11 Wonderful Flowers That Start with W + Growing Guide charts

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Brock Ingham
Brock Ingham

Watching wonderful wildflowers winding through woodlands is a worthy way to waste an afternoon. It’s within reach to widely work them into window boxes or wherever in your world you want to witness them. Whatever you wish for there’s a wonder that works.

Pink and Purple Wishbone Flower
Pink and Purple Wishbone Flower

I’m walking along my wee list of the most whimsical flowers I’ve watched in the garden, in alphabetical order. I’ve wandered along to the letter ‘w’!

List of flowers A-Z

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV-W-XYZ


1. Wandflower (Sparaxis tricolor)

Wandflower
Wandflower

Spectacular wandflowers are also known as harlequin flowers and for good reason. They’re vividly colored, with wide six-petaled flowers glowing in shades of red, orange, black and yellow.

These perennials are a bit on the short side, sitting at comfortably two feet tall or thereabouts, but they certainly make up for that with the sheer vitality of their blooms. They serve as an excellent feature plant, just right for spacing with taller blossoms or more ground-hugging creepers.

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    Botanical Name:Sparaxis tricolor
    Growth Rate:Moderate
    Native Range:South Africa
    Hardiness Zones:8 to 11
    Soil Needs:Fertile organically rich sandy or loamy soils
    Exposure:Full sun to partial shade
    Blooming Period:Spring
    Water needs:Low
    Wandflower Growing Guide Chart

    2. Wallflower (Erysimum cheiri)

    Wallflower
    Wallflower

    Wallflower by name and wallflower by nature, these glowing miracles will set root in the sandiest, most inhospitable pockets of soil wedged in walls and rock gardens. They produce luminous sprays of golden flowers, tightly bunched and deeply fragrant.

    This tenacity and vigor make them excellent residents of arid gardens, especially tucked in otherwise inhospitable borders. They’ve been popular since the Middle Ages, and these days the bright yellow original has been cultivated into orange, burgundy and chocolate varieties.

    Botanical Name:Erysimum cheiri
    Growth Rate:Moderate
    Native Range:Southern Europe
    Hardiness Zones:7 to 9
    Soil Needs:Loose, sandy soils with good drainage
    Exposure:Full sun to partial shade
    Blooming Period:Late spring to summer
    Water needs:Low
    Wallflower Growing Guide Chart

    3. Willow bell (Campanula persicifolia)

    Willow bell
    Willow bell

    Wild willow bells are summer stars in the field, gentle purple five-pointed bell-shaped blooms atop soaring stalks. Domestic varieties have been developed to emphasize that celestial quality with white or pale blue blossoms in addition to the classic pale purple.

    They’re easy growing, forming clumps that divide well every four years or so, and they also self-seed readily. Large galaxies form with little effort at all, much to the joy of human and animal fans alike. They’ll draw all kinds of beneficial insects into the garden with their starry blooms.

    Botanical Name: Campanula persicifolia
    Growth Rate: Moderate
    Native Range: Europe, Central, and Western Asia
    Hardiness Zones:3a to 7b
    Soil Needs:Organically rich sandy or loamy soils
    Exposure:Full sun to partial shade
    Blooming Period:Summer
    Water needs:Moderate
    Willow Bell Growing Guide Chart

    4. Wild indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)

    Wild indigo
    Wild indigo

    Also known as horsefly weed, the wild indigo is a vigorous wildflower from the pea family. It’s often the first flower to show up in fire-ravaged fields or woodlands, using the legume’s special nitrogen-fixing magic to turn scorched earth into fertile soil.

    They also help encourage insects to return, and their golden blossom blooms are especially loved by native bees. These properties also make them a great choice for poor-quality soils, and to prevent erosion in exposed patches of the garden.

    Botanical Name:Baptisia tinctoria
    Growth Rate:Fast
    Native Range:Eastern United States
    Hardiness Zones:3 to 9
    Soil Needs:Sandy, loamy soils
    Exposure:Full sun to partial shade
    Blooming Period:Spring to summer
    Water needs:Low
    Wild indigo Growing Guide Chart

    5. Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

    Wild strawberry
    Wild strawberry

    They say good things come in small packages, and this is certainly true when it comes to wild strawberries. As an ornamental they serve beautifully as a ground cover, growing cheerfully between paving stones or around rocky borders.

    Its leaves and flowers are delicate and charming, and the resulting fruit is equally as diminutive and sweet. Each tiny berry is flavor-packed, a real late-season treat for wildlife and people alike.

    Botanical Name:Fragaria vesca
    Growth Rate:Slow
    Native Range:Alpine regions of Europe and Asia
    Hardiness Zones:5 to 9
    Soil Needs:Organically rich, moist soils of most types.
    Exposure:Full sun to partial shade
    Blooming Period:Spring to summer
    Water needs:Moderate
    Wild Strawberry Growing Guide Chart

    6. Wax Begonia (Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum)

    Wax Begonia
    Wax Begonia

    Wax begonias possess an old-fashioned charm that makes them great additions to cottage gardens. Their glossy flowers are small but abundant, in shades of white, pink, yellow, and red.

