5 Common German Flowers You Can Grow

Flowers feed our hearts and souls. When you plant a flower garden, it’s a gift to yourself, as well as the visiting pollinators and birds. Wandering through your garden to explore what’s in bloom, what’s changed since yesterday, and what the bees and butterflies are doing is a peaceful and uplifting experience. And the most beautiful flowers are the ones snipped from your own cutting garden and displayed lovingly throughout your home.

Choosing what flowers to plant is strictly personal preference. Think about the aesthetic you love: The informal rambling look of a cottage garden? The naturalized appearance of a meadow garden? The warmth and vitality of a Mediterranean garden? A practical and pretty potager? Or maybe you love them all equally! The goal of any garden should be to celebrate the arrival of every season with beautiful flowers you love.

01. Cornflower

Cornflower, (Centaurea cyanus), herbaceous annual plant of the Asteraceae family. Native to Europe, cornflowers are widely cultivated in North America as garden plants and have naturalized as an invasive species in some areas outside of their native range. They were once frequent weeds in fields of corn and other grains, hence their common name. They are commonly used as a fresh or dried flower in bouquets. See also Centaurea.

The plants grow some 30–90 cm (1–3 feet) tall with narrow gray-green leaves. They produce papery flower heads surrounded by bracts. The flower heads have blue, pink, or white ray flowers that are attractive to butterflies. Cornflowers readily reseed in suitable environments.

02. Edelweiss

Leontopodium alpinum (Edelweiss) is a low-growing, clump-forming perennial forming a charming bouquet of starry white-felted flowers in late spring to early summer. The woolly white flowers are carried just above the foliage of narrow, silvery green leaves. They can be cut, or even dried.

Edelweiss is a perennial plant with star-like blooms and white petals. It is native to European mountains, particularly the Alps, and can even thrive in harsh environments.

03. German Chamomile

Valued for its herbal use, Matricaria recutita (German Chamomile) is an annual herb boasting finely divided, aromatic foliage and masses of daisy-like flowers throughout the summer. Each fragrant flower features 10-20 white rays surrounding a bright yellow domed center disk packed with yellow florets.

This summer, plant these blooms in your herb garden! Their fragrant white flowers will add a scent to the surroundings, and you can also use them in tea, crafts, and potpourris.

04. Aster alpinus

Fully frost hardy, Aster alpinus (Alpine Aster) is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial boasting masses of large daisy-like flowers, 2 in. across (5 cm), with blue-violet rays and golden-yellow centers. Blooming in late spring to mid-summer, the eye-catching blossoms are attractive to butterflies.

These beautiful daisy-like flowers, typically blooming from late spring to early summer, are found in Germany’s alpine meadows, rocky slopes, and mountainous regions.

05. Snowdrop

A charming late spring or early summer bloomer, Anemone sylvestris ‘Madonna’ (Snowdrop Anemone) is an ideal groundcover for partially shaded areas. Fragrant, extra large, cup-shaped, pure white flowers, adorned with a ring of prominent golden stamens, are borne singly on slender stems above the lush, finely cut, dark green foliage. These lovely blossoms give way to white, cottony seed heads, providing additional ornamental value. Quite resilient, this Anemone spreads by running rhizomes to form an impressive carpet where its broad, bright faces are highly appealing.

Undemanding and virtually pest-free and disease-free, this Anemone is a welcomed addition to shaded gardens, rock gardens, naturalized areas, wildlife gardens or woodlands. Perfect for plantings under perennials or shrubs or as groundcover. Good as cut flowers too!

These German flowers have a pure white hue that can add elegance to any space. People associate these blooms with hope, purity, and the arrival of spring.