These easy to grow vintage flowers are making a comeback in popularity for the flower garden. I'll show you some of my favorite annuals, perennials and biennials for an old fashioned flower garden.
My grandma died when I was about 7 (way to kick it off with a downer there, Pam), so there's not a whole lot that I remember about her.
But I do remember her love of flowers. She was an avid gardener.
Her backyard was FULL of flowers. Lots and lots of flowers. But not the impatiens and wave petunias everyone and their brother grows today. They grew different flowers back then.
Here is a list of some flowers that may have been in her garden. Or your grandmother's garden.
They are all old fashioned. Or vintage. Or classic. Whatever you want to call them, they would look AWESOME in your garden this year.
Vintage Flowers For Your Garden
Hollyhock
Nothing shouts COTTAGE GARDEN more than a cluster of Hollyhocks along a brick wall or picket fence.
Although they tend to be a perennial with a shorter lifespan (normally only lasting 2-3 years), hollyhocks are totally worth growing! Besides, they reseed themselves easily so you will have new hollyhocks popping up to replace the previous ones.
How To Grow Hollyhocks
- Hollyhocks (Alcea Rosea)
- full sun, sheltered from winds
- grows up to 10' tall
Sweet Peas
Sweet peas have a Heavenly scent that will remind you instantly of your Grannie's garden. Grab a bunch of them and place them in a mason jar for a lovely bouquet for your kitchen table.
I am a firm believer that EVERY cutting garden should have at least a row or two of these flowers growing in it. Period.
How To Grow Sweet Peas
- Sweet Peas (Lathyrus odoratus)
- full sun
- can climb to 10'
Heliotrope
The flowers smell like grape Popsicles. Some say they smell like cherry pie and some say they smell like vanilla. I think they are nuts. Clearly grape Popsicle. Clearly.
Although I love the bushiness of this plant and the beautiful purple flower clusters, there is some thought that it may be toxic to dogs if ingested, so please keep that in mind if you have a plant eater in your midst.
How To Grow Heliotrope
- Marine Heliotrope (Heliotrope arborescens)
- part sun (4-6 hours direct)
- grows to 10-14" tall
Spiderflower
Gorgeous spider like flower blooms that grow on super sturdy long stems. Now, the bottom half of the plant is nothing to write home about, so it's best to plant them to the backs of your flower beds with lower growing plants in front of them to cover some of that blandness.
These can easily be grown from seed too. So if you can get rid of your arachnophobia, this is a great plant.
How To Grow Spiderflower:
- Clio Magenta Spiderflower (Cleome 'Clio Magenta')
- full sun
- grows to 24-30" tall
Delphinium
Delphiniums have gorgeous spiky blooms that poke out over the top of the garden. Although commonly seen in shades of blue, they can also be grown in lavender, white, yellow and red.
If you deadhead the initial blooms, they will bloom again.
How To Grow Delphinium
- Delphinium (Delphinium)
- full to part sun
- grows 2-6' tall
Plumbago
Hate to be redundant on the gorgeous thing, but . . . gorgeous blooms! They sort of resemble phlox.
Grows as a perennial for all the lucky people in the deep south and will look like a shrub (because technically it is a shrub). Can grow as an annual or in a pot for all of us who live in the world of four seasons.
How To Grow Plumbago
- Imperial Blue Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata)
- full sun to part shade
- grows to 4' tall (mounding)
Foxglove
Foxtail is a beautiful flower for your garden with dramatic trumpet shaped blooms. It is a biennial, which means it has a 2 year life span, will require staking and may be poisonous. But hey, everyone has their downsides!
Actually I have never had an issue with the toxicity of this plant, but if that concerns you please read up on it before planting them.
BTW, my friend Pamela at Flower Patch Farmhouse has a whole article devoted to her love of foxtail and has some gorgeous photos of them in her cottage garden.
How To Grow Foxglove
- Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
- partial shade
- height varies, but some varieties can grow to 7' tall
Coleus
The flowers on these plants are not important. At all. In fact, I pluck them off as soon as I see them.
Why grow them then? The foliage!!! To die for foliage that gives a nice contrast to a shadier area of the garden.
And now that I've said that, I'll have to apologize for the sad coleus photo. I took that very early in the season before they had a chance to grow very well. Trust me, they look great once they've grown together and create a sea of colorful foliage.
How To Grow Coleus
- Wizard Mix Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides)
- part sun or shade
- grows to 10-12" tall
Portulaca
These are actually a succulent, but with masses of flowers (as seen in my How To Make A Birdcage Planter article).
And they thrive in drier conditions.
Not in your dryer, just drier soil. Just want to clarify that. We don't need any plants bouncing around your dryer. It's bad enough they're locked in the parakeet's cage.
How To Grow Portulaca
- Portulaca (Portulaca grandiflora) aka Moss Rose
- full sun
- grows to 4-6" tall
Caladium
Another one grown for foliage only.
I strongly believe that every garden should have at least one of these. They're different. They're exotic looking. They're easy to grow. Enough said.
How To Grow Caladium
- Candidum Caladium (Caladium hortulanem)
- part shade to shade
- grows to 12-18" tall
Are there any plants you would add to my vintage flower list? Are there any ones that you remember from your grandma's garden?
You can view the web story version of this article HERE.
Other post you may enjoy:
Container Gardening Made Easy
Ditch The Urns: Creative Garden Containers For Your Porch
Black-eyed Susan Vine AKA Heaven On Earth
Anonymous
I remember stock and carnations. I my job as a 'helper' to deadhead them. Both were very fragrant.
