Many plants grow well by the sea, so it is not impossible or very difficult to have a seaside garden. When native seaside vegetation is supplemented by “exotics” (in this case non-seashore native plants), a garden will lack nothing that is needed to be delightful–and unmistakably a seaside garden.
At a distance of 500 feet or more from the shoreline, there is often little difference between a seaside garden and any other except for perhaps a more or less persistent wind from one direction. The presence of any large body of water has a stabilizing effect on temperature, tending to reduce the extremes of heat and cold.
Salt spray may be an element of the special conditions that prevail close to the oceanside, while soil that is light and sandy is characteristic unless the location is on an elevated coast which sometimes provides fairly good soil. These things can affect the choice of plant material.
Annuals and Perennials for Seaside Gardens
| Common Name | Botanical Name | Zones |
| Black-eyed Susan | Rudbeckia spp. | 3-10 |
| Blanket flower | Gaillardia spp. | 2-10 |
| Cape plumbago | Plumbago auriculata | 8-11 |
| Catmint | Nepeta spp. | 4-9 |
| Coreopsis | Coreposis spp. | 3-9 |
| Dusty miller | Centaurea cineraria | 6-11 |
| Morning glory | Convolvulus tricolor | Annual |
| Gazania | Gazania rigens | 8-10 |
| Geranium | Pelargonium spp. | Annual |
| Common Name | Botanical Name | Zones |
| Grasses, ornamental | Various | Variable |
| Lavender | Lavandula spp. | 5-8 |
| Moss rose | Portulaca grandiflora | Annual |
| Russian sage | Perovskia artriplicifolia | 3-9 |
| Santolina | Santolina chamaecyparissus | 6-9 |
| Statice; Sea lavender | Limonium latifolium | 3-9 |
| Vinca, annual | Catharanthus roseus | Annual |
| Yarrow | Achillea spp. | 3-9 |
