Skip to main content

From gerbera daisies to roses, here are dog-friendly flowers to grow in your summer garden

If you have a curious dog, these nontoxic flowers are for you

Brown dog on a bed of roses

Pet parents know that dogs can be curious creatures. There are few things sweeter in life than watching a dog frolic in the yard, but that sweetness can quickly morph into anxiety when you see your pup digging up plants and nibbling on foliage with reckless abandon. But even if you have a fur baby who likes to take a bite out of everything, you can still enjoy a beautiful garden full of flowers.

If you’re on the lookout for dog-friendly flowers, you’ve come to the right place. Ahead, we’ve gathered a list of nontoxic flowers that you can grow around pups. As always, you’ll want to keep an eye out for your fur baby — even if these are nontoxic, your dog may still experience an upset stomach if they nibble on them!

Orange gerbera daisies

1. Gerbera daisies

You can find cheerful gerbera daisies as vibrant cut flowers at grocery stores. The good news is that you can also grow them at home without much trouble, and they’re also safe to keep around your pup! Your standard variety features one ring of petals, but you might find hybrids with two layers. Typically around 1 to 3 feet tall, they can grow most times of year in climate zones 8 through 11, but they can also be beautiful spring and summer annuals everywhere else.

Gerbera daisies do well with partial shade and full sun and thrive in rich, well-draining soil. To prevent rotting roots, avoid watering your plant until your top inch of soil feels dry to the touch. For prolific flowers, feed your plant with a water-soluble fertilizer on a biweekly or monthly schedule.

A beautiful red rose bouquet in a wicker basket

2. Roses

Yes, the beautiful, versatile rose is a completely dog-safe plant. In addition to having cut roses around during special occasions, you can also grow them in your garden and rest assured they won’t hurt your four-legged friend. (Just make sure your fur baby doesn’t hurt themselves with the sharp thorns!) Roses are readily available in most nurseries, and it’s wisest to check out your local garden centers to see the roses best suited for your area.

In general, roses prefer full sun and need plenty of space — they don’t do well with competing bushes and weeds. Consistent deadheading and pruning will keep your bush looking tidy and lovely. For healthy, productive growth, consider adding a slow-release fertilizer when you first plant your rose bush.

Snapdragon flowers

3. Snapdragons

The common snapdragon is perfectly safe for your canine, and its flower heads add height to your garden with the bloom spikes. You can find these lovely flowers in a bevy of colors, including orange, purple, red, pink, white, and more. These flowers are more often grown as annuals than perennials, and they can grow anywhere between 7 inches to 3 feet tall.

They can do well in both full sun and partial shade, and they aren’t particularly picky about water — average moisture in rich, well-draining soil should suffice. Fertilize your plant with a balanced plant food every 2 to 4 weeks once they start blooming.

Beautiful light purple asters

4. Asters

Asters make for charming cottage garden flowers that won’t harm your pup. Featuring blue, purple, pink, white, or red petals with yellow centers, they can reach anywhere between 6 inches to 6 feet tall. You can grow them in most types of soils, but a rich soil will guarantee you the most prolific growth.

Hybrid varieties can be quite invasive, so you may need to divide them around late fall or early spring. Asters will do best in full sun, although you can keep them in partial shade, too — just keep in mind that you might get fewer flowers in such a location.

Purple and blue pansies outdoors

5. Pansy flowers

Available in single, bicolor, and tricolor variations, pansies can add a pop of color to your pup-friendly landscape, with white, yellow, purple, red, pink, orange, black, and other colors available. With any pansy flower, you’ll want full sun, plenty of moisture, and rich, well-draining soil.

These flowers are annuals, blooming in cool weather but slowing down their growth when the mercury rises. In the summer, you’ll want to mulch them to keep them cool. Pansies aren’t necessarily heavy feeders, but they can benefit from biweekly or monthly applications of a balanced fertilizer.

Red and gold marigold flowers

6. Marigolds

Not only are marigolds great as pest-repelling companion plants, but they are also a pet-safe option. You’ll often find these in orange and yellow varieties, but there are cream and white ones available, too. Relatively drought resistant, these potted flowers don’t need to have moist soil at all times and can thrive in relatively poor soils.

