It’s that time of year when store shelves are filled with chocolate bunnies and foil-wrapped eggs. Yum! But what if we could save a few calories and fill our gardens with chocolate?
It’s possible!
Ok, your garden won’t be filled with milk chocolate bunnies and a Willa Wonka chocolate river, but there are several plants that will create a deep, rich chocolate feeling.
Everybody loves cosmos, so why not double the joy and plant chocolate cosmos? This annual likes full sun and well-drained soil. When happy, it will grow to 30 inches tall and up to 18 inches wide. The deep maroon flowers not only look like chocolate, but if you’re lucky, you will notice the slight chocolate aroma.
If you have room for a climber, try the chocolate vine. Give it room and full sun, and watch it climb up to 30 feet high, producing purple-white blooms in late spring. Some consider this vine invasive, so pick your spot carefully and know it may need vigorous pruning.
Coleus plants are a mainstay in my gardens. They are dependable plants that grow in the sun or shade. Look for Dark Chocolate or Chocolate Mint coleus to add deep color to your containers or garden beds.
Yellow sunflowers are tall golden globes of sunshine. Chocolate sunflowers have the same big seed head but it is surrounded by golden-brown petals. These annuals grow 48 inches tall and up to 24 inches wide.
Chocolate Joe Pye Weed will prove butterflies love chocolate, too. Pollinators will flock to this perennial. The tall, purplish-brown foliage is showcased by white flowers that bloom in the late summer and early fall.
If you live in an area without deer, try planting the Sweet Hot Chocolate or Chocolate Candy Daylily. These perennials will reach about 24 inches high and perform best in a slightly shaded area. Deer love daylilies. When they bloom at the little house on the big hill, the flowers are gone the next day, and deer tracks in the soil and mulch are evidence of the culprits.
Other shade-loving perennials are Chocolate Ruffles and Mocha Coral Bells. Look for early copper leaves to appear then change into deep purple later in the season. Small white flowers will appear on spikes in early summer. These deep colors are a fun contrast to lime greens in the garden.
Heart-Attack Sweet William is a perennial that flowers in the spring and summer. Its fragrant blooms are deep red—almost brownish in color.
Chocolate Chip Ajuga is a low groundcover that can and will spread to cover an area with a few seasons. Some say ajuga can be invasive. I say plant where it has room to spread. Ajuga, or bugleweed, has dense brownish-green foliage and pretty purplish blooms in the spring.
If you are looking for a show-stopper, or, in retail lingo, a pause point, try Intrigue Canna. The large, deep purple leaves and stems grow straight up, reaching as high as 8 feet. Orange blooms will appear late summer, but the stunning foliage is why we love cannas. Grown from rhizomes, after the first frost, cut the leaves back and dig the rhizome to overwinter in a cool, dark space until time to plant the following spring.
I always say gardeners love chocolate – or at least this gardener loves chocolate. My advice is to plant chocolate in the garden, then treat yourself to a little chocolate after the work is done. After all, only Willy Wonka has Oompa-Loompas that help with the garden chores.