    They’re far less fussy than people give them credit for, and will settle comfortably in shady, moist beds tucked away in the corners of the garden. Their foliage is just as charming, with asymmetrical leaves that fan out beautifully around the blooms.

    Botanical Name:Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum
    Growth Rate:Moderate
    Native Range:Southeastern United States
    Hardiness Zones:9a to 11b
    Soil Needs: Well-draining, organically rich soils of most types
    Blooming Period:Spring to fall
    Water needs:Moderate
    Wax Begonia Growing Guide Chart

    7. Water avens (Geum rivale)

    Water avens
    Water Avens

    The blooms of the water avens possess a hazy, dreamy quality, with soft drooping bells in sepia-touched shades of dusty pink, dark red or pale orange. They seem lifted from an old photograph from a simpler age past.

    They’re an American native, with a long history of use as a children’s medicine among indigenous people. A tea made from its dried roots was especially valued for its chocolaty flavor and healing properties. It truly is a gentle plant with a loving history.

    Botanical Name:Geum rivale
    Growth Rate:Moderate
    Native Range:Europe and Northeastern United States
    Hardiness Zones:3 to 7
    Soil Needs:Moist to boggy soils
    Exposure:Full sun to partial shade
    Blooming Period:Late spring to summer
    Water needs:High
    Water Avens Growing Guide Chart

    8. Whitest Evening Primrose (Oenothera albicaulis)

    Whitest Evening Primrose
    Whitest Evening Primrose

    While it may seem like a bragging name, the whitest evening primrose is, indeed, very white.  It’s a desert specialist native to the American Southwest, where it can be found in sandy dry grasslands.

    It’s bright blooms open at night, their luminous petals and powerful fragrance drawing night-time visitors like nectar-loving moths. Like many desert plants, the whitest evening primrose does well in disturbed areas like dusty roadsides and abandoned fields. It brings beauty to even the most abandoned of places.

    Botanical Name:Oenothera albicaulis
    Growth Rate:Moderate
    Native Range:Southwestern United States
    Hardiness Zones:4 to 8
    Soil Needs: Dry sandy and loamy soils.
    Exposure:Full sun
    Blooming Period:Summer
    Water needs:Low
    Whitest Evening Primrose Growing Guide Chart

    8. Woolly thyme (Thymus serpyllum)

    Woolly thyme
    Woolly thyme

    Wooly thyme is a fragrant wonder. Both the flowers and the leaves are a treat to the senses, with richly scented leaves that are soft to the touch and bright purple flowers that spread like a haze across the surface of the plant.

    It’s a low, methodical creeper, a woolly ground cover that spreads to fill whatever space it’s offered. It’s sometimes suggested as a replacement for lawns, as it supports pollinators and requires far less upkeep than grass.

    Botanical Name:Thymus serpyllum
    Growth Rate:Rapid
    Native Range:Northern Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa
    Hardiness Zones:4a to 9b
    Soil Needs:Well-draining sandy or loamy soils.
    Exposure:Full sun
    Blooming Period:Summer
    Water needs:Low; drought resistant when established
    Woolly Thyme Growing Guide Chart

    10. Wild Violet (Viola sororia)

    Wild Violet 1
    Wild Violet

    A hidden treasure of woodlands and glades, the wild violet is a small, delicate purple flower no more than a few inches tall. Despite its diminutive size, it’s a valuable source of forage for all manner of nectar-loving insects like bees and butterflies.

    In the garden, it’s particularly useful as a border feature, especially in moist shady areas that other plants would find inhospitable. I particularly enjoy how these tiny treasures slowly spread over the years, becoming a stunning mass display despite the small size of each individual bloom.

    Botanical Name:Viola sororia
    Growth Rate:Rapid
    Native Range:Eastern and Central United States
    Hardiness Zones:3a to 7b
    Soil Needs: Moist, organically rich soil of most types
    Exposure:Full sun to deep shade
    Blooming Period:Spring to summer
    Water needs:High
    Wild Violet Growing Guide Chart

    11. Wishbone Flower (Torenia fournieri)

    Wishbone Flower
    Wishbone Flower

    Like a wish fulfilled, the wishbone flower is a lovely bicolored blossom perfect for containers or baskets. It produces delicate mauve flowers with a characteristic wishbone-shaped dark marking, a single coil of gold leading into its heart.

    Savvy horticulturalists have broadened the natural range of color and it’s possible for pink, burgundy, white, or even blue variants to bring their good luck to your garden. The promise of fortune is enough to lure in hummingbirds and other nectar lovers, too.

    Botanical Name:Torenia fournieri
    Growth Rate:Moderate
    Native Range:Asia
    Hardiness Zones:2 to 11
    Soil Needs:Well draining, organically rich soils
    Exposure:Partial to full shade
    Blooming Period:Summer to fall
    Water needs:Moderate
    Wishbone Flower Growing Guide Chart

    Final thoughts

    What wonders wait for those who willingly welcome wonderful wildflowers into their gardens? When you water, weed and fertilize a wilderness, you will win a whole wonderland of whimsical flowers and well-formed leaves. It’s worth the work!

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