Red spider lily is my favorite because of its blood red hue and symbolism.
Dandelion. F**k yeah, concrete!
Smell-wise, night blooming jasmine. Effortless beauty, rain lilies and the black eyed susans. Pollinator attracting, I don’t know what it’s called but there is a lanky bush in my backyard with flowers like morning glories and when it blooms, it is a bee club, absolutely stuffed full of bees. So many bees come to that one plant every year late summer.
Snapdragons. My wife sometimes plants them to attract bees to her vegetable garden. The sight of bee butts wriggling to get inside those flowers never fails to make me smile.
Black-eyed Susan. They grow in big bunches and expand outward each year in a ring where the seeds fall. Just a simple flower that stands out in late summer in my area and lasts through fall. It’s low maintenance too.
I love these, they are so robust, and beautiful. Maybe not my favorite but I do think they are my MVP.
I don’t know that they deserve favorite because of what they are, they don’t even have much of a smell! But there is just something about them I love, and maybe it’s memories or how “wild” they look as they grow in bunches. It reminds me of wildflowers in a field.
Hibiscus flowers typically last less than 48 hours but have some insanely beautiful varieties and smell so good!
Two of my favorites that I have in my yard are the:
Imperial DragonLilac. Growing up, my childhood home had lilac bushes all around the edge. I used to build forts underneath like it was my own private space. The smell of lilacs brings me back to my happy childhood.
politics be damned, I like the alberta wild rose
Anything with just a really good purple. Deep purples and indigos and such that are so purple they’re blue and so blue their purple.
That giant one that smells like a festering corpse. Because it’s funny but also I don’t have to deal with it.
Roses, but only the heirloom types that have a scent. Their shapes and colors vary widely, but they are so satisfying to my soul, I’d fill up acres with them if we didn’t need to raise food. Bit finicky to grow, bit of a challenge to maintain them.
I don’t have a huge oppinion on this, but whenever I think about it, I constantly find myself liking the snake’s head:
Lavandula smells nice and is Purple
By usefulness: Yarrow, it’s an incredibly useful plant. Helps with bleeding, heartburn, indigestion.
By looks: Bird of Paradise Flower, lives quite a long time when cut from the plant.
Scariest: Poison Hemlock, it’s everywhere. And you wouldn’t think much of it.
Even scarier: Giant Hogweed. It’s like Poison Hemlock, but apocalyptic in size.
Best smelling: Wax Flower
Least favorites Limonium, it smells like cat piss. Roses due to thorns, plus if you don’t get them in water ASAP they tend to get air bubbles in the stem that makes the plant die faster. Gebera Daisies; they have a very weak stem. 2inch Carnations, because they break at the nodes
I used to be a florist and my hobbies involve foraging.
I love Lily of the Valley. They are so tiny and cute and smell amazing. Breaking Bad taught me they are also poisonous
Peony because I like the way it looks like a ruffled ball of fabric
