Plants By Color

Black Flowers: Lunaire's Field-Tested Picks

Twelve near-black flowers I've actually grown in my zone 7b clay, with the cultivars that read truly dark instead of muddy purple.

The short version

There is no truly black pigment in flowers, so every "black" bloom is really a saturated deep purple, maroon, or brown that reads black in low light. The most reliable performers in my zone 7b beds are 'Queen of Night' tulip, 'Nigra' hollyhock, 'Arabian Night' dahlia, and chocolate cosmos. For the darkest effect, plant them where late-afternoon shade deepens the color rather than washing it out. Most are hardy somewhere between zones 3 and 9, with a few tender ones I treat as annuals.

How we chose

I grew or trialed every plant on this list in zone 7b, mostly in full sun with the heavy clay I've been amending for years. I judged each on how dark it actually reads at eye level (not in a doctored photo), how it held up through our humid Mid-Atlantic summers, and whether the named cultivar was worth hunting down. Where a plant is tender here, I say so and treat it as an annual rather than pretending it overwinters. Zones and mature sizes below reflect verified ranges, narrowed by what I've seen in the ground.

1. 'Queen of Night' Tulip (Tulipa 'Queen of Night')

Zones 3–8 · Full sun · Late-spring bloom, to 24 in tall. This is the one to start with — the single late tulip that comes closest to true black, a deep velvety maroon that genuinely reads inky in evening light. In my beds it tops out around two feet and blooms with the late tulips in May. Like most tulips in warm clay it's not reliably perennial for me; I treat it as a planned annual and lift or replant rather than counting on a second year. Plant it tight against chartreuse 'Marshall's Delight' foliage or pale daffodils and the contrast does the rest.

2. Black Hollyhock (Alcea rosea 'Nigra')

Zones 3–9 · Full sun · Mid- to late-summer bloom, 5–8 ft tall. An heirloom biennial whose chimney-stalk spikes carry single deep-maroon flowers with a small yellow throat that keeps them from going dead-flat. Mine reach six feet by their second year along a sunny fence. Honest caveat: like every hollyhock here, it gets rust in our humidity, so I site it with good airflow and pull the worst lower leaves rather than reaching for a spray. Let it self-sow and you'll have it for good.

Black Flowers: Lunaire's Field-Tested Picks

How we chose

1. 'Queen of Night' Tulip (Tulipa 'Queen of Night')

2. Black Hollyhock (Alcea rosea 'Nigra')

3. 'Arabian Night' Dahlia (Dahlia 'Arabian Night')

4. Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus)

5. 'Black Velvet' Petunia (Petunia 'Black Velvet')

6. 'Before the Storm' Bearded Iris (Iris germanica 'Before the Storm')

7. 'Molly Sanderson' Viola (Viola 'Molly Sanderson')

8. Black Bat Flower (Tacca chantrieri)

9. Black Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens')

10. 'Black Magic' Hollyhock (Alcea rosea 'Black Magic')

11. 'Midnight Ruffles' Hellebore (Helleborus 'Midnight Ruffles')

12. 'Black Star' Calla Lily (Zantedeschia 'Black Star')