The winner: Great Blue Lobelia , 100/100. Tied for second at 95: Black‑eyed Susan, Cosmos, Daylily, Marigolds .
Every flower here is scored by the same 5 published rules, using one open table of 85 flowers. No taste, no sponsors: tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it.
The picks
The flowers that won The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
100 100 WINNER WINNER YFG INDEX Documented clay tolerance: wet soil, heavy shade, salt, clay soil · Moisture regime fit: medium to wet soil · Set-and-forget upkeep: low
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
wants consistently moist ground; toxic to cats
Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B) Not for cat households
100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 wet soil, heavy shade, salt, clay soil
Moisture regime fit 25 / 25 medium to wet soil
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 4 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 3 to 9
95 95 LOW-EFFORT PICK LOW-EFFORT PICK YFG INDEX Documented clay tolerance: drought, heat, clay soil, salt · Moisture regime fit: medium · Set-and-forget upkeep: low
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no flaw on record
Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B)
95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, heat, clay soil, salt
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 4 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 3 to 8
Also great Close behind on points. Neither beats the winner overall, but each is the better answer in a garden the winner would not suit.
95 95 ALSO GREAT ALSO GREAT YFG INDEX Documented clay tolerance: drought, heat, poor soil, sandy dry soil, clay soil · Moisture regime fit: medium · Set-and-forget upkeep: low
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no vase data in the postharvest literature
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C)
95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, heat, poor soil, sandy dry soil, clay soil
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 5 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 2 to 11
95 95 ALSO GREAT ALSO GREAT YFG INDEX Documented clay tolerance: drought, salt, heat, erosion, clay soil, poor soil, wet soil · Moisture regime fit: medium · Set-and-forget upkeep: low
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
toxic to cats
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C) Not for cat households
95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, salt, heat, erosion, clay soil, poor soil, wet soil
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 5 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 3 to 9
The protocol
How the score is built 5 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Documented clay tolerance 35 points a clay tag from extension sources 35; absence is not proof of failure, 10 Read from: stress tolerances.
Moisture regime fit 25 points clay holds water: plants that accept slow drainage score high Read from: how much water it wants.
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 points Read straight from how much upkeep extension guides report.
Bloom window 15 points Read straight from the months it is in bloom.
Cold-zone reach 10 points Read straight from the zones it survives.
Open to all 85 flowers of the table. Scores are never sponsored
and never sold. The full method ↗
The leaderboard
The top ten The 10 highest of 85 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
1 100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 wet soil, heavy shade, salt, clay soil
Moisture regime fit 25 / 25 medium to wet soil
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 4 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 3 to 9
2 95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, heat, clay soil, salt
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 4 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 3 to 8
2 95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, heat, poor soil, sandy dry soil, clay soil
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 5 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 2 to 11
2 95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, salt, heat, erosion, clay soil, poor soil, wet soil
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 5 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 3 to 9
2 95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 heat, clay soil
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 5 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 2 to 11
2 95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, heat, salt, black walnut, clay soil, wet soil, urban, wind
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 6 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 2 to 10
7 91 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, clay soil, poor soil
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 11 / 15 3 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 2 to 11
8 88 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, heat, clay soil, sandy dry soil
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 6 months
Cold-zone reach 3 / 10 8 to 10
8 88 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, heat, clay soil, sandy dry soil, wet soil
Moisture regime fit 20 / 25 medium
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 4 months
Cold-zone reach 3 / 10 8 to 10.5
10 87 / 100 tap for the breakdown Documented clay tolerance 35 / 35 drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, clay soil, salt
Moisture regime fit 12 / 25 dry to medium soil
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Bloom window 15 / 15 6 months
Cold-zone reach 10 / 10 3 to 9
The winner's badge Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Great Blue Lobelia
The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the
table changes, it re-scores itself.
100 100 BEST FOR CLAY BEST FOR CLAY YFG INDEX · WINNER 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 a job is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is
named. Nothing here is sponsored, and no score can be bought. When the table changes, every
score and stamp updates itself.
The full method ↗
