I got this crazy idea to redo my garden and to plant only flowers that start with H. Why not? Last time I decided to redo my garden I planted only succulents. And the time before only plants with white flowers.
There are trends in the gardening world just like in any other field, and there are also gardeners’ whimsies. Planting only flowers that start with H comes under both of these categories.
As you will see, there are plenty of plants with flowers that start with H, but it does not mean you have to have only them in your garden. You can nicely mix them with what is already growing in your garden as long as they play nice together.
Popular Flowers that Start with H
Heather
Common Name: Heather
Scientific Name: Calluna vulgaris
Type: Shrub
Heather is a low-growing perennial shrub with tiny bell-shaped flowers that grow in clusters on long thin stalks. They come in many beautiful colors such as white, pink, purple and red.
Blooming wild purple common heather (Calluna vulgaris)
Heather grows wild in the bogs and moors of Europe but it is popular with gardeners because of its colors. It blooms from mid-summer to mid-fall.
Heather requires well-draining sandy acidic soil that has to be consistently moist. Give it about an inch of water per week. It likes full sun but will tolerate partial shade.
Heather is used in beer-making and heather honey. It has anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties,
Hebe
Common Name: Hebe
Scientific Name: Hebe
Type: Shrub
Hebe is an evergreen low-growing shrub native to New Zealand. It is very versatile, thriving in different conditions and very easy to grow.
Beautiful closeup view of winter flowering shrub of violet Hebe Amy (Shrubby veronica, Purple Queen) with dark green leaves
Hebe’s lovely spikey flowers come in a range of colors – white, pink and crimson to blue and purple. Hebes bloom from summer to the end of fall and some even in winter.
Hebe leaves are evergreen but change their color throughout the year, providing added interest in the garden.
Hebes attract birds and butterflies. They like full sun but tolerate partial shade. Plant them in well-draining, loose soil.
Recommended reading:
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Helenium
Common name: Sneezeweed
Botanical name: Helenium Autumnale
Plant type: Perennial, Annual
Beautiful daisy-like flowers bloom in late summer and in the fall when other flowers are fading away. It makes them desirable flowers that start with H to add to your garden.
A drift of bronze flower heads of Helenium Waltraut
Heleniums are native to North America and grow wild at the edge of moist forests. Little flowers are composite and come in all shades of orange, red and brown, often a few colors on the same flower.
Plant helenium in spring, in full sun, in the well-draining, moist soil. Keep the soil well-watered.
The name sneezeweed comes from the use of dried helenium in the production of snuff in the past. Butterflies love them.
Hepatica
Common Name: Hepatica, Liverwort, Liverleaf
Scientific Name: Hepatica nobilis
Plant type: Herbaceous perennial
Hepatica’s bright blue flowers are the kind of flowers that start with H you will want in your garden. They have wonderful vivid colors and flowers open in early spring. They like shady spots and are perfect for woodland gardens.
Flowering in the forest purpule Hepatica. Early spring flowers Hepatica nobilis. violet purple small flowers, wildflowers, Anemone hepatica protected species medicinal plant
Hepatica is low-growing, up to 6 inches, so plant it in rich, loamy soil in front of the garden. Keep the soil well-moist. They will die down in summer and will come back next year.
Birds and butterflies love hepatica. Besides shades of blue, they also can be pink and white.
Holly
Common Name: Holly Bushes
Scientific Name: Ilex
Type: Shrub
There are 480 species of the ilex genus, but we are most familiar with American and British holly bushes with glossy leaves with serrated edges and bright red berries we use for decoration around Christmas.
American Holly (Ilex opaca) with red berries.
If you want to have berries, you need to plant both male and female plants for cross-pollination. American Holly (Ilex opaca) the ‘Croonenburg’ variety has both female and male flowers so one is enough in the garden. It grows up to 60 feet.
Plant holly in full sun or partial shade, in the well-draining soil. It attracts birds, which feed on it.
NOTE: Holly berries are poisonous for humans; keep them away from small children.
Honeysuckle
Common name: Honeysuckle
Scientific name: Lonicera periclymenum
Plant type: Deciduous evergreen shrub/climbing vine
Climbing honeysuckles are grown for their beautiful, highly fragrant flowers. They bloom in summer, and flowers range from white, cream and yellow to pink, orange and dark red. Honeysuckle is the star of any cottage garden.
