9 Great Seaside Plants

Saxon Holt

Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans)

Actually from Madeira, this plant produces wonderful spikes of blue-purple flowers along the coast in poor soil and with practically no extra water. Bees love it.

John Granen

Canna 'Tropicanna'

Bright orange flower and big, purplish, banana-like leaves links seaside gardens with the tropics. Just don't plant it where wind will shred the leaves.

Ernst Kucklich

Shore pine (Pinus contorta contorta)

This Northwest coastal native makes a terrific windbreak, and takes well to shearing (like Japanese pines).

Ernst Kucklich

Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie'

Has grassy leaves and elegant orange flowers with a red eye. Multiplies and spreads from corms with little care beyond occasional weeding.

Bob Wigand

Salvia uliginosa

This 5-foot tall, 4-foot wide perennial produces its sky-blue flowers from summer through fall with little care. Spreads by rhizomes.

Ernst Kucklich

Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum')

Growing 5 feet tall and wide, its soft, feathery flower heads sway in the slightest breeze.

Bob Wigand

Geranium 'Rozanne'

Colorful and long-flowering in mild weather along the coast.

Ernst Kucklich

Cardoon

An artichoke relative (obvious when you look at the two plants side by side), this has edible stems and thistle-like flowers. But most people grow it for its architectural good looks. It gets very tall (to 12 feet) in the Northwest. Do not plant in mild-winter climates, where it has become an invasive weed.

Ernst Kucklich

Verbena bonariensis

Tall and slender, this perennial sways in the wind and delivers a lovely blue haze of flowers through much of summer. It also self sows in the garden without being a pest.

9 great plants for seaside gardens

Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans)

Canna 'Tropicanna'

Shore pine (Pinus contorta contorta)

Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie'

Salvia uliginosa

Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum')

Geranium 'Rozanne'

Cardoon

Verbena bonariensis