Flowering Perennials That Can Grow in Wet Conditions

Below you will find a list of flowering perennials from our database that can grow in wet climates. If you click on any of the photos, you will see a Virtual Plant Tag that may contain photos, plant descriptions, usage suggestions and a link to where you can buy that plant.

Many perennials that flower can flourish in wet areas, even standing water, but some of these same plants can also do quite well in dry areas or places in the landscape with average moisture. 

With so many gorgeous or unusual perennial plants that will grow and flower well in wet places in the garden, you can choose what colors or accents you want to enliven your landscaping with. These are some suggestions for less well-known water loving perennials that flower: Aconite Buttercup (Ranunculus aconitifolius) flower in late spring through early summer; Alpine Speedwell and hybrids (Veronica alpina) has blue flowers in the summer; Arend's Saxifrage has white, pink or red flowers in the spring; Boris Avens (Geum x borisii) provides bright orange-red summer blooms; Byzantine Gladiolus flowering vigorously in the summer with colors that vary from lavender-red, maroon and copper; Common Ladybells (Adenophora confusa) flowering blue in late spring on tall stalks reminiscent of petite Delphiniums; Gentian Speedwell (Veronica gentianoides) forms dense mats of blue or white spring blooming displays; Common or Hairy Toad-lily (Tricyrtis hirta) flower for a month in late summer through early Autumn.

Several native plants that deserves more use are: Cardinal Flower or Lobelia cardinalis, whose deep red blooms attract hummingbirds for weeks in August and Hardy Ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum) brightens the fall garden with azure blue blooming.

While tolerant of a wide range of conditions if given adequate sun, Cannas will grow and flower nicely in standing water all the way to a baked dry island bed in the median strip of a highway. Cannas are gaining popularity with increased use in today's container gardening where you can enjoy outrageous color summer through frost.

Hybridization work with Verbena is giving us lacy leaves, a vast array of bloom colors and increased tolerance to growing in wetter spots in the garden. It is still best to use Verbena in areas that drain between waterings and lend themselves well to container gardening since both flowers and foliage is attractive. Perennial Verbenas come into flower early in the spring with white, light and dark pinks, blue, lavender-pink, purple, coral-pink, burgundy, cherry, hot pink and lavender-blue.  New compact forms work well in decorative pottery.