10 Splashy Bicolor Annuals and Perennials
Flowers come in many colors and many forms. One often overlooked type are flowers that feature more than one color. Bicolor blooms come in a myriad of types and in almost every color under the rainbow. They can sport an eye that contrasts to the petal edges, stripes, one color grading into another or a petal edge that contrasts with the main flower color, just to name a few. These bicolored blooms can be a great addition to any garden. Bicolor flowers have become ever more popular over the past few years. I suppose that really shouldn’t be surprising, after all what’s not to love!
Patterned petunias are back in style! This adorably ruffled, white petunia is decorated with a magenta pink star pattern on every flower. Don’t let its good looks fool you: this pretty petunia is every bit as durable and floriferous as all of our Supertunia petunias, blooming like crazy from spring through fall without having to remove the spent flowers. Grow it in your hanging baskets, upright containers and window boxes either on its own or paired with your other favorite flowers. 6-12” tall x 18-24” spread. Part sun to sun. |
Gardeners love plants with bicolor blossoms, and the soft lavender and white striped flowers of the new Superbena Stormburst are no exception. Like all of our Superbena Verbenas, it produces large clusters of flowers through the heat of summer without going to seed and is exceptionally resistant to powdery mildew. Pair it with your favorite flowers in hanging baskets, upright containers and window boxes and enjoy its pretty blooms from spring through fall. 6-12” tall x 18-30” spread. Part sun to sun. |
The first in a new sub-series of smaller lantanas, this restrained selection is a bit more petite but packs the same dynamite bloom power as its big brothers and sisters. It fits easily in containers and window boxes either grow on its own or paired with other sun loving plants. Clusters of fragrant, hot pink and yellow bicolor blooms attract pollinators all season. Like all Luscious lantanas, it produces little to no seed and is heat and drought tolerant, which helps to keep the plants blooming from spring through fall. 12-26” tall x 12-24” spread. Full sun. |
If your porch, patio or window boxes are located in full blazing sun, this is the plant for you. This vigorous annual thrives in heat and doesn’t mind if the soil dries out a bit now and then. Its deep orange and yellow bicolor flowers keep right on coming from spring into fall atop the bushy, green foliage. Try pairing it with the new Luscious® Royale Cosmo which thrives in the same conditions. 12-18” tall x 18-24” spread. Full sun. |
This cheerful new Superbells is fun to mix with just about any other color in combination containers, hanging baskets and window boxes on a sunny porch or patio. Each magenta pink bloom is decorated with a creamy white star pattern. They appear on cascading stems from spring to fall without having to remove the spent flowers, so use it as a filler or spiller in your containers. Calibrachoa grows best in containers with good drainage, so make sure there is at least one hole in the bottom of the one you use. 6-12” tall x 12-24” spread. Part sun to sun. |
Easier to handle than most rambunctious black-eyed Susan vines, this more restrained selection is fun to use as a climbing thriller in combination containers when planted against a small trellis or grown up the wires of a hanging basket. You could also grow it in the landscape as a quick screen on chain link fences or allow it to scramble up and around your mailbox. Tangerine Slice A-Peel is dotted with bicolor orange and yellow flowers with a black eye from spring through fall. 5-8’ tall x 1.5-2’ spread. Part sun to sun.
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A dazzling new addition. ‘Azure Snow’ brings incredible refinement to the intriguing bicolor category of Salvia. ‘Azure Snow’ produces a refined, compact clump of deep violet blue and white bicolor flowers with attractive dark green foliage. Flowers are evenly and closely spaced on the stem for a full, polished look. Salvia is a staple for every sunny garden. It asks little more than sunshine and a little drink every once in a while in return for producing a bountiful mass of colorful flower spires from late spring into early summer. 18-20” tall x 18-20” spread. Sun. Perennial in Zones 3-8 |
When you have so many colorful members of the DECADENCE® Baptisia, it’s hard to imagine a new hue! However, ‘Pink Lemonade’ does just that with its unique bicolor flower spikes, the first bicolor of the series. In late spring to early summer, soft yellow flowers age to dusty raspberry purple, and both colors appear on the stem at the same time. Charcoal stems really make the colors pop. Forms an incredibly full and bushy habit—a perfect substitution for shrubs if you’re looking for structure in the garden. ‘Pink Lemonade’ is part of a subgroup DECADENCE® DELUXE, a reference to its taller, vase-shaped habit. It joins ‘Pink Truffles’, a solid pink counterpart. 3½ - 4’ tall x 4’ spread. Part Sun to Sun. Perennial in Zones 4-9 |
There are only a few plants that can stop you in your tracks as you walk by, and this sparkling new Dianthus in the FRUIT PUNCH® series is one of them. ‘Cherry Vanilla’ is the first member of the collection, with fully double, carnation-like flowers. 1.5in wide, deep red flowers have a sharply contrasting, very light pink picotee edge that makes the color pop. The sweetly scented flowers appear proportionately above the narrow, blue-green foliage. 6-8” tall x 8-13” Spread. Part sun to sun. Perennial in Zones 4-9 |
‘Cherry Choco Latte’ is a brand new, long blooming Hibiscus with a smaller size that is more suitable for tighter spaces. Very large, 8-9” three-dimensional flowers are white with intense deep pink veining and a notably large red eye. Attractive dark olive green foliage has bronze highlights and forms a compact clump, with flowers covering the entire habit later in the season. ‘Cherry Choco Latte’ replaces ‘Cherry Cheesecake’ in the Proven Winners® lineup with larger flowers and improved flower form, more pronounced veining on the petals, darker foliage, and an improved, compact habit. 4’ tall x 4’ Spread. Part Sun to Sun. Perennial in Zones 4-9 |
SUPERTUNIA® Lovie Dovie Petunia 
SUPERBENA® Stormburst Verbena 
LUSCIOUS® Royale Cosmo Lantana 
SUPERBELLS® RISING STAR
Tangerine Slice A-PEEL® Thunbergia 
Salvia COLOR SPIRES® ‘Azure Snow’
Baptisia DECADENCE® DELUXE ‘Pink Lemonade’ 
Dianthus FRUIT PUNCH® ‘Cherry Vanilla’ 
Hibiscus SUMMERIFIC® ‘Cherry Choco Latte’ Learn more from Proven Winners through these resources:
Article: Designing with Bicolor
Pinterest: Plants with Bicolor Blooms
