Over the last two decades, green roofs and green walls have emerged as popular ways to garden and help the environment too.
We have assembled a list of many great plants for green roofs from our massive on-line plant catalog and have included plants that are widely used. A good green roof will have at least 10 different plant species in order to provide visual interest, attract the widest variety of wildlife, and prevent the disease problems of monoculture (if one species falters, there are several others to replace it). Due to climatic differences, a green roof in Seattle will have different plants than a green roof in Atlanta.
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Anisacanthus wrightii
Item #: 5119
Zones: 7a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico, United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Antirrhinum glutinosum 'White Hot'
Item #: 11833
Zones: 7b to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 8" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Spain
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Antirrhinum hispanicum
Item #: 8364
Zones: 5a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Morocco, Spain
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Artemisia frigida 'Silver Eagle'
Item #: 17117
Zones: 3a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per
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Asparagus cochinchinensis 'Graham's Cracker'
Item #: 2154
Zones: 5a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Philippines, Taiwan, Tibet, Vietnam
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Asparagus tenuifolius 'Vodice'
Item #: 18109
Zones: 5a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Albania, Austria, Balkans, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per
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Aster mongolicus 'Hortensis'
Item #: 1219
Zones: 6a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Asia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aster savatieri 'Edo Murasaki'
Item #: 9582
Zones: 5a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Astrolepis sinuata
Item #: 3763
Zones: 7a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'American Goldfinch' PP 30,478
Item #: 17505
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 42" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia australis
Item #: 1182
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Blonde Bombshell' PP 26,828
Item #: 8740
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 40" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Blue Bunchkin'
Item #: 11848
Zones: 4a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 42" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Blue Candelabra'
Item #: 3951
Zones: 4a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 56" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Cherries Jubilee' PP 23,907
Item #: 9452
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Cherry Pie'
Item #: 3950
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 32" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Chrysalis'
Item #: 3946
Zones: 4a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Cinnamon Candles'
Item #: 3948
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 50" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Cloud 9'
Item #: 14274
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'First Blush'
Item #: 3947
Zones: 4a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 52" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Grape Escape' PP 36,083
Item #: 18438
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Lavender Candles'
Item #: 8340
Zones: 4a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Lavender Towers'
Item #: 11843
Zones: 4a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 65" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Baptisia 'Lighthouse'
Item #: 11837
Zones: 4a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 72" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per
More Information About Green Roofs
What do you do when you run out of room in your garden for new plants? Look up and you'll see the answer. Over the last two decades, green roofs and green walls have emerged as popular ways to garden and help the environment too.
What is the purpose of a green roof?
Other than aesthetics (plants for green roofs look great!) green roofs help the environment and reduce electricity consumption. Much like a shade tree, a green roof prevents sunlight from warming buildings during summer. Plants for green roofs also transpire water which provides evaporative cooling during summer. Green roof plants reduce winter heating costs because of their insulating effect. Plants for green roofs filter air pollutants and reduce stormwater runoff, keeping the local air and water clean.
What are the best green roof plants?
Any drought-tolerant, heat-tolerant, wind-tolerant, low-maintenance, sun-loving plant with a shallow root system is a good candidate for a green roof garden. Nationwide, the most widely used plants for green roofs include Sedum, Carex, Sempervivum, Opuntia cactus, Aster, Oregano, Dianthus, Rudbeckia, to name just a few.
Our list of plants for green roofs includes both extensive and semi-intensive green roof species for a variety of environments nationwide. Not every plant on this list will work well on every green roof. Green roofs are a fairly new field and we are always discovering new plants that perform well, so check back often for periodic updates.