Irish Garden Flowers: Plants To Grow For St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day is right at the start of spring, when every gardener is more than ready to start seeing green in their beds. To celebrate the holiday, go green with your flowers and plants.

Using green cut flowers in arrangements or even growing your own lucky plants in the garden, there are plenty of options.

Green Flowers to Grow for St. Patrick’s Day

Green is the color of the holiday and the color of the season. In mid-March, depending on where you live, you may be just starting to see some green. Celebrate the new growth and the color of Ireland, and the holiday, with green St. Patrick’s Day flowers.

Flowers that come in green are not that common. The bright colors of flowers, distinct from stems and petals, attract pollinators. Green flowers blend in with foliage. However, there are some that are naturally green and some that have been cultivated for the hue:

• Jack-in-the-pulpit
• Cymbidium orchids
• Green roses – ‘Jade,’ ‘Emerald,’ and ‘Cezanne’
• Hydrangea
• Green chrysanthemums – ‘Kermit,’ Yoko Ono,’ and ‘Shamrock’
• Lime green flowering tobacco
• ‘Green Envy’ echinacea
• ‘Lime Sorbet’ columbine
• Bells of Ireland

Irish Garden Flowers

For an Irish theme, don’t simply rely on green flowers. There are plants and blooms in other hues that represent the country and St. Patrick’s Day. Perhaps the most obvious choice is the shamrock. Legend has it that St. Patrick himself used this humble, three-lobed leaf to explain the Holy Trinity to the people of Ireland. Whether or not it’s true, a potted shamrock is a simple and perfect table decoration for the holiday, especially if it’s flowering.

Bog rosemary is a pretty plant native to Ireland. It grows low to the ground in marshy areas and produces delicate, bell-shaped pink flowers. Easter lilies are not native to Ireland, but they have been popular there for years. They are used in spring in Ireland to remember those who have fought and died for the country.

Spring squill is also native to Ireland and is a member of the same family of plants as asparagus. The diminutive plants are beloved in Ireland, as they come up in spring, signaling warmer weather. The color of the flowers is a pale blue.

If you can find these native or celebrated Irish plants, they make great gifts for the holiday. Use them in centerpieces for a party or grow them in your garden to add a little luck o' the Irish.