What to plant
What to plant in a full-sun bed in zone 4
For a full-sun bed in zone 4: Ninebark 'Summer Wine', Feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster', Purple coneflower, Foxglove beardtongue 'Husker Red' and Evergreen candytuft 'Purity'. 23 plants of 5 kinds for a 12 × 6 ft bed.
Preview: plant data is awaiting horticulturist review. A professional horticulturist hasn't reviewed our plant table yet. Lists still follow fixed rules for zone, sun, pets, deer and invasive status.
The plant list
12 × 6 ft · Zone 4 · 6+ hours of sun · Cottage
Physocarpus opulifolius 'Seward'
Structure · Back of bed · 3-gallon pot · 5 ft apart · grows 5–6 ft tall · Jun
Can't find it? Use Dwarf panicle hydrangea 'Little Lime' or Shrubby cinquefoil (potentilla) 'Goldfinger'.
Calamagrostis × acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'
Grass · Back of bed · 1-gallon pot · 2 ft apart · grows 4–5 ft tall · Jun–Jul
Can't find it? Use Tufted hair grass.
Echinacea purpurea
Filler · Back of bed · 1-gallon pot · 1.5 ft apart · grows 2–4 ft tall · Jun–Sep
Can't find it? Use Blue false indigo or Siberian iris 'Caesar's Brother'.
Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red'
Filler · Middle of bed · 1-gallon pot · 1.5 ft apart · grows 2–3 ft tall · May–Jun
Can't find it? Use Blue false indigo or Siberian iris 'Caesar's Brother'.
Iberis sempervirens 'Purity'
Edge · Edge of bed · quart pot · 1.3 ft apart · grows 0.5–1 ft tall · Apr–May
Can't find it? Use Creeping phlox or Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch'.
Kinds
5
Plants
23
Coverage
83%
Mulch
9 bags
Mulch: 0.67 cu yd at 3 in deep (9 bags of 2 cu ft). Plants cover about 83% of the 72 sq ft bed when mature.
- Zone 4
- Midwest summers (e.g. Minnesota)
- 6 or more hours of sun
- Cottage style
- 12 × 6 ft bed
When to plant in zone 4
- Spring planting
- late May to late June
- Fall planting
- late August to mid-September
- Typical last spring frost
- early to late May
- Typical first fall frost
- mid- to late September
Typical dates for zone 4. Your own dates can differ by two weeks or more; check with a local nursery or extension office.
Why these rules
Full sun means 6 or more hours of direct sun in summer. That opens up the widest choice of flowering plants, but beds in full sun also dry out fastest, so mulch matters.
Zone 4 only describes winter: the coldest night of an average year falls between -30°F and -20°F. This list was composed for the Midwest, with humid summers and cold continental winters, so plants that fail in those summers were left out even where the zone says they would survive.
We let the engine choose the style with the most eligible plants for these conditions; here that is cottage. A cottage bed is loose and generous: several kinds of flowering plants that overlap through the season, with a shrub to hold the back.
The sample bed is 12 × 6 ft: 5 kinds and 23 plants. Taller plants go at the back, grasses and mid-height flowers in the middle and low plants along the front edge, each planted in a group so the bed reads as one planting. Quantities come from each plant's spacing, so a bigger or smaller bed changes the numbers, not the logic.
Also eligible
Every other plant in our table that passes the same rules (54 in all, including the 5 above). Swap any of these in within the same role.
Show the 49 other eligible plants
Anchor
Structure
Grass
Filler
- Aromatic aster 'October Skies'
- Balloon flower
- Bearded iris
- Bee balm
- Black-eyed Susan 'Goldsturm'
- Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun'
- Blazing star
- Blue false indigo
- Butterfly weed
- Cardinal flower
- Catmint 'Walker's Low'
- Garden peony 'Sarah Bernhardt'
- Garden phlox 'David'
- Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe'
- Meadow sage 'May Night'
- New England aster 'Purple Dome'
- Rocky Mountain columbine
- Rough goldenrod 'Fireworks'
- Russian sage
- Shasta daisy 'Becky'
- Siberian iris 'Caesar's Brother'
- Spike speedwell 'Royal Candles'
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Moonbeam'
- Wild bergamot
- Wild columbine
- Yarrow 'Moonshine'
Questions and answers
- How many plants do I need for a 12 × 6 ft bed?
- This list uses 23 plants of 5 kinds for a 12 × 6 ft bed (72 sq ft), spaced so they cover about 83% of the bed when mature. Add 9 bags of mulch (2 cu ft) to cover it 3 inches deep.
- When should I plant in zone 4?
- In zone 4, plant in spring from late May to late June, or in fall from late August to mid-September. Typical last spring frost is early to late May and first fall frost mid- to late September; your own dates can differ by two weeks or more.
- What if I can't find Ninebark 'Summer Wine'?
- Use Dwarf panicle hydrangea 'Little Lime' or Shrubby cinquefoil (potentilla) 'Goldfinger': they fill the same role and pass the same rules. Every plant on the list shows two substitutes like this.
- How many plants pass these conditions?
- 54 plants in our table pass the rules for 6 or more hours of direct summer sun in zone 4. The ones not used in the sample bed are listed above by role.
How this page was made
This page was generated from FloraVista's plant table by fixed rules: the same rules engine that builds paid lists filtered the table for the conditions above, picked plants by role and worked out quantities for the sample bed. No person or chat model chose these plants, and no named expert has reviewed this list.
Data status: the plant table is awaiting review by a horticulturist. Check each plant with a local nursery or extension office before you buy.
Sources
- Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, state extension services and the USDA PLANTS database (zones, size, sun, water, bloom, native range)
- ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists (dog and cat toxicity)
- Rutgers NJAES and regional extension deer-resistance ratings
- State noxious-weed and invasive-plant lists and the Invasive Plant Atlas of the US
- Typical US garden-centre listings (pot size and price band)
Generated . How FloraVista chooses plants