And they can get pretty big, too, potentially growing up to 2 feet tall and 1.5 feet wide. Keep them in full sun and remember to deadhead them to encourage continual blooms. They can grow in zones 2 through 11, but flowers grown in zones 9 or higher will be more likely to stick around longer.

Inquisitive pups and beautiful blooms can definitely coexist, so you don’t have to default to a plain lawn if you’re a dog owner. These are just a few of the flowers that are dog-safe choices for your garden — if you want to access an exhaustive list of dog-friendly flowers, you can always look up whether a plant is safe by checking out the ASPCA’s plant toxicity index.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Stacey Nguyen
Stacey's work has appeared on sites such as POPSUGAR, HelloGiggles, Buzzfeed, The Balance, TripSavvy, and more. When she's…
Blazing stars will fill your summer garden with color: A liatris care guide
Growing and caring for liatris
Tall purple liatris (blazing star) with butterflies

There are many wonderful plants you can add to your summer flower garden for stunning color, from tall and bright sunflowers to short and sweet zinnia. If you’re planning your garden now, you should definitely consider adding liatris, also called blazing star, to the mix! This tall, drought-tolerant, native perennial has stunning purple flowers. It’ll even attract butterflies. Here’s everything you need to know about planting and caring for liatris.
Planting liatris
You can plant liatris bulbs in the spring or fall, but you can transplant mature plants during any season. Choose a location with full sun and well-draining soil to plant your liatris in. Blazing stars can tolerate some light shade, but they won’t thrive unless they get at least 6 hours of sun each day. Spacing is important when planting liatris, as they can grow to 2 feet high and 1.5 feet wide. Plant your liatris bulbs 12 to 15 inches apart so they have plenty of space to grow.

In addition to having well-draining soil, it should also be average or poor. Many plants prefer soil that's rich with organic matter, but liatris has an unusual quirk! The flower stalks will sometimes bend or flop over if the soil is too rich.

Read more
The delicate lenten rose has some unusual and delightful varieties – here are our favorites
5 lenten rose varieties to grow in your garden
White hellebore flowers

Lenten roses, also known as hellebore, are beautiful, delicate-looking flowers that come in many colors and patterns. As shade-loving flowers, they’re particularly useful for brightening up darker sections of your garden. Whether you want a classic solid purple variety or a more intricate spotted one, there’s a perfect lenten rose for any garden. Looking for a new lenten rose variety to add to your home or garden? Try one of these five!

Fire and Ice
Fire and Ice is a stunning white and pink variety from the Winter Jewels series. Each petal is predominantly white, but the edges are a vibrant shade of pink. It has double-petaled flowers, meaning there are two layers of petals, giving the blooms a fuller appearance. Fire and Ice grows to around a foot and a half tall and is an early-blooming lenten rose. While hellebore are generally among the earliest blooming spring flowers, Fire and Ice often blooms during winter.

Read more
Could Kalanchoe blossfeldiana be the perfect addition to your outdoor succulent garden? Here’s how to grow it
Caring for kalanchoe blossfeldiana outdoors
Light orange kalanchoe blossfeldiana flowers

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a popular houseplant -- and for good reason! With bright flowers and easy care requirements, these succulents will brighten up any room. But did you know you can grow them outdoors as well? The care is a bit trickier, but they really stand out in a sandy outdoor succulent garden. Just follow this simple guide to care for Kalanchoe blossfeldiana outdoors.
Planting Kalanchoe blossfeldiana
Like other succulents, drainage is important. Make sure you use sandy and well-draining soil before you begin planting. Kalanchoe blossfeldiana plants don't like to be crowded, so it’s important to space them correctly. They need at least 8 to 10 inches of room in order to grow properly. Choose a location that gets plenty of morning sun. However, they can burn under intense, direct light, so provide them with shade in the afternoon.

Caring for your Kalanchoe blossfeldiana
If you’ve kept Kalanchoe blossfeldiana as a houseplant before, then there are some care aspects you’ll be familiar with. They are sensitive to overwatering, so make sure to only water them when the top few inches of soil are dry. If overwatered, they can develop fungal infections, such as root rot.

Read more