Tall Water-Loving Plants in Zone 5

Tall Deciduous Shrubs

• Its ability to thrive in wet places makes the water-loving red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea) a candidate for zone 5 plantings. This tall deciduous shrub features attractive red twigs in winter, white flower clusters in spring and white berries in late summer. Use it to keep erosion in check; it grows to 10 feet tall. If you plant white alder (Clethra barbinervis) in places protected from winter gusts, it will survive in zone 5. This 10- to 20-foot-tall shrub is a native of China and Japan. It has interesting peeling bark, notes the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Tall Perennials

• Consider using Turn of the Century, a hardy hibiscus cultivar, near ponds and streams. This tall perennial grows back every year after you cut it down to about 4 inches late in the fall. Growing to as tall as 8 feet in a single growing season, Turn of the Century does great in wet soil and it generates a large flower, up to 9 inches across, from July into September. Swampy areas of a zone 5 landscape easily support the growth of the glossy-leaved aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum). This perennial develops to 8 feet tall and attracts butterflies with its violet-blue flowers. Blooming late in the season, during August and September, glossy-leaved aster produces plenty of seeds, enabling it to colonize a wet location.

Trees

• Cold hardiness within zone 5 is never in question for the golden willow (Salix alba var. vitellina). This tree from Europe, Asia and northern sections of Africa tolerates USDA zone 2. Golden willow loves moist soil in full sunshine, growing to 70 feet if you do not prune it. Golden willow does best as a tree in naturalized areas around water, where its bright yellow stems in winter stand out. Plant a sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) in a sheltered, wet location in zone 5 so it survives the winter. This tree loves damp, boggy ground and it generates aromatic, cream-white flowers in late spring. The leaves fall off this tree in zone 5, as opposed to it being evergreen in the Deep South. Sweetbay magnolia grows as tall as 35 feet.

More Tall Plants That Love Water

• A damp woodland garden is an ideal location for inkberry (Ilex glabra), a form of holly growing to 8 feet. Pollinated female plants yield black fruit the size of peas that birds feed upon in fall. A Turkscap lily (Lilium superbum) grows to 7 feet high around ponds and in other wet areas. The plant develops from bulbs. Plant them as deep as 6 inches into the moist soil in autumn, and they'll grow, forming colonies via their root system. The attractive orange flower, featuring maroon dots, blooms in July on this tall American plant. Panicum virgatum "Cloud Nine" is a cultivar of switch grass with light blue foliage, growing to 7 feet. Able to develop in dry soil, it does best in wet ones in zone 5, where you can employ it in meadows or wild gardens.