Most Popular Flowers by State

It's hard to miss the explosion of interest in gardening, edible gardening and backyard outdoor activities in general while the coronavirus keeps us all at home. But we are still longing to connect to the natural world. In the midst of the pandemic, flower company Breck's says there are clear favorites when it comes to online flower searches by state. Find out your state's favorite flower and learn more about growing and caring for America's favorite 50 flowers.

Camellias are slow-growing evergreens valuable in the landscape, useful around foundations, as specimen plants, or in borders and hedges. It’s almost unfair that they won’t thrive everywhere, but most are hardy only in Zones 7 to 9, the so-called “camellia belt” of the southern U.S. Breeders are working to develop camellias that can withstand more cold. We tend to associate camellias with the South, but they also grow well in southern California and the Napa Valley area, where the winter is mild and they can bloom without risk of frost.

Camellia japonica ‘Magnoliaeflora’, (shown here) with its blush-pink blooms, is a good choice for winter color if you live in a mild region of the U.S. It's an evergreen, hardy in USDA Zones 8 to 10, but its flower buds can be damaged by the cold. Grow the plants in filtered sun.

African violets come in an amazing variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Flowers can be single, double or semi-double; have ringed or ruffled petals; and appear as blue, purple, lavender, red, pink, magenta, burgundy, crimson, white or bi-colored. Some have variegated foliage or flowers. There are nine species of African violets, eight subspecies and hundreds of varieties and hybrids. But they’re classified generally by size, based on how wide the plant reaches at maturity: miniature, less than 8 inches across, with flowers that are 3/4 inches across; standard, 8 to 16 inches across with flowers that are 2 inches across; and large plants more than 16 inches across with 3-inch flowers.

Colorful, citrus-scented freesias are South African corms (plants such as crocuses, gladioli and cyclamen that feature a rounded, underground storage organ), although they’re sometimes referred to as bulbs. They can be grown in USDA hardiness Zones 7 through 11. Plant them in the fall if you live below Zone 9; otherwise, dig a bed for them in fall and wait until spring to plant. The flowers last a long time in cut arrangements, which makes them popular with florists as well as gardeners, and they’re available in white, blue, orange, violet and yellow.