Types of Green Plants

Green plants complement colorful flowers within the garden. Ranging from deep emerald green to pale or lime greens, green plants create a lush and cool feel to the landscape. Their fresh and oftentimes long-lasting foliage grows in a wide range of sizes, shapes and textures. Evergreen plants also have the benefit of retaining their green color and foliage all year long, creating a color-filled garden throughout the year.

Grasses

Ornamental grasses have unusual textures to create a showy garden display. Ornamental grasses grow in a wide range of colors, sizes and shapes. Some ornamental grasses are slender, with tall and arching blades, while others are more compact. Ornamental grasses are often tolerant of drought and high humidity and are capable of growing in a wide range of soil varieties. Ornamental grasses are tough and versatile landscape plants that thrive in full sun.

Ornamental varieties like fountain grass have an upright and open form that grows in mounds. The narrow green stems of fountain grass hold the fluffy flowers that range in color from white to deep purple. Fountain grass is ideal as an accent plant along a front pathway or tucked along a garden wall for texture. The USDA Hardiness Zones for planting are 5 to 9.

Annuals

Annuals have a short life cycle to grow and die within one growing season. Available in a wide range of colors, textures and sizes, annuals put on a colorful garden display despite their short life.

Zinnia elegans "Envy" has a chartreuse bloom that adds a striking look to the garden. The 3-inch semi-double to double flower makes for a long-lasting fresh-cut flower. The zones for planting are 3 to 10.

Bells of Ireland, another classic green flower, grows 3 to 4 feet tall with bell-shaped blooms that grow on an upright spike, lighting up the garden its bright green foliage. The zones for planting are 4 to 11.

Perennials

Perennial flowers shoot up year after year for a long-lasting garden plant. Grown in dozens of varieties, each with its own distinct growing requirements, green plants like hellebores provide a burst of green to a winter garden, when most other plants have died down.

Hellebore are evergreen plants with dark green, leather-like leaves that hold nodding-like flowerheads. The zones for planting are 6 to 11.

Creeping thyme, another green perennial, grows 3 to 6 inches tall to hug the ground with its bright green, shiny and highly scented leaves. Drought-tolerant, creeping thyme makes a hardy ground cover to plant throughout the garden. The zones for planting are 5 to 8.