The winner: Petunia, 90/100. Runner-up: Daylily at 81.
Every list like this quietly treats never rated as safe. Here a flower enters only if ASPCA explicitly lists it non-toxic to dogs; the shortlist is then ranked as a garden plant: bloom, upkeep, yard toughness and the rest of the household.
The picks
The flowers that won
The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
Beauty season it gives back: 5 months · Care while it grows: low · Tough enough for the dog's yard: both: clay soil, drought, erosion, heat, poor soil, salt, wet soil
Flaws, not dealbreakers:toxic to cats
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C)Not for cat households
81/ 100tap for the breakdown
Beauty season it gives back23 / 305 months
Care while it grows20 / 20low
Tough enough for the dog's yard15 / 15both: clay soil, drought, erosion, heat, poor soil, salt, wet soil
Lives where the dog lives8 / 15no published rating
Color choice for the catalog shopper10 / 108 documented
Fragrance5 / 10light
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.
Beauty season it gives back: 6 months · Care while it grows: low, medium (mean of range) · Tough enough for the dog's yard: both: clay soil, drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, salt, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky
Flaws, not dealbreakers:no vase data in the postharvest literature
Color choice for the catalog shopper7 / 104 documented
Fragrance4 / 10no published rating
The protocol
How the score is built
6 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Beauty season it gives back30 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.
Care while it grows20 pointslow upkeep 20; middling 12; demanding 4; sources disagree, we average the range; no rating 10 Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.
Tough enough for the dog's yard15 pointsshrugs off both drought and poor soil 15; drought only 11; poor soil only 7; neither documented 3; no data 6 Read from: stress tolerances.
Lives where the dog lives15 pointslives indoors year-round 15; temporary indoor bloom 11; garden and yard plant 8 Read from: indoor viability.
Color choice for the catalog shopper10 pointsfive or more documented colors 10; three to four 7; two 4; single color 2; no data 4 Read from: flower color.
Fragrance10 pointsroom-filling scent 10; noticeable up close 8; light 5; documented scentless 3; sources silent 4 Read from: how strong the scent is on record.
Not ranked here: never evaluated as non-toxic to dogs by ASPCA: safety cannot be assumed.
The full method ↗
The leaderboard
The top ten
The 10 highest of 24 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
Tough enough for the dog's yard11 / 15a only: drought, sandy dry soil
Lives where the dog lives8 / 15no published rating
Color choice for the catalog shopper7 / 104 documented
Fragrance8 / 10moderate
Considered, not chosen
Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this question is not theirs.
never evaluated as non-toxic to dogs by ASPCA: safety cannot be assumed (statusTulips, Peonies, Hydrangea macrophylla and 58 more
!A note on pet safety.This page reports what published sources say: the ASPCA lists and university extensions. It is not veterinary advice, and no plant list is ever complete. If your pet may have chewed any plant, do not wait for symptoms: call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.
The winner's badge
Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Petunia
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 ↗
