Vertical Accent Plants
Flowering plants that add a vertical accent are great in the garden. There’s something very satisfying about a garden that has flowers at differing heights. It means we don’t only look down into the flowers, but look at them at eye level. Or even have to look up to see the tops of flowering stems.
Flowering plants that add vertical accents are very often show stoppers. Not only because of their height, but because of the individual flowers that cover a laden stem. Luckily, many of these towering beauties are easy to grow and reasonably unfussy about the growing conditions. As long as they aren’t in a wind tunnel, most of them will grow into sturdy plants that produce an abundance of blooms. Here are some of my favourite plants to add vertical accents in your garden.
Inula magnifica
I’ve seen plenty of Inula that grow to 100 -120 cms tall. However, Inula magnifia can reach a lofty 2.5 metres. Definitely one for the back of the border and where you have plenty of space. Inula magnifica spreads readily to a metre across. If left unchecked however, it can become a bit of a thug in a small garden. It is a member of the daisy family. The leaves that remind me of dock leaves and flowers are bright yellow with shaggy petals.
Alcea rosea
Hollyhocks are short-lived perennials. They are easy to grow from seed and make an impressive display in the garden. I like the large pom-pom flowers of Alcea rosea ‘Chaters double’ which are available in a wide range of colours and can also be grown from seed. And who could resist the dramatic almost black flower of Alcea rosea nigra?
In 2024, I grew some from seeds given away free on the front of Amateur Gardening magazine. Sown on 16th June, they started flowering in early September!
Grow them against a wall or near the back of the border, or position a few plants together in the centre of a bed for splash of colour that rises above other herbaceous perennials and annual flowering plants.
Delphinium ‘Pacific Giant’
Give delphinium fertile soil and a sunny, sheltered position and they can provide a tower of flowers that rise to 1.5 to 2.5 metres from early to late summer. These short-lived perennials are often grown as annuals or biennials. Biennials form a clump of foliage in the first year and flower the following year.
Young growth can be susceptible to slug and snail damage. Try growing them in pots until the plants are 20 – 25 cms tall before planting out into the garden. Stake plants to provide support and deadhead flower spikes to encourage it to flower again.
Delphinium are available in a wide range of colours including purples, true blues, pinks, reds and whites. I particularly like the delphinium in our garden that has pale lilac with a spot of green sepals and creamy petals in the centre.
Actaea simplex ‘Brunette’
More commonly known as Cimicifuga, this plant forms a clump of dark purple-brown stems and leaves and before flowering in autumn. It bears spikes of rose or purple hued flower buds that open to fragrant white flowers. The flowers stand out well against the backdrop of the dark foliage. Be careful when handling, the plant is toxic, in particular the roots and berries which follow the flowers.
Lupin
I think of all the herbaceous perennial, vertical accent plants, lupins are my favourite. They are not the tallest in stature (100 – 120 cms), but they are robust. If you deadhead on a very regular basis, lupins will continue to put on a show from early summer until the first frosts. They are very easy to grow from seed and come in a wide range of single colour or two-tone flowers.
Modern hybrids offer more compact plants which are ideal for smaller gardens or growing in tubs. Provide support for plants on an exposed site and also to prevent plants from flopping over into pathways and surroundings plants as they become top-heavy with flower spikes. Lupin aphids can be a nuisance, but are easily removed by wiping a hand along each stem on a regular basis.
Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Album’
There are varieties of Culver’s root that grow to 2 metres, but Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Album’ is ideal for the middle of the border. It reaches 120 cms tall. It provides interest in both the whorls of dark green foliage and the white flower spikes that appear during summer and early autumn. It’s a good plant to grow among others in the garden. I think the flower stems appear to hover over the border.
Digitalis
Foxgloves are easy to grow short-lived or biennial plants that are great as vertical accent plants. Give it the right conditions of moist, but well-drained soil (much like you’d find on the edges of woodland) and Digitalis purpurea, the common foxglove, will grow to 1 to 2 metres and will seed itself in your garden for years to come. There are plenty of Digitalis varieties, offering a wide range of colours and heights, most grown a rosette of leaves in the first year and flower the following year.
I think they look best when several are grown together. Remove flower spike once flowering is finished unless you want to collect seed, or allow it to self-seed in your garden. Be careful when handling as all parts of the plant are poisonous.
Ligularia przewalskii
Here’s another bright sunny yellow flower for the back of the border, reaching 1.5 to 2.5 metres tall. The plants have large palmate leaves on upright black stems and tall yellow flower spikes from mid and late summer. Ligularia przewalskii requires deep, fertile soil that remains moist, it prefers full sun and protection from strong wind.
Nicotiana sylvestris
Each year, I grow a few of these stately, woodland tobacco plants as a half-hardy annual. Nicotiana sylvestris rapidly grow long, large leaves from a basal rosette and send up a flower stem to 90 – 100 cms, topped with tubular, white and sweetly-scented flowers that hang down. Ideal for large planters, as accent plants and for the centre or front of border.
I was very pleased to find that one plant that has survived two winters planted in the ground inside my polytunnel. And it now has a large clump of basal rosettes from which I have been able to propagate some new plants.
Runner Beans as vertical accent plants
Create a tower of flowers using runner beans. Use 3 – 7 canes pushed into the soil in a circle and secured at the top. Grow one or two runner beans at each cane. The plants will quickly climb the canes and start flowering. Pick the beans regularly to keep the flowers coming. I prefer white flowered runner beans, which produce a white bean inside the pod, try ‘Czar’ or ‘White Lady’. But runner beans offer a range of flower colours, ‘Painted Lady’ has bi-colour flowers of orange-red and white, while ‘Scarlet Emperor’ has red flowers.
Thrifty tip
Create a hanging shelf from recycled materials, e.g. a plank of wood or wire grid using sturdy wire or string (I use baling twine). This will prevent slugs and snails reaching young plants while they grow to a size ready to plant into the garden.
More information
The article about vertical accent plants was written for Amateur Gardening magazine in late spring 2024. I have updated some of the specific varieties and images. Links are included to help you find the suggested plants.
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