Flowers That Grow Well in Damp Moist Places

USDA Zone 3

• Goat's beard is a perennial able to withstand cold, making it a possibility in USDA zone 3 rock gardens and shade gardens. Acclimated to the shade, goat's beard blooms in late spring and produces tiny white flowers. Another flower for damp scenes is the swamp milkweed, which flourishes in swamps and wet meadows in a wild setting. Swamp milkweed blooms in July and August, growing to 5 feet high and featuring flowers in different shades of white, purple and pink. Perennials including sneezeweed, Siberian iris, turtle head and cardinal flower grow within zone 3 in moist places.

USDA Zone 5

• No American lily found in the wild grows taller than the Turk's cap lily, a wet soil option that develops to 6 feet high from bulbs. The lily's petals turn backward to form a shape reminiscent of the plant's name; these flowers are solid choices for the edges of ponds in USDA zone 5. The coldest climes of zone 5 may be too harsh for grassy, leaved sweet flag cultivars like Ogon, but the southern part of zone 5 supports this flower. It even grows in shallow water, generating green-yellow flowers and serving as ground cover. The zone is well within the growing range of turtle head, a late-blooming flower with long, erect stems on which the flowers emerge.

USDA Zone 7

• One glance at the six, narrow extensions spreading away from the larger center of the spider lily flowers and you know how this bulbous perennial got its name. Never allow the ground in which you plant them to become dry; this lily grows in USDA zone 7. Shell flower, umbrella plant, queen of the prairie and purple-headed sneezeweed are other options for damp areas in zone 7. The zone is smack in the middle of the growing range of the hardy hibiscus and its many cultivars. Types such as 100 Degrees grow to 4 feet and they bloom during most of the summer, turning out flowers as wide as 9 inches.

USDA Zone 9

• A love of damp soil and an ability to grow in humid and hot places makes the butterfly lily a good fit for USDA zone 9 perennial borders. Butterfly lily, grows to 6 feet, blooms in late summer and produces aromatic white flowers. The true forget- me-not grows in standing water as deep as 3 inches in sun or shade. Flowering in June, July and August, this perennial's range ends in zone 9. Spiderwort, toad lily and ironweed are other flowers for this zone's moist areas.