Plants that start with D can be what you’re looking for if you want to follow an alphabetical order while planning your outdoor or indoor garden. But, of course, you can also grow flowers that start with D if it’s your initial or the initial of a loved one.
Luckily, you’ve found this article because our team will be suggesting 11 gorgeous plants that start with D to add to your backyard or lawn.
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Different Plants That Start With D
1. Diascia
The diascia or twinspur is a delicate plant with gorgeous annual flowers that look very much like pink morning glory flowers . There are several varieties of this plant, and some of them grow more upright, while others are the perfect choice for your hanging baskets.
People usually grow this plant in spring after the last frost to bloom in the following fall or spring. Some varieties have blooms that come in shades of orange, red, and white in addition to the traditional pink color.
– Where to Plant
Choosing a sunny spot for your diascia is crucial, as this plant thrives in full sun. However, if the summer is too hot, some partial shade will benefit this plant, as it won’t tolerate the intense afternoon sun. This is why most gardeners choose to grow this fantastic flower in containers, as they will have more control and can keep it protected.
– Special Requirements
This plant is rather picky regarding its growing requirements. It prefers to grow in well-draining and slightly acidic soil, but fertilizing this plant is crucial, especially during the growing season. You should water it continuously until it gets established, and after that, it becomes drought-resistant.
2. Desert Rose
With a thick succulent trunk and delicate leaves, the desert rose is usually grown indoors in cooler climates as a bonsai plant. However, this can be the perfect addition to your flower bed or containers in warmer zones.
– Features
It’s native to the Middle East, Africa, and Madagascar, but it will make any indoor space pop with color with its bright pink, rose, or red flowers. The flowers bloom in the hot season, and the plant loses its vibrant green foliage and bright flowers in winter.
– Growing Conditions
The desert rose needs plenty of sun exposure and some water management, but it’s still pretty easy to take care of. Just like its natural habitat, this plant thrives in well-draining sandy or gravelly cactus soil. Provide this plant with more water during the growing season and reduce the amount of water when it goes dormant.
3. Delosperma
Delosperma is a family of gorgeous ground cover plants called ice plants. The ice plant is a warm-weather perennial, and several varieties grow purple, pink, yellow, orange, and even red flowers.
– Why It’s Special
This plant gets its famous nickname from the presence of tiny hairs reflecting the light off its surface, making it look like it’s covered with ice droplets. The leaves are fleshy and become dark when the weather gets cold. Most types of ice plants are evergreen.
– How To Grow It
The ice plant can grow in your rock or desert garden and needs access to full sun to stay in great shape. Too much shade can affect the growth of this plant.
It thrives in sandy or gravelly soil with good drainage and can survive in poor soil. You should water this plant during the growing season until it gets established and increase watering in hot weather. Otherwise, rainfall will be enough to keep it hydrated.
4. Desert Marigold
The Baileya multiradiata, or show desert marigold, is a mound-shaped short-lived perennial. And as the name suggests, this plant grows in desert-like conditions, so you can see its mounds along roadsides.
– Description
With gray and rather rough foliage, the stems of the desert marigold grow beautiful yellow flowers, one growing at the end of each stalk. The flowers take a long time to bloom and turn papery as they age.
In your garden, the flowers might stay in bloom from summer to fall. This plant is poisonous to sheep but doesn’t affect other animals. It’s a native plant in several states, including Texas, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico.
– Growing Requirements
The desert marigold can be grown in containers and will work for Mediterranean gardens. This plant is basically maintenance-free and has minimum water requirements. Once established, the desert marigold can be highly drought-resistant, but it needs access to full sun to bloom.
5. Dutch Iris
If you’re on the lookout for a beautiful flower to add brightness and life to your spring garden, then the Dutch iris will work for you. This plant isn’t native to the Netherlands, as the plant family originally comes from Spain and Portugal, but the Dutch came up with this pretty and fragrant hybrid, so that’s where the plant got this name.
