Flowers and Plants Named After Food
These vibrant flowers and plants look good enough to eat.
By:
Jessica Yonker
Photo By: Image courtesy of PerennialResource.com
Photo By: Image courtesy of PerennialResource.com
Dahlia 'Karma Choc'
This delicious bloom delights from early summer through fall. 'Karma Choc' shoots up rich, velvety red petals on deep green foliage. And yes — they do smell like chocolate!
Watermelon Heuchera
'Carnival Watermelon' is named after its dazzling bronze-green foliage and pink undersides.
Hosta 'Guacamole'
'Guacamole' is a medium-sized hosta with wide, oval leaves the color of—yep, you guessed it—guacamole. The avocado-colored leaves also feature darker green veins and margins. Its white flowers that appear in midsummer are extremely fragrant.
'Peppermint Swirl' Hydrangea
This hydrangea variety features an upright, mounded habit and spectacular peppermint candy variegation with pink and red-purple flowers.
‘Strawberry Custard’ Lily
'Strawberry Custard' is a dwarf Asiatic lily with soft, cream petals edged in pink. It requires full sun to partial shade and blooms late spring to early summer.
Decadence ‘Cherries Jubilee’ False Indigo (Baptisia ‘Cherries Jubilee’)
Low-maintenance and drought-tolerant, false indigo packages some of the best qualities of native plants in a hybrid with an unusual flower color. Deep burgundy flower buds open to reveal bicolor maroon and yellow blossoms from late spring to early summer. This perennial dislikes being moved; plant it where it can stay put. Hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
'Lemon Chiffon' Peony
'Lemon Chiffon' is a creamy yellow peony with semi-double to double blooms that float above sturdy, dark green foliage. The medium-sized shrub is a slow-grower, but makes up for it with attractive blooms.
'Candy Apple' Bell Pepper
An early-fruiting variety, 'Candy Apple' produces delightfully sweet, 5-inch bell peppers in about 70 days.
'Candy Stripe' Phlox
'Candy Stripe' is a lovely pink-and-white-striped creeping phlox that creates a carpet of color in the spring—plus, its foliage is evergreen and its typically hardy in zones 3 to 9, making it a great year-round groundcover for most gardeners.
'Sangria' Hibiscus
Jazz up the party in your garden with this deep red hibiscus. Give it full sun with light shade and keep it watered for best flowering.
'Pineapple' Tomato
These heirlooms are big on size and flavor, producing vibrant 1- to 2-pound tomatoes that are yellow in color, often with red to pink streaks. As the name would suggest, 'Pineapple' has a distinctively fruity flavor. Tomatoes grow on indeterminate plants that start producing in 90 days.
Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate'
Though its pink relative is invasive, this deep burgundy-leaf mimosa is quite a specimen in the garden.
‘Raspberry Splash’ Lungwort (Pulmonaria ‘Raspberry Splash’)
If you have a spot where hosta, ferns and bleeding-heart grow well, you should include lungwort in the mix. ‘Raspberry Splash’ is one of the best lungworts available, offering excellent disease resistance. It’s also ignored by deer and rabbits. Lungwort stages a great display with flowers that change colors from bud to faded bloom. Silver-flecked leaves look good all season. Hardy in Zones 5 to 9.
Dahlia 'Karma Sangria'
This cheery pink and yellow dahlia explodes with color in midsummer through fall. The spider-like blooms look like summer fireworks when planted in mass.
'Apricot Parrot' Tulip
'Apricot Parrot' has beautiful pink and yellow-orange flowers that look like they were plucked straight from the tree.
Oso Easy 'Lemon Zest'
This canary-yellow landscape rose, ‘Lemon Zest’ has excellent resistance to diseases and holds its bright color beautifully. The rose is self-cleaning, dropping its petals when they age. ‘Lemon Zest’ is an easy to grow, deciduous shrub with glossy green foliage and a mounding habit. It reaches 18 to 30 inches high and loves full sun; it’s recommended for hardiness zones 5 to 9.
Sunflower 'Chianti'
Wine-red 'Chianti' sunflowers are flecked with gold. Use this variety, with its unusual purple stems, for drama in your garden. The plants grow 4 to 5 feet high and produce lots of branches. Since the flowers are pollen-free, they're nice for cutting for bouquets and vases.
'Royal Frosting' Daylily
'Royal Frosting' features pure white, frilled petals with soft yellow centers.
'Cafe Noir' Tulip
Start spring mornings off with these deep burgundy 'Cafe Noir' tulips. Try pairing them up with flowers in a lighter shade—may we recommend 'Apricot Parrot' tulips or 'Butter and Sugar' iris?
'Sweet 'N Salsa' Hydrangea
Good for USDA zones 5-9, this pretty cultivar with unique bronze red foliage blooms from late spring into late summer.
'Lime Sprite' Coleus
'Lime Sprite' features lime green, oversized leaves with a punch of purple. It loves the shade, so try tucking the annual into summer containers or shady corners.
'Campfire' Rose
When this rose blooms, you'll understand how the cultivar got its name—'Campfire' boasts semi-double flowers with distinctive red and yellow petals. We'll be patiently waiting for horticulturists to create a 'S'mores' cultivar to plant alongside this stunning rose.
'Ketchup and Mustard' Rose
The name says it all, this ostentatious rose features ketchup red petals with a mustard yellow reverse.
Wake Up and Smell the 'Coffee Bean'
Give your garden a wake up call: 'Carnival Coffee Bean' heuchera shows off warm bronze and green foliage with caramel undersides.
'Wine & Roses' Weigela (Weigela florida ‘Alexandra’)
Ignite your landscape with the floral fireworks of 'Wine & Roses' weigela. Rosy tubular blooms blanket the shrub in late spring, beckoning hummingbirds and other pollinators. The rose flowers sparkle against dark leaves. More blossoms appear sporadically through summer. Prune immediately after flowering. Hardy in Zones 4 to 8.
'Peaches and Cream' Verbena
'Peaches & Cream' is a hybrid verbena with delightful clusters of pink to orange blossoms that fade to a pale peach as the blooms mature.
'Tequila Supreme' Rose
With bright pink petals with just a hint of yellow, a bloom period that lasts from spring til frost, good disease resistance and—of course—a namesake of one of our favorite summer sips, there's a lot to love about 'Tequila Supreme'.
'Banana Cream' Shasta Daisy
'Banana Cream' shasta daisy forms a mass of creamy yellow blooms with sunny yellow centers.
'Shirazz' Japanese Maple
During spring, 'Shirazz' delights with bright pink foliage that turns green with creamy pink edges throughout summer. This Japanese maple is in it for the long haul—it can live 60 years or longer!
'Pistachio' Hydrangea
'Pistachio' is a reblooming hydrangea for gardens or large containers. The reddish blooms have a chartreuse tinge that isn't affected by soil pH.
First Editions 'Vanilla Strawberry' Hydrangea
'Vanilla Strawberry' is a panicle hydrangea that shows off candy-colored blooms from midsummer to fall. Blooms form in early spring, so prune or shape plants in late winter. 'Vanilla Strawberry' can reach heights of 6 feet and can be trained as a standard.