Orange flowers of Honeysuckle
The fragrance of the flowers attracts bees and butterflies. Red berries are eaten by birds but are poisonous to humans. Honeysuckle can grow to 6 feet.
Plant climbing honeysuckle in well-drained moist soil in partial shade. Give it something to climb on.
Hyacinth
Common name: Hyacinth
Scientific name: Hyacinthus
Plant type: Perennial bulbs
If planning to plant flowers that start with H, hyacinth should surely be among them. This harbinger of spring opens its intensely fragrant vividly colored blooms in early spring, together with daffodils. It keeps coming year after year. There are cultivars of hyacinths now in practically any color of the rainbow.
Large flower bed with large multi-colored hyacinths close-up, traditional Easter spring flowers.
Hyacinths are popular gifts and their bulbs can be even grown in water, without soil. Plant them in the garden in fall for spring blooms, or in a pot indoors, for spring color and fragrance.
In the garden, plant hyacinths in rich, well-draining soil in full sun. Dense flower clusters grow on a single stalk. Wear gloves when planting, bulbs are poisonous.
Flowers will fade away after a couple of weeks. Cut them down and you can leave bulbs in soil for the next season.
Recommended reading:
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Hydrangea
Common name: Hydrangea, hortensia
Scientific name: Hydrangea
Plant type: Flowering shrub
Hydrangea bushes, covered in large globes of blue or pink flowers, are a stunning sight in any garden from June to September, even longer in the South.
Hydrangea garden in Maishima, Osaka
Plant hydrangeas in the fall or early spring in full sun. They tolerate partial shade. They grow almost 2 feet per year so give them enough space to spread. The whole plant is toxic to both humans and animals.
The flower color depends on the soil pH. Alkaline soil makes hydrangea bloom pink or red and neutral makes them blue or purple.
Hypericum
Common name: St. John’s wort
Scientific name: Hypericum
Plant type: Flowering bush
Hypericum is a hardy bush with beautiful yellow flowers that bloom in summer, followed by red berries in the fall.
Yellow inflorescences of St. John’s wort Hypericum perforatum on a bright sunny day
The Hypericum genus has more than 700 species, but what we grow in our gardens is hypericum perforatum or St John’s wort. It is a deciduous, semi-evergreen, summer-blooming shrub.
Hypericum is easy to grow and tolerant of practically any type of soil as long as it is well-draining. Plant in full sun for the best blooms, but hypericum will tolerate partial shade.
Hypericum extract is used to treat depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders
Tropical Flowers that Start with H
Hoya
Common name: Wax plants or porcelain flowers
Scientific name: Hoya
Type: Evergreen, perennial, tropical/indoor vine
Hoyas are tropical plants that grow on trees. They are popular indoor plants in moderate climates because of their beautiful and fragrant flowers. You can have them growing in hanging baskets or pots, where their long tendrils will show their interesting waxy leaves.
Closeup Hoya Flower Blooming, Hoya Flower
Hoyas need humid conditions that resemble their native habitat and bright indirect light to bloom. Wait for the soil to dry completely before watering. Use well-draining soil for succulents.
Hoya carnosa has been found to remove pollutants from the air in the house. Some natives in tropical cultures use hoyas medicinally.
Heavenly Bamboo
Common Name: Heavenly Bamboo
Scientific Name: Nandina domestica
Type: Shrub
Heavenly bamboo is a very popular garden addition of flowers that start with H. This tropical plant native to Asia adapts very well to moderate climate. Its leaves change colors from a pale green in spring to dark maroon in fall, lasting through winter.
Red fruit and evergreen leaves of Nandina domestica
In spite of its name, heavenly bamboo is not bamboo. It is a perennial shrub that grows up to 8 feet, but there are dwarf varieties.
Plant your nandina in full sun in well-draining soil with added organic matter. Requires moderate watering. Its berries are poisonous to birds.
Hibiscus
Common Name: Hibiscus, Rose of Sharon, Rose Mallow
Scientific Name: Hibiscus
Type: Deciduous shrub, Perennial
Hibiscus is a magnificent tropical plant that grows as a large bush in the tropics but it can be grown in a container in a moderate climate. Its large flowers come in hundreds of colors, single or double, from white to dark red, with a yellow center.
