Best Golden Hour Blooms – Plant Selection and Garden Design
Loved for its beautiful late-afternoon and evening light, the golden hour is a perfect time to kick back and enjoy your garden. With the sun setting low in the sky, certain plants come alive, especially when highlighted or backlit in the golden hour’s warm glow.
To discover how golden hour blooms are influencing contemporary garden design, I spoke with two experts to learn which plants work best and how to position them for maximum effect.
Whether you are looking to replant a border to make the most of the evening’s last rays or contemplating a complete garden redesign, some careful consideration is required to get the best from it. From playing with texture to creating zones, these backyard ideas will give you all manner of designs to implement at home.
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Why is the Golden Hour Influencing Garden Design?
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To discover why the golden hour is currently having such a resurgence and impact on garden design, I chatted with Jessica Mercer, Horticulturist at Plant Addicts.
She says: ‘The golden hour is influencing garden design because people are thinking more about how the garden looks when they are home to enjoy it. Late afternoon and evening light makes warm colors look richer.
‘Backlighting gives grasses, seedheads, and golden foliage a glowing edge. Instead of choosing plants just by bloom color, gardeners are also considering how the plant catches light.’
Jessica Mercer, PhD, is the Senior Content Marketing Coordinator and plant expert for Plant Addicts. As a ‘plant collector’, Jessica enjoys growing many different plants and learning about the best cultural practices for each. Writing for Plant Addicts is a real joy for her, as she can use her science background to research interesting plant topics. She carefully considers how to best present the information to other gardeners, with a focus on sustainability and the environment.
How to Position Plants for the Best Golden Hour Display
(Image credit: Getty Images/ Jacky Parker)
When it comes to positioning plants to best catch the golden hour, you need not worry, as even a few carefully placed plants can be effective.
Jessica advises: ‘Homeowners should place golden hour plants where the late-day sun can hit them from the side or behind. Watch the garden for a few evenings and notice where the sun falls around 5 to 7 p.m. That is where the golden-hour effect will be strongest. Good placement options include a west-facing border, the edge of a patio, a garden path, or the far side of an outdoor seating area.’
Further to this, Caroline Ervin, landscape designer, recommends: ‘Plant perennials where they will catch the late-day western sun and arrange them in masses or large swaths. Repeat throughout the garden for cohesiveness, adding continuity and harmony in the garden, all of which are soothing, especially at the end of a long day.’
No matter which golden hour blooms you decide to grow, you will want to be able to sit and appreciate them from a comfortable seating area. Perfect for relaxing and enjoying the sunset, the allen + roth by POLYWOOD Oakport Adirondack Chair is available to purchase from Lowe’s.
Caroline Ervin studied landscape design at George Washington University. Since 2007, she has worked closely with her clients to design, install and maintain both small and large residential gardens in Washington, DC and its nearby suburbs. Travels to gardens throughout the US, as well as in Europe, have added to her design background and understanding of historical gardens. She has over 20 years hands-on gardening experience.
Best Plants to Catch the Golden Hour
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When deciding which plants to grow to catch the magical golden hour, Caroline suggests: ‘Ornamental grasses, plants with interesting textures in the foliage, and plants with warm colors of oranges and yellows will appear more vibrant in the late afternoon sunlight.’
From warm, rich tones to translucent petals and airy seedheads, here is a selection that looks especially striking in the evening light.
1. Little Bluestem
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Commonly known as beard grass or little bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium is a tough, native grass that provides standout color and looks especially good when highlighted by the warm evening light.
Thriving in full sun and a well-drained soil, its fine blades and feathery seed heads look magnificent when back- or side-lit and are perfect for the current see-through planting trend.
Reaching a height of 3-4 feet and suitable for growing in USDA zones 3-8, the purple-tipped foliage of little bluestem ‘Standing Ovation’, available from Plant Addicts, will add dramatic impact and movement to borders and containers.
