Wallflower: pairing it in the garden or in pots
Our best ideas and inspirations
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Wallflowers or Erysimum are plants that provide a generous spring flowering with bright and vibrant colours, pleasantly scented. They are short-lived perennials, typically grown as biennials. Their flowers come in a rich palette of colours (yellow, orange, red, mauve, white…), allowing for numerous combinations. Dare to create colour contrasts, monochrome beds, or shades of similar hues. These are easy-to-grow plants that thrive in sunny conditions and tolerate poor, dry, and stony soils. They are perfect for brightening up difficult corners of the garden, and can be integrated into a rockery, a dry or Mediterranean garden, a flowering bed, or a pot or planter to enhance the terrace or balcony. Discover our 7 best ideas and inspirations for pairing them!
And to learn everything about their cultivation, feel free to consult our complete sheet “Wallflowers: sowing, planting, growing, and maintaining”
In a bed of contrasting colours
Wallflowers come in a rich palette of colours, allowing for original colour combinations, whether in similar shades or, conversely, contrasting ones. For example, you can take advantage of Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ to create a stunning mauve and anise bed. Enhance its mauve-violet hue by placing alongside it Allium aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’ and tulips ‘Violet Beauty’. Then, play with contrasts by integrating a few plants of Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii and Euphorbia polychroma, with their acid green, almost yellow flowers. An elder Sambucus racemosa ‘Lemony Lace’ will further enhance this contrasting effect with its superb finely cut anise-coloured foliage. With this combination of zesty hues, this bed will create a modern and refreshing atmosphere in your garden!
Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii, Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’, Sambucus ‘Lemony Lace’, Allium aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’, Euphorbia polychroma and Tulipa ‘Violet Beauty’
In a bed of warm tones
Wallflowers generally offer flowers in warm shades of yellow or orange, so take the opportunity to create a bed with vibrant colours! For example, choose Erysimum ‘Winter Party’, and place alongside it imperial fritillaries, a shrubby sage ‘Reve Rouge’, and columbines ‘Ruby Port’, which have a very delicate flowering in the form of small red pom-poms. Bring brightness with the generous, bright yellow flowering of Alyssum saxatile ‘Goldkugel’. Don’t hesitate to also incorporate decorative foliage, such as that of Carex comans ‘Bronze Form’, whose very fine leaves will add a touch of lightness and graphic appeal to the bed.
Aquilegia ‘Ruby Port’ (photo Jonathan Buckley – Flora Press – Biosphoto), Erysimum ‘Winter Party’, Salvia microphylla ‘Reve Rouge’, Fritillaria imperialis ‘Tchaikovski’, Alyssum saxatile ‘Goldkugel’ and Carex comans ‘Bronco’ (photo Forest and Kim Starr)
In a rockery or a wall
As wallflowers thrive in well-drained, rather dry and poor soil, they will easily integrate into a sunny rockery and can even be planted on a stone wall. You can combine them with other undemanding plants that require little substrate and are relatively drought-resistant, such as houseleeks and sedums. Also enjoy the beautiful pink flowering of Helianthemum ‘Lawrensons Pink’ and the bright white flowers of Gypsophila cerastioides.
Sempervivum arachnoideum (photo Kristine Paulus), Erysimum ‘Constant Cheer’, Alchemilla alpina (photo: Udo Schmidt), Sedum ‘Cape Blanco’, Gypsophila cerastioides and Helianthemum ‘Lawrensons Pink’ (photo: Friedrich Strauss – MAP)
In a romantic garden
The delicate flowering of ‘Bowles Mauve’ wallflower will easily find its place in a romantic garden, alongside other blooms in pastel shades: pink, mauve, light blue, white… Consider, for example, the stunning flowers of peonies, clematis, and roses. The delicate flowers of Centaurea montana ‘Carnea’ and aquilegias will accompany them beautifully. You can also incorporate a Deutzia, such as ‘Strawberry Fields’, which forms bouquets of star-shaped flowers in spring, with pink petals edged in white. Place alongside them some plants with silver, finely cut foliage, like wormwoods or the cardoon Cynara cardunculus.
Aquilegia ‘Clementine Dark Purple’, Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’, Deutzia ‘Strawberry Fields’, Centaurea montana ‘Carnea’ and Cynara cardunculus (photo: peganum)
To create an elegant planter in red and white
Red-flowered wallflowers, such as ‘Bedder Scarlet’ or ‘Winter Passion’, will be ideal for creating an elegant planter, in a deep red shade enhanced by a few touches of white. Plant the wallflower alongside tulips such as ‘Red Princess’, Saxifraga arendsii ‘Purpurteppich’, and daisy flowers Bellis perennis ‘Roode’, with garnet-red flowers. To bring a touch of lightness and brightness, incorporate some foamflowers, for example Tiarella cordifolia ‘Moorgrun’, and possibly white-flowered pansies, such as ‘Sorbet White’ or ‘Matrix White’.
photo on the left: white and red planter with Tulip ‘Red Princess’, Tiarella cordifolia and Erysimum (photo: Friedrich Strauss – Biosphoto)/ on the right: Erysimum ‘Bedder Scarlet’, Tulip ‘Red Princess’ and Tiarella cordifolia ‘Moorgrun’
In a window box, featuring a harmonious blend of soft and warm shades.
The ‘Winter Orchid’ wallflower is perfect for creating a planter in warm and deep shades, featuring a palette of red, orange, pink, purple, and bronze. Pair it with different varieties of pansies (‘Radiance Rose’, ‘Farandole’…) to play with similar shades and create some colour variations. Also, enjoy the decorative foliage of heucheras: for example, you might choose the variety ‘Vienna’, which changes from purplish pink to orange and then bronze in summer. For a brighter hue, consider the heucheras ‘Georgia Peach’ or ‘Marmelade’.
photo on the left: Erysimum ‘Winter Orchid’, Tiarella ‘Morning Star’, Pansies ‘Radiance Rose’ and Heuchera ‘Georgia Peach’ / on the right: Erysimum ‘Winter Orchid’, Pansy ‘Farandole’ and Heuchera ‘Vienna’
With spring bulbs
As it flowers early in the year, the wallflower will be the ideal companion for spring bulbs, whether in the ground or in pots. Together, they will enliven the garden, terrace, or balcony, bringing a splash of colour! You might choose the variety Erysimum ‘Jubilee Gold’, or ‘Winter Light’, with golden-yellow flowers, and pair it with the elegant white and yellow flowering of Narcissus poeticus ‘Recurvus’. Add a few tulips (for example, the viridiflora tulip ‘Purple Doll’, with violet-pink flowers flamed with green), hyacinths, and muscari. Also consider the stunning fritillaries, such as the unique Fritillaria persica ‘Ivory Bells’, which produces tall floral spikes in April-May, composed of light green to cream-white bell-shaped flowers.
Erysimum ‘Jubilee Gold’, Narcissus poeticus ‘Recurvus’, Hyacinth ‘Gipsy Queen’, Tulip ‘Purple Doll’, and Fritillaria persica ‘Ivory Bells’
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