Black rose and black tulip has always been the dream of gardeners. We haven’t reached that dream yet, but we are getting closer. Flowers we call black, are actually very, very dark red or purple flowers, so dark they appear black to us.
If you are like me, and want some black flowers in your garden, here are some suggestions:
1) Black violas and pansies (Viola)
Black violas are among the few truly black flowers. They flourish richly and are easy to grow and keep. They are edible.
2) Black Columbine (Aquilegia)
They are not really black, nevertheless they are very ornamental and will enhance the basic beauty of any garden. They are hardy and prolific. However, they prefer shady and moist places.
3) Black daylilies (Hemerocallis)
The darkest is ‘Black Emanuelle’, though daylilies are never actually black, only dark, dark maroon. Daylilies are also very easy flowers, all they require is plenty of sun, but do provide shade to black daylilies at the midday sun, to avoid that sunlight bleaches the color.
4) Black Hollyhock (Alcea Rosea var. Nigra)
This is a magnificent and useful plant. It can be eaten, and used to dye food and yarn.
5) Black Scabiosa, Mourning Bride (Scabiosa atropurpurea)
The flowers have a lovely scent and they attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to the garden. Cut, these flowers will last long in a vase.
6) Black Tulips (Tulipa)
‘Queen of Night’ is my favorite. It’s a spectacular, dark maroon, almost black tulip. Tulips are a little complicated to grow, but not difficult.
7) Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus)
Chocolate Cosmos is aptly named, as it sports the color of dark chocolate and gives off a sweet chocolate scent. This flower, as the Black Scabiosa will attract bees and butterflies to your garden.
8) Black Ball Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)
This flower is not truly black either, but I am very fond of cornflowers. They like poor soil (they create fewer flowers in rich soil) and the flowers are edible, last long in a vase and can be dried so their beauty is preserved for in-door decoration in the winter.
9) Black Iris (Iris)
Black Iris is another really beautiful flower. It needs its soil to be constantly moist, so it’s good to plant irises in a water garden or by a pond.
10) Black Peony Poppy (Papaver somniferum var. paeoniflorum)
Planting this luxurious flower is a very easy way of providing an intense and eye-grabbing splash of very dark purple color for your garden.
11) Black Roses (Rosa)
There are no black roses, only very deep purple and red ones. If you like roses, like I do, you could consider ‘Deep Secret’, ‘Black Baccara’ or ‘Midnight Blue’, depending on if you want a purple or red rose.
Most often people recommend using yellow green foliage to bring forth the magnificent darkness of these beauties, but I personally prefer yellow, orange and pink flowers, small areas of bright light as the backdrop. In my mind dark flowers alone with different shades of green is slightly boring.
Just remember that most black colored flowers are actually purple!