Cecilia
Love all of those! Let's see: irises, bachelor buttons, cypress vine, marigolds, day lilies ( the old fashioned orange ones), hollyhocks, antique roses (great fragrance!), amaryllis and crinum lilies(sp?).
Carlene @ Organized Clutter
I grow many of these. I used to grow Bachelor Buttons. They remind me of my Grandma.
Mary@mydogsmygardenandmary
I love all the old fashioned flowers and have quite a few of them in my country cottage garden. My heliotrope's are coming up all over. I even have white ones.
Thanks so much for sharing and happy gardening.
Mary
Olive
Hollyhocks and gladiolus maybe. My aunt and then my mom had gladiolus. I rarely see them now. Your portulacas is very pretty. This southerner does not have any plumbago. Must correct that, Olive
Melinda
I am familiar with the last three but
not the others. Love the three I know.
We've had all three at one time or
another.
M : )
Shara
Moss Rose is one of my favorites because it spreads and grows such pretty colors. I think Hens and Chickens are "grandma" plants as well as Irises. I love Hen and Chicks, but I never got on the Iris bandwagon for some reason. I love the Hens and Chickens because they spread and you can just keep replanting them into junk - I have an old wagon full and a couple of washtubs full. 'Cause I am classy like that. *The Breadman and I ran the local Lawn and Garden Center for three years at the local grocery chain. I learned all the plants and their growing conditions and I cannot get it out of my head. We walk around the park, my brain says, "Coleus, Golden Tipped Euonymus, Hibiscus, Holly......SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"
Donna D
Oh, I love all these! My grandmother also loved iris, daffodils and pansies - I remember her explaining to me about their sweet little faces. I love to plant hollyhocks, delphiniums, roses, cleome, cosmos, plumbago - such a pretty shade of blue, verbascum, coleus - I could just go on and on! Since we moved here to Ohio I've got so much work to do! Slowly but surely. I love your portulacas in the enamel basin.
ThrifterSisters
I love this post! Whenever I see Hydrangeas, I always think of my sweet grandma Gloria. She had the most beautiful bushes of them on the side of her house. Now that our dogs are over the whole digging up of the things we plant business, I am finally going to get some! No more "only hanging baskets that the dogs can't reach" nonsense going on around here!
Have a wonderful day, Pam!
Erica
Pam Kessler
Oh, I love hydrangea. I only have the newer ever-blooming varieties, but I want to get some of the more traditional ones. Glad you're past the dogs eating plants phase!
Mary Therriault
My Grandma loved sweet peas and hollyhocks!
Pam Kessler
I totally forgot about sweet peas! I used to love the smell of those!
suzieQ
Nicotiana is a wonderful flowering annual. Not the short ones they sell which don't smell, but the old fashioned ones that are really rather ugly plants. The plant is related to tobacco plant, hence the name, but the little white flowers smell like heaven at night. So, they are tall, ugly but with beautiful smelling flowers.
The powers at the big seed/plant companies sometimes "decide" what we should want. A great? example are beautiful roses with no smell. Roses with no smell? Crazy.
Hollyhocke for sure and iries of many colors. I drove by an abandoned farm house with some striking white iris. If I had a shovel, I might have stopped, though would that be stealing?
Pam Kessler
I think if it's abandoned then it's all up for grabs 🙂 OK, so maybe not the front door, but plants would fall under that category.
Kirby Carespodi
I "do" plumbago in containers (not warm enough here for it to be perennial). I have coleus, but I'm not crazy about caladium. My grandmother had TONS of daffodils, which gets so ugly by June. She also had roses (I have one from her rootstock) and ferns and hydrangeas, which I also have. Good information!
Sharon Spiller
I remember my grandmother having 4 o' clocks. They smelled heavenly and opened in the afternoon. They come back year after year. I have so many things planted in my yard to remind me of my grandparents (because papa loved to garden too) flowers and shrubs. Thanks for a great blog.
Anonymous
I do remember the four o'clocks, but most of all the Sweet Williams, nothing smelled better. I would love to have a big colorful patch. I keep meaning to plant some Hollyhocks, they remind me of my childhood home. Just one more to mention, it was my grandfather's pride and joy - the dahlias, especially the large dinner plate size. There was always a rush to get them cut when the first frost was forecast. Aren't memories great?
Joanne Noragon
I recognize some of these, and indeed, just planted half a dozen portulaca.
Vickie @ Ranger 911
You've shown me some flowers that I wasn't familiar with, Pam. I've never planted heliotrope or plumbago, but now I'll be looking for them next planting season. Marigolds and Annabelle hydrangeas grew in my baba's garden. I even transplanted some of her hydrangeas into my flower beds at our previous house. I wish I had thought to dig some out before we moved, but I do have Black Eyed Susan's that came from her garden and I've shared the seeds with all of our family members. My mother didn't plant many flowers, but she always had a patch of moss roses next to the garage. Thanks for the trip down memory lane and happy gardening!
Sam I Am......
Thank you for that list. I love vintage everything, including plants. One I specifically remember growing up in Northern Illinois was the hollyhock with it's tall stems and rainbow colors. They came in every color of the rainbow is what I mean. The bees seemed to love them too so it's good for them.
Pam Kessler
I love hollyhock! I'm going to have to add that to this list if I do a Vintage Flowers Part 2!