– Features
The Dutch iris is an amazing spring flower that also adds elegance to cut flower arrangements, especially during Easter celebrations. The plant grows three to four-inch multicolored flowers that usually come in shades of blue, purple, bronze, rose gold, yellow, white, and black. Unfortunately, the Dutch iris is usually attacked by the iris borers.
– Care Guide
The Dutch iris plant is quite easy to grow, but it grows slowly. Yet, in optimal conditions, it will flower for several years and might slowly spread itself. You can grow these flowers in flower beds, containers, or as a foundation plant.
This plant can tolerate some shade, especially in the afternoon, but having access to full sun will boost blooming. It prefers to grow in sandy soil with good draining, and you can mix some organic matter to keep this plant healthy. You need to water your Dutch iris regularly during the growing season, but reduce watering when it’s dormant because the bulbs are prone to root rot.
6. Dahlberg Daisy
Thymophylla tenuiloba, or Dahlberg daisy, is a fragrant annual ground cover plant that can be an excellent addition to your garden or lawn. The Dahlberg daisy can be pretty hardy in frost-free regions, surviving for two or three seasons. This plant has a trailing habit and can grow in hanging baskets.
– Description
It has needle fern-like leaves and bright yellow or orange flowers that attract attention to your rock garden and bloom from spring to summer.
The leaves give off a citrusy smell when crushed. You might not be able to find this plant in nurseries, so you should start it from seed, and it takes about four months to bloom. It doesn’t suffer from any severe pest problems, but it’s prone to root rot in poorly draining soil.
– Growing Conditions
Dahlberg daisy becomes drought-resistant once established and doesn’t like excessive watering or humid conditions too much. In warmer climates, people grow these flowers in fall and winter for flowers that bloom in spring. Full sun exposure is essential to encourage blooming and keep this plant healthy.
7. Delphinium
With oddly stacked flowers that come in amazingly vibrant colors, it’s hard to miss the delphiniums in your garden. This plant is native to the British Isles and can grow in the northern parts of the US, where the growing conditions are favorable.
Unfortunately, despite the gorgeous look of this plant, all its parts contain alkaloids, so it’s pretty toxic to humans and pets. As a result, it might be best to avoid growing this flower if you have pets and kids who spend a lot of time in the garden.
– What It Looks Like
The delphinium plant has maple-like leaves and its dark purple-blue flowers grow on spikes. Some of the stems can be six feet tall, and the flowers bloom in summer and fall.
– How and Where to Plant It
The beautiful delphinium flowers can be easily started from seeds. You can grow them indoors in February or March, and they grow pretty fast, usually flowering in their first season.
Maintaining the delphinium’s optimum growing conditions can be a bit challenging. This plant thrives in a sunny location in a relatively cool and dry summer climate. It also needs to grow in well-draining soil that is slightly alkaline.
For the best results, the crown of the delphinium should be buried shallowly, and it needs stalking as it grows. You should also grow it near a fence or a wall to provide some protection from the strong winds. Avoid wetting the leaves to protect this plant from fungal infections, and the soil shouldn’t be too wet as it’s prone to root rot.
8. Dew Flower
Penstemon cobaea, or the dew flower, is a gorgeous flower that adds vibrance and beauty to your garden. It’s native to Southwestern US and has more blooms than most penstemons. This plant has dark green hair-like leaves and big noticeable flowers that come in shades of pink, purple, crimson red, and white, and they bloom from mid-spring to summer.
– Why It’s Special
The dew flower is an excellent addition to your garden because it has a long blooming season, showing off its one and half-inch flowers. To grow this plant, you need to collect the softwood cuttings in the summer and then divide them in spring.
The dew flower complements the look of rock gardens and gravel pathways. It can also be the right addition to your native plant garden or a sunny flower bed.
– Growing Conditions
The dew flower thrives in full sun and has moderate water requirements. It grows in well-draining soil and should be adequately maintained, especially when the plant is young, because snails and slugs can easily attack it. This plant is also prone to powdery mildew.
9. Dutchman’s Breeches
Dicentra cucullaria, or Dutchman’s breeches, is an ephemeral plant that blooms only for a couple of weeks before its impressive fern-like foliage fades.
