For the longest time, tall plants have been relegated to the back of the garden, up against a fence or off to a corner, shunted aside like that 6-foot seventh-grader who was always in the last row for class photos.
But a flower bed of 4-, 5- or 6-foot plants can be functional and rewarding - and quite an attention-getter as well.
"One of my friends calls them 55-mile-an-hour plants," says Justin W. Hancock, a Better Homes and Gardens garden editor since 2003 and now the senior garden editor for the magazine's Web site ( bhg.com). "They catch your attention even when you're flying down the highway at 55 miles an hour."
Some gardeners can be intimidated by tall plants, he said, assuming there's extra work involved because they all need to be staked. That may be true for some varieties, such as delphiniums, but not others, such as sunflowers and cannas.
"Another thing I like about them is privacy," Hancock says. "They're a great way to screen views, especially if you live in some of these suburban areas where your neighbors' deck is 10 feet from yours. You don't have room for a hedge. You don't want to put in a fence. But some of these taller perennials will give you nice coverage over the summer season and into the fall."
Even if a gardener does think big, finding the right tall plants can be a challenge. "I think [interest in taller plants] is diminishing," Hancock says. "It's so much easier to ship compact plants. Put them on the truck, they're damaged less. So more and more plant breeders are trying to get their plants smaller and smaller."
Still, there are enough large flowers available to put on a flashy show (and many even grow better from seed, making them a great value).
