List of Tall Plants

Tall plants are an important component of landscaping and garden design. Install tall plants to hide unsightly foundations of houses, provide backdrops for flower gardens and give your landscape interest. Using tall plants encourages wildlife to visit your garden. Planting vegetation in clumps creates areas of safety for small animals and birds. Songbirds visit gardens where there are tall plants that produce fruit and seeds. Butterflies enjoy landing on brightly colored flowers. Place your tall plants in the back of your landscape so they do not hide shorter plants.

Butterfly Bush

Butterfly Bushes (Buddleia davidii) are evergreen shrubs that reach 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide. The green lance-shaped leaves cover the stems topped with spikes of tiny purple, white, pink or red flowers. These shrubs enjoy exposure to full sun. Butterfly bushes are used as foundation plantings and backgrounds in flowerbeds. This bush attracts butterflies to your garden.

Camellia

Camellia (Camellia japonica) grows to 15 feet in height. This upright, evergreen bush has glossy, dark green leaves with jagged edges. Ruffled pink blossoms open from December to March in mild climates. Camellia is a hardy plant that survives freezing weather, but the cold damages the open flowers. This plant is used for foundation plantings, garden backdrops and as privacy screens.

Downy Sunflower

Downy sunflowers (Helianthus mollis) reach 5 feet tall in infertile, dry soil. This sunflower variety produces a thick stem covered with downy hairs. Bright yellow flower heads appear on top of the stem during the summer. Downy sunflowers attract songbirds who try to raid the seeds from the sunflowers.

Hollyhock

Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) are evergreen biennials reaching 6 feet tall. The bright green leaves are 6 inches long and equally as wide. This flower blooms during its second growing season with pink, red, yellow and white cup-shaped blossom clusters. Plant hollyhocks during the fall to have flowers the following spring.

Large Solomon’s Seal

Large Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum canaliculatum) grows 7 feet tall in moist, fertile soil. White flowers appear in the spring. The leaves turn gold and dark blue berries form in the fall. This flower does best in the shade.

Spotted Joe-Pye Weed

Spotted Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) grows to a height of 6 feet. This flower produces pink and violet blossoms clumped on top of a purple, speckled stem in summer. Spotted Joe-pye weed prefers moist, good-draining soil. This plant attracts butterflies and honeybees to your garden.