My 7 Favorite See-Through Plants for Layered Gardens

Dahlias, roses and hydrangeas command attention, while other plants go seemingly unnoticed. Yet their impact as the garden’s support staff — better known as see-through plants — is nothing short of a superpower in layered garden design. These airy garden plants float effortlessly above, through and next to plants with more presence, adding height without blocking the view. They bring movement, rhythm and dimension to a small garden, especially when a soft summer breeze rolls through. This subtle, easy elegance is what I love most in my own garden. See-through plants are one of my favorite tools for creating a light, open, beautifully layered garden.

See-through plants often have a tuft of foliage at their base that rarely grows taller than a foot. From that base rise wispy, wiry stems topped with diaphanous flowers. The beauty of these airy garden plants is that they can go anywhere in the garden — front, middle, back — regardless of their height. No matter where you plant them, they simply won’t block the view, letting every layer of the garden shine.

Here are seven of my favorite easy-to-grow floating flowers sure to add depth, interest and plenty of pollinators to your garden. They’re super easy to grow too!

Verbena bonariensis: A Classic for Layered Gardens

A lot of see-through plants are self-sowers and Verbena bonariensis is certainly one of them. I’ve always thought the name sounded like a disease, some sort of clinical diagnosis. (That first photo at the beginning of this blog post features my side yard garden and Verbena bonariensis popping through Rudbeckia ‘American Gold Rush.’)

I received a handful of seed several years ago at my local extension office seed swap and tossed them into the garden. That was about 15 years ago and I’ve had this wonderfully see-through pollinator powerhouse ever since. Fortunately, a quick run through with a garden hoe is all it takes to get rid of the ones you don’t want. The species, which is what I started with, tends to have a rangy growth habit to about three feet tall.

Voted the 2022 All America Selections (AAS) Ornamental Winner, Verbena bonariensis ‘Vanity’ is a more compact variety, fitting perfectly in my small suburban garden. I grew it from seed purchased from Renee’s Garden and loved its tighter growth habit. Thin 2.5′ stems gave way to deep purple flowers that persisted from early summer well into fall. Check out the AAS evaluation here.

For even tighter spots or container growing, consider dwarf varieties like Lollipop at 1′-2′ tall available from Select Seeds or Proven Winners’ Meteor Shower at 2′-2.5′ tall available from Gardening Crossings. Unlike Vanity, these verbena are available as plants, not seeds.

Rudbeckia maxima: A Tall Perennial That Adds Movement

Also called Large Coneflower or Dumbo’s Ears because of those big, gorgeous blue-green leaves, Rudbeckia maxima is hardy in zones 4-9. Just because it can reach up to seven feet tall, don’t think it should be placed at the back of the border. Plant this long-legged lovely right at the front edge! Or wherever you think thin glaucous stems topped with large yellow coneflowers would be best.

Above is a closeup of Rudbeckia maxima’s basal foliage which grows about a foot tall. This attribute makes it a lovely see-through plant, offering interesting leaves that can grow two feet long and nearly a foot wide. In other words, give it a little space to accommodate the leaves and watch the stems soar and flower through June and July.

Rudbeckia maxima is native to several southern states and thriving in my side yard garden. I’ve even discovered a few seedlings popping up in other spots. I’ll be digging those and relocating them this spring. And for anyone struggling with deer pressure, this see-through perennial’s deer resistant and drought tolerant once established.

Goldfinches love this plant and I love watching them sway on the cones as they nibble the seed.

Thalictrum: Purple Puffs that Won’t Block the View

I’m especially fond of this delicate looking see-through perennial. Thalictrum, commonly known as meadow rue, is a May-June beauty. I grow a few varieties but the one featured above is called Black Stockings growing through the branches of Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple.’ Her long skinny stems are nearly black and topped with the most lovely purple puffs. Every stage of this perennial, hardy in zones 5-9, is gorgeous. I wish I had a close-up of the flower buds! And the lacy clump of foliage at the base of the plant resembles that of columbine.

When finished flowering, the foliage on my thalictrums tend to brown and crisp. I give them a quick trim and they flush out new foliage within a week or two. Mine grow in part shade, which I think is best for someone without an irrigation system.

