And finally to wrap up Halloween week, since I wrote about black plants last Halloween season, how about a round-up of black flowers for this year? And don’t forget we started the week off with yet another black flower, the bat flower. If you’re planning on growing any of these in the garden, try to offset the darkness of these purple-black flowers by contrasting them with light or silvery variegated foliage.
1. Helleborus ‘Black Beauty’
Helleborus or Lenten or Christmas Rose, which blooms in late winter or very early spring, comes in several beautiful colors including this stunning ‘Black Beauty’ shown here.
2. Black Tulips
The flowers of black tulips are not really black of course, they are deep purple or maroon in color that under certain conditions appear black. There are three black tulips hybrids, Queen of Night, Black Parrot and Black Hero. Queen of Night is the “blackest” tulip with flowers in a standard tulip shape. Black Parrot has fringed edges, and Black Hero has a fluffy peony-like flower. The Black Tulip
is the title of a historical romance by Alexandre Dumas published in 1850.
3. Hollyhocks ‘Nigra’
When I think of hollyhocks (Alcea rosea ) I think of pretty pastels colors like pink and white, but not black, but if you want something a little more unusual to plant in your garden, then I can see how a black hollyhock could be quite appealing with their dark purplish-black velvety petals.
4. Viola ‘Black Jack’
With their diminutive and nearly black velvety petals and tiny bright yellow centers, these black violas--bred by repeatedly crossing the darkest colors--are a delightful addition to the container garden, edges of borders, rock gardens or just about anywhere else you want to add a “gothic” touch.
5. Scabiosa ‘Ace of Spades'
Scabiosas are often called pincushion flowers because of the way they look, like mounded pincushions. They are a wonderful addition to the perennial border and are excellent flowers for cut flower arrangements. Scabiosa ‘Ace of Spades’ is a lovely dark shade of purple-maroon.
Photo source: www.farmyardnurseries.co.uk