Are you a dark, gothic soul who’s longing to grow flowers worthy of your inner Morticia? Have you been inspired by Kat Von D’s spooky, all-black garden? Or are you just hoping to turn your suburban home into a sleek, monochrome paradise? These 20 beautiful black flowers will turn any garden into a eerie wonderland.
1. Molly Sanderson Viola
Ruffled, velvety, deep-purple (almost charcoal in their darkness), this edible burst of night can be candied to top spooky cupcakes or tossed on beetroot and arugula salad for a stunning side dish.
As easy to grow as a viola, Molly Sandersons can be potted up or left to spread about as border flowers. They look darkly fascinating along a garden path, or tuck them between chamomile and lavender for a dreamtime-inspired herb garden.
2. Bat Orchid
The bat flower is a delightfully unusual orchid variety. Its flowers resemble a bat in flight, with ruffled wings and long, hanging filaments. Spooky in the extreme, bat orchids even sound haunted.
These blooms love warmth and shade. Grow this eye-catching plant indoors, accompanied by some skull candles for a Addams Family vibe all year long!
3. Onyx Odyssey Black Hellebore
Black hellebores usually refers primarily to their root color, but Onyx Odyssey is a variety of black hellebore known for its black-hued flowers.
Hellebore loves shade to partial sun. It’s great for replacing bright red and white poinsettias during the holiday season. White poinsettias and black hellebore could produce an amazing, monochromatic Christmas display.
4. Black Dahlia
For the goth gardener, Black Dahlias have the dual benefit of being linked to death and drama in one of the most gruesome crimes of American history. Though, dahlias don’t need the added glamor: these flowers are lush bundles of intensity.
Unlike so many shade-loving black flowers, dahlias soak up sunlight. Plant them in full sun and watch their color deepen under the light.
5. Black Petunias
Petunias have long been a staple in cozy, suburban homes. If you’re the Morticia Addams of the local PTA, you’ll absolutely delight in this witchy version of the suburban staple. Ideal for the 90s gothic teen turned bake sale queen. Black petunias turn a conventional favorite on its head.
Think of adorning your front porch with a basket of these velvet-skirted petals to show the world that a different sort of soccer mom lives in this neighborhood.
6. Before the Storm Black Irises
The darkest of bearded irises, moderately-sized, and extremely hardly; these black beauties will thrive beside lilies and poppies – popping out dramatically in front of a white picket fence or along a crumbling stone wall.
Give these lovely flowers plenty of sunlight and well-drained soil and they’ll spread into thick bundles of easily broken up roots. In three of four years, you’ll be scattering them through your garden. Black irises mingle well with other perennials, their unique beauty keeps them from being overwhelmed by any other plant.
7. Black Widow Geranium
Also called the mourning widow’s geranium, this deep purplish-black variety is an ideal potted plant. Set it in your windowsill as a gothic ode to Flannery O’Connor, or on your breakfast table to start the day off with dark reflections.
Geraniums do well outdoors as an annual as well, and the Black Widow could darken your garden path with ease. In either location, remember to cut back (or “deadhead“) flowers and stems to encourage new growth.
8. Black Star Calla Lilies
Deep, purple-black, mysterious blooms that grace any wall, but juxtapose especially well against autumnal oranges and stark whites. Add drama and grace to your living room or a gothic flare to the master bath with these flowing, goblet-style flowers.
Calla lilies grow up to two feet tall and bloom at midsummer for a spectacular contrast to the season of sunlight and short nights. Plan a eerily romantic nighttime bath with Black Star lilies and dark red wine beneath the full moon.
9. Queen of the Night Tulips
Start spring off on the dark side with the early-blooming Queen of the Night! Soft, maroon-black traditional tulips with velvety dark petals and a tall, graceful stem. This heirloom is perfect for Lenten gardens or to cut the pastel sweetness of springtime flower beds.
Tulips are really easy to grow. They often serve to brighten the springtime mud and melting snow with bursts of color.
10. Peony-Flowering Black Hero Tulip
Intermix this flouncy, overdressed, dark tulip with her minimalistic sister for a contrasting, monochromatic garden of mystery. Black Hero embodies that romantic, victorian-gothic ethos entirely.
This blooms just a bit later than the Queen of the Night tulip. Its deep maroon-black petals flounce peony-style from an easy-to-grow tulip stem. Ideal for adding easy glamor to any garden.
