41 Best Plants for Front of House

Last Updated on October 31, 2021 by Phil

Are you landscaping your front yard? If so, here are the best plants for front of house.

And because there are so many different kinds of plants you can grow in front of your home, it can be difficult to figure out what kinds of plants to get.

To help you, we’ve broken things down to 4 different categories. By combining them, you’ll be able to get a multi-dimensional garden that always has something going on.

Best Plants for Front of House

Fast Blooming Flowers

Fast bloomers quickly bring your front yard to life. After all, who wants to wait 6 moths to a year for flowers to bloom. While they’re doing that, the front of your house will look bare.

These solve that problem since they’ll blossom in no time.

Chrysanthemum

Growing chrysanthemum gardens or beds in front of your house is a great idea because of how these colorful flowers can bring the front yard to life.

You can even use a combination of different colored mum to create an entire thick bush that’s sure to catch anyone’s attention.

These herbaceous perennials feature large beautiful blooms that come in pink, red, burgundy, yellow, white, purple and bronze.

They do best in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 9 where you can keep them outdoors all year long.

Clematis

Clematis like to grow on structures. As such, they’re best for fences, trellises or walls. This makes them perfect for adding vertical landscaping features to your front yard.

Their amazing violet colored blooms likewise add a splash of color.

Clematis can grow as high as 10 feet.

They thrive in full or partial sun. Thus, it is a good idea to keep them somewhere there’s a lot of sunlight exposure.

These are a good option if you live in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 to 8.

Sunflower

Sunflower will always rank high when it comes to the best plants for front of house. That’s because they’re big, bold, bright and beautiful.

They’ve got all the features you want to make your front yard stand out.

Plus, what not many people know is you can choose from different types of sunflowers. Some are giants which grow up to 10 feet tall. Others are smaller with the shortest ones getting to about 3 feet high.

The sizes also affect how big their blooms as. Thus, you can control the look of your garden depending on how big the front of your home is.

Sunflowers are summer bloomers. And, as their name will tell you, they need a lot of sunlight to maintain their stunning good looks.

Best of all, they do well almost anywhere. You can grow them outdoors all year long in USDA Hardiness Zones 2 through 11 without any issues.

Other Fast Growing Plants for Front of House

Portulaca
Coral Honeysuckle
Marigold
Petunia
Pansies
Butterfly Bush
Nasturtium
Calendula
Sweet Alyssum

Showstoppers

Once you’ve laid the basic foundation, colors and design of your front yard, its time to bring it the big guns. These are unique standouts that nobody else has.

Their patterns, colors, size and shape will easily distinguish your front yard amongst your neighbors.

Begonia ‘Escargot’

The Escargot is a variety of Rex Begonias. They are one of many other Rex Begonias that are beautiful to choose from.

That said, the escargot gets its name because their leaves are said to look like a snail.

Honestly, I don’t see the resemblance.

But, that doesn’t take away the amazingly beautiful patterns and colors featured on their foliage.

Go with the colored ones if you really want to wow people.

Rex begonias are foliage plants. As such, they’re not cherished for their blooms, although they do produce flowers. In fact, gardeners will remove the flowering stalks to keep the plant from expending its energy and resources on blooming.

This allows it to focus on its blooms.

Coleus

Coleus are another lovely plant for flower beds. They give you many different colors to choose from allowing you to color your garden any way you want.

Best of all these tropical plants are low maintenance. They can also grow easily in almost any garden condition.

That said, because of their tropical nature, they’re best suited for USDA Hardiness Zones 10 and 11 as they cannot tolerate frost.

Delphinium

If you need to add some height to your garden for fill the back areas of your yard, delphiniums are a great choice.

These are showy plants that grow upwards. You will need to support them with stakes though to keep them looking amazing.

That said, the flowers will grow on both sides to provide stunning backdrops or borders to flower beds.

Other Showstopper Plants for Front of House

Hollyhock
Summer Phlox
Ice Plant
Dahlia
Mallow (French Hollyhock)
Asiatic Lilies
Balloon Flower
Sneezeweed

Colorful Shrubs

If your front of house needs more colors, these are the plants you want to look at. They come in many different hues and bring bold colors to your yard.

Hydrangeas

There’s no way to make a list of the best plants for front of house without having hydrangeas in it.

These are among the most showy plants you’ll find. And, their large cloud like blooms feature amazing light pastel-like colors that make them different from most flowers.

These shrubs also get dense and thick which adds to their character.

If you live in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 9, you’ve got to consider hydrangeas especially if you want to add some volume to your front yard.

Bougainvillea

I’ll never leave out bougainvillea when it comes to plant decoration in front of house. That’s because I’ve seen the effect they can do with my own eyes.

I remember people, be it joggers, hikers or even delivery personnel just staring at my mom’s front yard because of this lovely shrub. It was around eye level with its bright pink-red flowers.

And, it was dense, making it the first thing people saw when they passed by our home.

I’ll never forget that as a kid.

I urge you to take a look at this plant if you need something that’s bright and bold in your front yard.

Rhododendron

These are amazing looking shrubs that feature different kinds of flowers. This lets you choose the size, shape and form of the blooms you prefer.

Of course, they come in a large multitude of colors which makes them an good choice for front of house.

However, one main drawback is that they are poisonous to people and pets. As such, if you want to grow them in your garden, you want to keep them in the back or areas where the kids or your pets don’t run around and play in.

Other Colorful Shrubs for Front of House

Rose of Sharon
Japanese Pieri
Lilac
Forsythia
Fothergilla
Azaleas

Low Maintenance Plants

Are you busy or want to save on water? Check out these plants. These are happy to be neglected. So, you only need to care for them once in a while.

Boxwood

Boxwood are popular landscaping plants because they’re easy to shape. Plus, their form makes them amazing for hedges, low fences and even privacy screens.

Note that there are dwarf versions as well which pack a lot of density which make them pretty to look at.

They work well as greenery in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 9 depending on the variety you choose.

Hosta

Hosta grow in clumps allowing them to create dense patches of beautiful round patches of large leaves in your front yard.

This makes them great for borders as well as the sides of beds to accent those areas.

Besides being easy to care for, they’re likewise easy to propagate. This makes it free to grow more of them if you need to.

And because they thrive in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 9, you can add them to your yard no matter where you live.

But, to optimize their foliage growth and colors, do use rich, fertile soil. Make sure that this drains excess moisture well as the plant does not like sitting in water.

Black Eyed Susan

Black eyed Susan are perfect for topping off low hedges or bushes. This will give those green sections of your garden a colorful layer of yellow which looks stunning from near and far.

This lovely herbaceous perennial is well know for its daisy-like petals and dark center. They come in yellow color which makes them perfect for adding brightness to any green areas that need a splash of color.

They do best outdoors all year round in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 7. And, need well-draining soil.

Their lovely flowers bloom during the summer. As such, you may want to complement it with flowers that bloom during other times of the year so your garden is always full of life.

Other Low Maintenance Plants for Front of House

Dwarf Spruce Shrubs
Spirea
Coneflower
Blue Star Juniper
Peonies
Zinnia