The winner: Viburnum, 90/100. Tied for second at 87: Great Blue Lobelia, Scarlet Sage.
A rain garden floods on Tuesday and bakes by Friday, and only species with a documented wet-soil record are allowed in. The shortlist is small and honest, ranked on bloom between storms, habitat value, upkeep and deer.
The picks
The flowers that won
The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
Bloom between storms: 2 months · Habitat value of the basin: 3 documented · Care while it grows: low
Flaws, not dealbreakers:the show is short, about 2 months; no vase data in the postharvest literature
Deer: rarely damaged (Rutgers A)
78/ 100tap for the breakdown
Bloom between storms8 / 302 months
Habitat value of the basin25 / 253 documented
Care while it grows25 / 25low
Stands up to deer20 / 20A
The protocol
How the score is built
4 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Bloom between storms30 pointseight or more months 30; six to seven 26; four to five 23; three 15; two 8; one 3; no bloom data 8 Read from: the months it is in bloom.
Habitat value of the basin25 pointsfeeds three or more pollinator groups 25; two 18; one 10; none documented 5 Read from: pollinator groups.
Care while it grows25 pointslow upkeep 25; middling 14; demanding 4; sources disagree, we average the range; no rating 12 Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.
Stands up to deer20 pointsRutgers A, rarely damaged 20; B 14; C 6; D, deer candy 0; not rated 9 Read from: the Rutgers deer rating.
Not ranked here: no documented tolerance of periodically wet soil.
The full method ↗
The leaderboard
The top ten
The 10 highest of 11 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
Care while it grows20 / 25low, medium (mean of range)
Stands up to deer14 / 20B
Considered, not chosen
Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this question is not theirs.
no documented tolerance of periodically wet soilRoses, Tulips, Peonies and 71 more
The winner's badge
Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Viburnum
The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the
table changes, it re-scores itself.
How we rank
We keep one table of 85 flowers,
with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is
a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made
it. A flower that does not fit the question is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is
shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself.
The full method ↗