Tassel Flower: An Airy Self-Sower for Small Gardens

Emilia coccinea, better known as tassel flower, has a delicate airy nature that lends itself well to the front-of-the-border. I grow a variety from Select Seeds called Irish Poet (picured above) and it’s loaded with the sweetest orange brush-like flowers. Located in full sun in the side yard garden, I originally planted it around my Heptacodium micronioides ‘Tianshan’ seven-son flower where it danced among the long leaves of Prairie Dropseed. I especially love the way it spills over the edge of the sidewalk.

At about two feet tall, the wispy stems sway in the slightest breeze. Goldfinches are frequent visitors to the flowers. Like Verbena bonariensis, tassel flower can be direct sown, but I started mine from seed indoors. They love full sun, are drought tolerant and rabbits seem to ignore them. Having observed them for a few years in my garden, I think they would look best planted in front of showier plants.

In the above photo, I missed the mark. While pretty, there are too many small-flowered plants together to really accentuate the see-through quality of tassel flower. Perhaps if I had a dahlia or panicle hydrangea behind the group, the effect would have been far less weedy.

Live and learn, right?

Japanese Anemone: A See-Through Perennial (Proceed with Caution!)

So why would I tell you about a plant that has thug tendencies? Well, it’s gorgeous and that “thuginess” may not be the case for you. Perhaps the best thing to say before we dive in is to proceed with caution. But you’re already doing that, right?

I grow a few different varieties but the one pictured, which also happens to be quite enthusiastic, is one of the most beautiful autumn flowering see-through plants called Honorine Jobert. Hardy in zones 4-8, Japanese anemone (also known as windflower) prefers some afternoon shade. Mine grow in full sun, heavy clay soil. I think this combination helps keep their vigorous rhizomatous growth under control. They’ve grown in this space for about six years and editing is long overdue. Another spring job!

Reaching three to four feet tall, the white flowers of Honorine Jobert sway in the wind, attracting bees and butterflies through autumn. Long stems topped with round green seed heads remain after the petals fall and the plant dances right into autumn in the most graceful way.

Celosia ‘Flamingo Feather’: A Tall, See-Through Annual for Layered Gardens

There are all kinds of celosia but I’m most fond of this one I grew from seed five years ago. I’ve not had to sow it again. I let Flamingo Feather flower and drop seed every year in the bed around my patio. It’s an ideal spot — full sun, dry fast draining soil and a gardener that tends to let plants just do their thing. Also called wheat celosia, this variety has smaller lance-shaped leaves that disappear into the bed, allowing the flowers which remind me of pink candles to stretch and color shift as they mature.

Each plant grows about 3.5′ tall, with nearly a foot of that height belonging to the flowers. They’re beneficial insect magnets too, favored by non-aggressive solitary pollinators like the Great Black wasp.

Ornamental Grasses: See-Through Plants with Year-Round Interest

More than just see-through plants, grasses bring movement, texture and color. I especially love smaller varieties like Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Brush Strokes’ little bluestem (shown above) tucked in among the dahlias (that’s Kogane Fubuki), hibiscus, agastache and salvia around the patio garden. Little Bluestem has the added benefit of great fall color so you get a lot of bang for your buck!

In this image, I paired Pennisetum ‘Lemon Squeeze’ with Hylotelephium telephium ‘Back in Black’ sedum and Belamcanda chinensis ‘Freckle Face’ blackberry lily. The see-through effect of the pennisetum infloresences is at play here, slightly obscuring the view of the large white flowers of the perennial hibiscus just beyond it.

And to drive the see-through point home, Sporobolous heterolepis aka Prairie Dropseed is an excellent example of a perennial grass with fine inflorescences that add texture to a mixed border without totally obscuring the views into the rest of the garden. And instead of smelling like popcorn, as they have done since they were planted here three years ago, last summer the inflorescences smelled like cilantro. A lot of cilantro!

No doubt there are plenty more see-through plants out there — cosmos and gaura come to mind — but these seven have been tried and true in my own garden. I rely on them year after year for height, movement and that floating, layered look I love.

What are your must-have see-through plants? I’d love to hear what you grow. Tell me in the comments!