Bright pink large flower of purple hibiscus (Hibiscus rose sinensis)
Butterflies and birds love it. Hibiscus gives a lovely touch of color to your garden. It blooms throughout the summer and in tropical climates almost year-round.
Plant hibiscus in full sun in well-draining soil. Once established, it does not require much watering. If grown in a container, water when the soil is dry.
Birds and butterflies love hibiscus. So do gardeners. It is a great shrub with flowers that start with H to introduce to your garden.
Hibiscus flowers make great tea. It is the state flower of Malaysia, South Korea, Haiti and Hawaii.
Recommended reading:
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Tall Flowers that Start with H
Hollyhock
Common Name: Hollyhock
Scientific Name: Alcea rosea
Type: Biennial/Perennial
Hollyhock is a must-have if you want to add flowers that start with H to your cottage garden. Beautiful bell-shaped flowers grow on 6-8 feet tall stalks and their pink, blue, white, red, yellow or black blooms look fantastic at the back of your border.
Colourful hollyhocks, or ‘Alcea’ in bloom over the summer months
Hollyhock is a biennial, which means it grows the first year and blooms the second year, from June to August. Some varieties are perennial and bloom the first year as well.
Plant hollyhock in full sun but it will tolerate partial shade as well. It attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.
Perennial Flowers that Start with H
Hummingbird’s Mint
Common name: Hummingbird’s mint, agastache, hyssop,
Scientific name: Agastache
Plant type: Perennial
Hummingbird’s mint has large spikes of orange-pink flowers that bloom through the whole summer and early fall. The whole plant has a lovely minty aroma.
Lowers of Agastache Raspberry Fiesta or Giant Hyssop, in the garden. It is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Lamiaceae
Grow your hummingbird’s mint in full sun in fertile, well-drained soil. It can even grow in dry, sandy areas.
Hummingbird’s mint is beloved by bees and other pollinators and, of course, by hummingbirds.
Hosta
Common Name: Hosta, plantain lily
Scientific Name: Hosta
Type: Perennial
If you have a shady garden, hostas are your best friends. This hardy perennial grows where almost nothing else will grow, under the canopy of big trees, in humus-rich organic moist soil. A bit of dappled sunlight will make hosta leaves more vibrant.
Amazing beauty hosta with green and yellow leaves in the garden close-up.
Hostas’ glossy large leaves come in different shades of green, and the variegated varieties are the most beautiful.
Hostas blooms are small clusters of pale lavender flowers that open in summer.
Make sure that you plant hostas in well-draining soil or the roots will rot.
Hummingbirds love hostas, but deer and rabbits love them too. Planting some daffodils around them will help deter them.
Recommended reading:
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Heath
Common name: Heath
Botanical name: Erica
Type: Perennial
Heath is an evergreen low (max 5 feet) shrub indigenous to South Africa but growing wild in the Mediterranean, northern Europe and North America.
Stunning view of blooming heath with pink purple heather flowers in famous nature park Lueneburger Heider in North Germany
Heath is grown as an ornamental shrub because of its lovely tiny purple flowers that grow densely on long spikes. Heath blooms in spring and winter.
The flowers change their color throughout the season from white to pink to purple.
Heath likes well-drained soil and does best if it gets a half-day of sun.
Plant heath in the fall or early spring, to give it time to get established. Once established, it does not need watering. It is winter-hardy and resistant to salt air and deer.
Hellebore
Common Name: Hellebore
Scientific Name: Helleborus
Type: Perennial
Of all the flowers that start with H, hellebore is one that you will want in your garden. Its lovely nodding flowers are among the first to open in late winter or early spring.
Early spring forest blooms hellebores, Helleborus purpurascens.
Flowers are like perfect little roses that come in a range of colors but are particularly striking in dark red or totally black variety.
Plant hellebore in well-draining soil, in the shady part of the garden where not much else grows. Some dappled sunlight is welcome. Once established, they do not need much care or watering.
Conclusion | Flowers That Start With H
Hopefully, this list will give you enough ideas of flowers that start with H for your new garden project and some tips on how to make them happy. And when you are happy, you will be too. Plants do that to people.
