflowers. They form low grassy clumps of leaves that send up spikes that may be purple, pink or white and reach five feet.
Mullein is often seen growing along roadsides and in waste places. The five to six feet stalks grow from a basal display of leaves and in the wild persist for months. The hybrid Verbascum plants have fuzzy gray leaves that grow in low clumps. The tall stems are laden with one-inch pink, white, yellow or lavender flowers from midsummer to early fall. They like any sunny location and I have found them excellent in the middle of a mixed bed.
Veronicastrum (Culver’s-root) is closely related to Veronica. This tall (4 ½-foot) native plant bears flowers in long wands that arch gracefully in late summer. Album is a popular white while Rosea is pale pink. When growing it choose small-flowered plants like Russian sage or Salvia as companion plants. Ornamental grasses like Calamagrostis, Panicum or Miscanthus can also fit well.
Tall, flowering plants that can grow in partial or dappled shade as well as sun are Ligularia, Foxglove, Bugbane and Gooseneck loosestrife. Lysimachia, the last-named, is a moisture-loving perennial that bears short spikes of white flowers. This native does spread to form patches but has good, red fall colour. Ligularia flourishes in cool, moist locations and belongs beside water. The tall clumps of large rounded leaves bear spikes or clusters of yellow flowers in summer. Bugbane (Cimifuga or Actaea) is also a native and prefers a moist soil.
The above plants do not exhaust the list of tall flowers you can grow. Jo-Pye Weed is one of the most striking of our native wildflowers. Its panicles of purple-red flowers can rise well over five feet. Other tall plants are a Black-eyed Susan (Rudbekia triloba), yarrow, bee balm and Boltonia.
Denzil Sawyer is a local freelance writer and a Master Gardener.
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