2. Switchgrass
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Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ is recommended by Caroline, as its ‘leaves and seedheads are airy and textural, moving softly in a slight breeze, and catch the sun’s rays’.
Adored for its colorful foliage, this perennial switch grass produces blue-green new growth, which turns a deep red-purple over the season. Furthermore, pink-red feathery seedheads gracefully float above the foliage in late summer.
A tough native grass, it is considered cold-hardy down to USDA zone 4 and grows to around 3-4 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide.
‘Shenandoah’ switch grass is available to purchase from Nature Hills.
3. Black-eyed Susan
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The long-lasting, radiant yellow and orange petals of Rudbeckia, which glow intensely in late-afternoon sunlight, make it an ideal golden hour bloom.
A late-season and pollinator-friendly perennial, black-eyed Susan is a great choice for enjoying the golden hour well into the fall and encouraging bees and butterflies. Thriving in full sun, it looks particularly impressive when planted in drifts or en masse in a border.
Growing to around 18 inches tall and suitable for growing in USDA zones 3-8, ‘American Gold Rush’ black-eyed Susan is available to purchase from Plant Addicts.
4. Giant Hyssop
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Another golden hour bloom suggested by Caroline is Agastache ‘Coral’, as its warm tones ‘appear more intensely colored when bathed in the golden light of the late day sun’.
Growing to around 18 inches tall, Agastache ‘Kudos Coral’ is an ideal plant for the front of a border or a container. It produces coral-pink, trumpet-like blooms from June to August that glow warmly during the golden hour and is suitable for growing in zones 5-10.
When deciding on a container for golden hour blooms, Corten steel, with its warm orange-brown patina, can be a great choice. Furthermore, being tough and low-maintenance means it can be left out even in the harshest winters. Corten steel trough planters are available to purchase on Amazon.
5. Privet
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For a shrub that dazzles in the low evening sun, Jessica proposes Ligustrum sinense ‘Sunshine’. Producing small golden-yellow leaves, which are intensified by the setting sun, it is ideal for a west-facing boundary or mass planting.
A sun-loving evergreen shrub, it requires well-drained soil to flourish and is well suited to hardiness zones 6-10. Over time, this privet shrub can grow to 3-6 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide.
‘Sunshine’ Ligustrum is available to purchase from Plant Addicts.
6. Lamb’s Ear
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Other plants Caroline recommends considering for the golden hour are those ‘with textural foliage like Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ear), which really pop when backlit by the sun’.
A mat-forming and low-growing perennial, Lamb’s ear develops large velvety gray leaves that you cannot help but run your hand across and spikes of purple flowers. A perfect perennial for a sensory garden, it is also a solid choice for ground cover or a cottage garden.
Lamb’s Ear ‘Silver Carpet’ Starter Plugs are available to purchase from Walmart.
As the last rays of the evening sun fall below the horizon, you may find that you require extra lighting to guide you back indoors. For gardens where hardwired lighting is not an option, solar and rechargeable lights can be invaluable. You can purchase rechargeable lanterns from Target.
7. Honesty
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Adored for its purple flowers and stunning seed heads that add interest over winter, honesty (Lunaria) is an ideal golden hour biennial. Blooming from around May to June, it then develops seed pods that, once their outer casings peel away, reveal translucent, papery discs that shimmer in the low evening sun.
Thriving in both full sun and partial shade, honesty seeds can be sown from April until July for young plants that will bloom the following year.
You can purchase Honesty seeds from True Leaf Market.
Spending more time outdoors this time of year, especially in the evening when the temperatures cool slightly, is one of the joys of summer. From relaxing and watching the sunset and your golden hour blooms come to life to entertaining friends and family, it can feel like a world away from the winter months.
However, to enjoy these summer evenings, you will want somewhere comfortable to sit, which even just a bench can provide. But why not make the most of it and create a stylish outdoor area to maximize alfresco living this summer?
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