Yet many gardeners choose to grow it for this brief period thanks to its stunning white and less commonly pink flowers. In the past, bleeding heart flowers were believed to belong to the same family, but now botanists differentiate the two species.
– Special Features
Native to North America, the Dutchman’s breeches has a slow growth rate. When planted in the fall, it will continue to grow slowly during the cold season, with the flowers blooming in mid-spring.
This plant gets its name from the oddly V-shaped flowers that look like old-fashioned Dutch plants drying on a clothesline. Unfortunately, all parts of this gorgeous plant are toxic to pets and humans, so you should think carefully about where to plant it.
– How To Grow It
As long as you pick the right spot to grow your Dutchman’s breeches, this plant will be straightforward to take care of. This flowering plant thrives in partial or even full shade because, in its natural habitat, it grows on the forest floor, receiving only filtered light. It can survive in various soil conditions, but it prefers to grow in well-draining organically-rich soil.
If you live in a snowy area, the melting of the snow will get this plant’s watering needs covered. In hotter climates, you need to water your Dutchman’s breeches only when the top of the soil is dry. Watering the plant is essential before blooming, but once it starts to bloom, you can stop.
10. Daylily
The daylily or day lily is an easy-to-grow perennial that even a beginner gardener can grow as an edge or border plant. With too different varieties to pick from, your daylilies come in various warm and cool colors to complement the look of the other blooms in your garden.
– Description
Flowering begins in spring, and the flowers stay in bloom until late summer. Daylilies come in shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, and pink, but the most common ones come in one color with stamens of a different one. However, some less common varieties are too vibrant, with three colors or more.
Daylilies attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your butterfly garden, but they’re toxic to cats. Yet, they’re safe for humans and dogs, and the plant is eaten in some parts of the world.
– When and Where To Grow It
You can plant daylilies in early spring or fall, away from the threat of frost. This plant prefers full sun, but some daylilies, especially darker varieties, prefer some afternoon shade to protect their brilliant colors in hotter climates.
Daylilies can survive in different soil conditions but prefer fertile loamy soil. Adding compost and mulch will improve moisture, as this plant needs to be watered only when the weather is too dry.
11. Dalmatian Iris
The dalmatian iris is an evergreen variety of bearded iris that is native to Croatia. Most dalmatian iris plants grow fragrant blue or lavender flowers. Some types have variegated, sword-life foliage, making this plant an attention grabber, even when the flowers aren’t in bloom.
The flowers also make great cut flowers and can last for a couple of weeks in a vase. This plant’s parts are toxic to pets and can cause skin irritation, so you should wear protective gloves while handling it.
– Planting Ideas
You can grow dalmatian iris in patio containers or mixed with other border plants in coastal and cottage gardens. It’s a vibrant addition to your early spring garden, and the sweet fragrance will attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
This iris variety is an excellent choice for a beginner gardener because it’s a low-maintenance plant and it’s pretty easy to grow. Planting the dalmatian iris in a large group is recommended, allowing you to create a bouquet-like effect.
– Growing Conditions
The dalmatian iris thrives in full sunlight but can also handle partial shade and prefers acidic, humus-rich soil. It becomes drought-resistant once established but needs regular watering during the growing period.
Conclusion
Growing plants that start with D can be an excellent choice if you want every flower in your garden to begin with your initial or if you want to group plants according to their names.
- Dutch iris, delosperma, dalmatian iris, daylily, and desert rose are excellent choices for a beginner gardener because they’re easy to take care of.
- Diascia, delosperma, desert marigold, Dahlberg daisy, and dalmatian iris are drought-resistant when mature.
- Delphinium, Dutchman’s breeches, and dalmatian iris are toxic to humans and pets and should be handled with care.
- Daylily flowers are only toxic to cats, but they’re safe for humans and dogs, and the plant is also eaten in several parts of the world.
- Desert marigold is poisonous to sheep but safe for other pets.
So, which plant or flower that begins with D will you grow next?
References
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants
