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Pet-safe plants for a sunny border

Sun plants with no toxicity recorded for dogs, cats or horses, checked against the ASPCA and NC State.

Every plant here has been checked against the ASPCA's lists of plants toxic to pets, NC State's toxicity ratings, or both, and no toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats or horses. A plant that has not been checked is left out, however harmless it is thought to be: on this site, an unchecked plant is never called safe.

Not toxic is not the same as edible. A dog that eats a mouthful of any plant can be sick, and grass awns and spiny seed heads cause their own trouble. If a pet eats something and seems unwell, call your vet or a pet poison helpline.

513 plants: 255 perennials, 2 ferns, 12 bulbs, 52 grasses and 192 shrubs.

The dozen to start with

  • Creeping phlox

    Creeping phlox

    6 in · mid April to mid May

    A low, spreading mat that turns into a sheet of colour in spring.

  • Creeping thyme

    Creeping thyme

    3 in · early June to mid July

    A fragrant, ground-hugging mat that is covered in tiny flowers in early summer.

  • Black-eyed Susan

    Black-eyed Susan

    24 in · mid July to mid September · host plant

    Masses of golden, dark-centred flowers from midsummer into fall.

  • Catmint 'Walker's Low'

    Catmint 'Walker's Low'

    24 in · mid May to mid September

    A tough, drought-tolerant mound of soft grey-green leaves and lavender-blue flowers that bees love.

  • Rosemary

    Rosemary

    4 ft · early March to early May

    The kitchen herb: a dense, aromatic, evergreen shrub with needle-like leaves and small, pale blue flowers from late winter into spring.

  • Grape hyacinth

    Grape hyacinth

    6 in · mid April to early May

    Tight spikes of cobalt-blue beads that make a river of colour under taller spring bulbs.

  • Common lilac

    Common lilac

    11½ ft · early May to late May · host plant

    The lilac of old farmyards: large, heavily scented flower trusses in lilac, purple, white or pink in mid-spring, on a tall, suckering shrub that can live for a century.

  • Sasanqua camellia

    Sasanqua camellia

    8 ft · early October to mid December

    A camellia that flowers in autumn and early winter, with smaller leaves, a looser habit and masses of single or semi-double, lightly scented flowers.

  • Rose of Sharon

    Rose of Sharon

    10 ft · mid July to mid September

    An upright shrub with hollyhock-like flowers in pink, purple, white or violet-blue from midsummer to autumn, when few shrubs flower.

  • Little bluestem

    Little bluestem

    3 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant

    Blue-green summer blades turn copper and bronze in autumn and hold their colour through winter.

  • Canna

    Canna

    5 ft · early July to early October · host plant

    Huge, paddle-shaped leaves, green, bronze or striped, topped with bright flowers in red, orange, yellow or pink from midsummer to frost.

  • Pink muhly grass

    Pink muhly grass

    3 ft · mid September to early November

    In October a quiet mound of wiry, dark green leaves disappears under a billowing cloud of vivid pink that looks like cotton candy.

A bed planned only from these plants

The planner was given only the plants on this page that suit zone 6 and full sun, and designed this 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) bed from them when the page was made.

A 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) bed at eye level in mid June: Yellow ice plant, Verbena 'Homestead Purple', Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky', Tatarian aster 'Jindai', Mugo pine 'Mops', Wild quinine, Eastern bee balm, Variegated lilyturf, Striped squill, Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola', Grape hyacinth.
A 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, full sun, seen from the path in mid June.
3. Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky'33. Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky'33. Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky'34. Tatarian aster 'Jindai'44. Tatarian aster 'Jindai'44. Tatarian aster 'Jindai'45. Mugo pine 'Mops'51. Yellow ice plant11. Yellow ice plant11. Yellow ice plant11. Yellow ice plant11. Yellow ice plant12. Verbena 'Homestead Purple'22. Verbena 'Homestead Purple'22. Verbena 'Homestead Purple'22. Verbena 'Homestead Purple'26. Wild quinine66. Wild quinine66. Wild quinine64. Tatarian aster 'Jindai'48. Variegated lilyturf88. Variegated lilyturf88. Variegated lilyturf87. Eastern bee balm77. Eastern bee balm77. Eastern bee balm78. Variegated lilyturf88. Variegated lilyturf88. Variegated lilyturf88. Variegated lilyturf88. Variegated lilyturf88. Variegated lilyturf88. Variegated lilyturf88. Variegated lilyturf82. Verbena 'Homestead Purple'21. Yellow ice plant11. Yellow ice plant11. Yellow ice plant110. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'10. Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola'11. Grape hyacinth11. Grape hyacinth11. Grape hyacinth11. Grape hyacinth11. Grape hyacinth11. Grape hyacinth11. Grape hyacinth11. Grape hyacinth9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill9. Striped squill
From above, to scale. Each circle is one plant, as wide as the room it needs.

The plants

  1. 1 Yellow ice plant × 8, yellow
  2. 2 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 5, purple
  3. 3 Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky' × 3, tan
  4. 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 4, purple
  5. 5 Mugo pine 'Mops' × 1, dark green leaves
  6. 6 Wild quinine × 3, white
  7. 7 Eastern bee balm × 3, pink
  8. 8 Variegated lilyturf × 11, lavender
  9. 9 Striped squill × 12, blue
  10. 10 Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola' × 12, blue
  11. 11 Grape hyacinth × 8, blue

Planned as an English border: 8 of the 10 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The scheme leans cool (purple, pink, lavender and blue) and uses yellow for warmth, with tan and white to calm things between them. The back corners are held by Tatarian aster 'Jindai' and switchgrass 'Prairie Sky', the tallest plants on the plan.

The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.

Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.

All 513 plants

Show all 513, by where they go in a bed

Front of a bed 132

Middle of a bed 155

Back of a bed 226

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