11. Black Wizard Asiatic Lily
An absolute stunner! The Black Wizard is graceful, simple, haunting perfection in a spooky summertime garden. Plant this lovely flower between irises or as a point of contrast with bright red poppies.
Black Wizard loves partial shade. Like many dark flowers, full sun is overwhelming to the blossoms, causing them to wilt quickly. Plant this lily in dappled sunlight or light shade, especially in hot climates.
12. Black Magic Sunflower
Nothing proclaims “Gothic Garden” like the total eclipse of the black sunflower. With a perfect sunflower shape and the darkest of dark petals, this darkest of sunflowers swallows up the light. Your apocalyptically-inspired flower bed will flourish with this beautiful flower.
Black Magic towers above the rest of the garden at a height of up to six feet! It looms as a dark, maroon-black sun reminding plants and people alike to “memento mori“.
13. Black Hollyhocks
Black hollyhocks have been grown in gardens for hundreds of years. Biannuals that readily self seed, they provide a haven for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, while casting a dark glamour over the entire garden.
Plant these tall, dark, handsome flowers alongside a white picket fence for the ultimate contrast. Let them grow tall beneath your windows as a witchy backdrop to bright red roses. Black hollyhocks love full sunlight and soft, fertile soil.
14. Midnight Poppies
Poppies are such magical, fairy flowers. Midnight poppies in particular are eager to remind the world that fairies can be haunting as well as lovely. Think of these flowers as the domovoi of poppies. Moody, dangerous, and absolutely essential. Plant seeds in fall or early spring and prepare to be fascinated.
Midnight poppies are soft, sooty, and can easily lurk in partial shade or full sun. Relatively easy to grow, these flowers will dominate your garden in early summer.
15. Dark Dimension Hyacinth
Deeply scented hyacinths are the perfumers of spring gardens. Their heavy perfume makes Dark Dimension hyacinths a decadent addition to any black flower garden. Elegant, dark purplish flowers look almost pure black.
Tuck this bee-loving flower (which deters deer and mingles well with tulips and roses) beside some spooky statues, or along a garden wall for texture, scent, and an added dark dimension.
16. Widow’s Pincushion
Also known as the “mournful widow” – the Widow’s Pincushion (Scabiosa aropurpurea) looks very much like a black pincushion pricked full of dark pins. This annual can grow over 2 feet high and creates a spooky, spidery feel in the garden. Its long, “pin” petals resemble spider’s legs.
Widow’s Pincushion would fit in perfectly in a witch’s garden, or mingled with hollyhocks along a white wall. Or, darken bee balm’s bright hues with a patch of Mournful Widow nearby.
17. Black Persian Lily
This tall, stately, bell-flowered lily is so striking! Dozens of dark, purplish black flowers hang like bells from a tall stem that can grow over three feet in height. Persian lilies are absolutely stunning in bouquets. They bloom in late spring, and can often perfectly fill the gap between your dark tulip blossoms and blooming poppies.
Persian lilies have a rich, lily scent, and hang like funeral bells over smaller plants. Perfect for gloomy-yet-romantic gothy gardens.
18. Black Rose Succulent
Ideal for the apartment-dwelling gothic gardener, the Black Rose succulent is a hardy little perennial. Shaped like a beautiful black rose, the succulent is low-maintenance and spookily self-reliant.
While it isn’t exactly a flower, it’s lovely enough to beautify any space! Tuck two or three above the sink to encourage a sense of haunted wonder to infuse even the most mundane tasks.
19. Black Adder “Sooty” Flower
A part of the carnation family, these tiny blooms burst into clusters of sooty black blossoms. Ideal for lining garden beds or woodland gingerbread cottages.
The sooty flower is easily grown from seed and often returns as a biannual in mild climates.
20. Black Baccara Roses
According to legend, pure black roses—the only truly black flowers in existence—bloom each year in Halfeti, Turkey. Everywhere else in the world, the darkest rose is the Black Baccara. It’s an almost scentless tea rose in deep reddish black. Plant in spring for a summer of dark blooms.
Hopefully these choices have inspired you to add some velvety darkness to your own garden. If you’re so inclined, try interspersing them with white, night-blooming flowers for dramatic effect. There’s nothing quite like basking in a mix of dark and luminous blooms under a full moon: something Morticia would certainly approve of!
