Living walls or green walls and the plants that grow on them are similar in concept to green roofs, but are quite different in execution. While green-roof plants are usually low-maintenance, drought-tolerant species, plants for living walls can include more intensively managed species. Here at Plant Delights Nursery, we have an enormous on-line plant catalog and have searched through it to create this mini-catalog of plants for living green walls that look great hanging out in the garden.
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Dichromena colorata
Item #: 4757
Zones: 7a to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dicliptera suberecta
Item #: 1285
Zones: 7a to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Disporopsis bakerorum 'Bill Baker'
Item #: 17094
Zones: 6a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per
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Disporopsis pernyi 'Little Hulk'
Item #: 16908
Zones: 6a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per
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Sold outDisporopsis pernyi 'Xiao Chengdu'
Item #: 3977
Zones: 6a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 10" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Disporum flavens
Item #: 691
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Korea
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dryopteris affinis ssp. affinis
Item #: 3724
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: England
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dryopteris affinis 'The King'
Item #: 2257
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dryopteris cambrensis
Item #: 2108
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'
Item #: 5293
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Eastern Asia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dryopteris erythrosora var. prolifica
Item #: 4754
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Eastern Asia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dryopteris kinkiensis 'Green Hans'
Item #: 7602
Zones: 7a to 9b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: China, Japan, Korea
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dryopteris ludoviciana
Item #: 611
Zones: 6a to 9b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dryopteris nipponensis
Item #: 5152
Zones: 6a to 9b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan, Korea
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dryopteris pseudofilix-mas
Item #: 3879
Zones: 5a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Echeveria runyonii 'Topsy Turvy'
Item #: 8928
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 6" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Engelmannia peristenia 'Bergheim'
Item #: 8775
Zones: 5a to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Epimedium 'Amber Queen'
Item #: 8191
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Epimedium 'Cranberry Dancer' PP36548
Item #: 17338
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outEpimedium 'Crime Scene'
Item #: 17383
Zones: 5a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Epimedium 'Domino'
Item #: 8493
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outEpimedium 'Dream Catcher' PP36549
Item #: 17336
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Epimedium 'Golden Angels'
Item #: 14840
Zones: 5b to 8b, guessing
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outEpimedium grandiflorum 'Dark Beauty'
Item #: 6231
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per
More Information About Living Wall
The Best Plants for Interior Living Walls
Some green walls/living walls are interior-scape structures that contain evergreen foliage plants and flowering plants embedded in a vertical hydroponic rack. The plants embedded in the interior living wall are like living wallpaper. Large scale interior living walls can be seen in luxury hotel lobbies, large malls or airports. The best plants for these types of green living walls are deep shade-tolerant species with arching foliage such as aspidistra, evergreen ferns, heuchera and heucherella.
The Best Plants for Outdoor Living Walls
Most living wall installations occur outdoors, on patio walls. The plants for these green living walls need to be more sun tolerant, and since they are outdoors also need to be tolerant of weather. In addition to the plants listed above, sedum and other succulents can be used, as can ornamental grasses like carex, liriope and ophiopogon. Outdoor green living walls tend to change color throughout the season which is a nice effect.
Backyard Green Living Walls
On the smallest scale, are backyard green living walls. These can be as simple as hanging a terra-cotta pot on a wall or fence, trellising a small tree or vine along a wall, or installing a small planter with a picture frame around it. The plants in small scale living walls may be irrigated by hand or with drip tube. Small scale living walls don't necessarily need to contain just evergreen plants. Thus, backyard green living walls are the most flexible of all. Some of our favorite plants for small scale green living walls are agave, dicentra, helleborus, lobelia, salvia, rubus and acorus.