Key Points
Tall plants with large, heavy fruit or flowers require cages, stakes, or trellising to thrive.
Vining plants like peas also need support, which can come from inverted tomato cages.
Install cages or stakes at planting or when plants are still young to start supporting their stems early.
With their long, sprawling vines, many tomato varieties grow better with cages, stakes, or other supports. But these summer favorites aren’t the only plants that can benefit from a cage to keep them upright and standing tall.
Here are seven vegetables and flowers that will thrive even more with cages than they already are.
Peonies
Credit: Jasenka Arbanas / Getty Images
Fragrant, eye-catching peonies are the star of a springtime flower garden, but those large, full-petaled blooms can get heavy. That’s particularly true for herbaceous peonies, which can use a little extra support to stay upright and keep their flowers from touching the ground.
A peony cage—which looks sort of like the upper half of a tomato cage with a round grate on top—can help with this. Just be sure to install cages before the leaves unfurl to ensure that the stems can fit through the openings in the grate.
Botanical name: Paeonia officinalis
Bloom period: Spring, summer
Lifespan: 20 years or more
Peppers
Credit: phanasitti / Getty Images
Tomatoes and bell peppers are both members of the nightshade family; like tomatoes, many varieties of peppers can use a little support as they grow, especially taller varieties. Stakes, a trellis, or even tomato cages can provide that—and help contribute to healthier plants and higher yields.
Botanical name: Capsicum annuum
USDA hardiness zone: 9-11
Fruiting period: Summer, fall
Dahlias
Credit: Jena Ardell / Getty Images
These summer showstoppers come in hundreds of different shades and growth habits. Many dahlias require staking to thrive and look great in your garden; varieties that grow over three feet tall will do best with a cage or other support.
Dahlia cages look a little like square tomato cages, but gardeners have been known to use wooden or bamboo stakes, twine, and grid-like netting or mesh to keep these colorful blooms upright. If possible, put cages in place right after planting tubers in spring.
Botanical name: Dahlia spp.
USDA hardiness zone: 8-10
Bloom period: Summer, fall
Lifespan: 1-3 years for individual tubers
Eggplants
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Eggplants are another nightshade, along with peppers and tomatoes, that can benefit from the support of a tomato cage.
Install them on eggplant seedlings, guiding the branches of the plant over the horizontal supports as they grow taller. With the large openings between the wires, even sizable eggplants will be easy to reach and harvest when ripe.
Botanical name: Solanummelongena
USDA hardiness zone: 9b-12a
Delphinium
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Tall varieties of flowers like delphiniums add both color and height to an ornamental garden or bouquet, but the drawback of these towering blooms is that they can have a tendency to flop over.
Gardeners can fix individual flower stalks to wooden, metal, or plastic stakes, and supportive cages similar to those used for peonies or tomatoes can work well, too. Begin attaching delphinium stems to stakes or cages using hook-and-loop ties or pieces of twine when they’re between six and 12 inches tall.
Botanical name: Delphinium
Bloom period: Spring, summer
Peas
Credit: Jenny Dettrick / Getty Images
With a few exceptions, most varieties of peas require something for their tendrils to climb as they grow. This can be a twine or wire trellis, carefully arranged clusters of stakes, or even a tomato cage—but not in the way you think.
At planting, turn tomato cages upside down and bury the top few inches of the wide end in the soil, then sow peas near each of the cage’s legs. This method works particularly well with peas grown in containers. As they grow, the vines will climb up the supports of the tomato cage.
Botanical name: Pisum sativum
USDA hardiness zone: 3-11
Foxglove
Credit: aimintang / Getty Images
Another eye-catching flower with tall, vertical spires of blooms is the foxglove. Not all varieties require staking, but taller ones can benefit, especially if you’re growing the plants for cut flowers.
You may also find that in regions with frequent storms or high winds that can blow over tall plants, even dwarf varieties do better with supports. Install stakes, cages, wire grids, or other supports before the blooms open.
Botanical name: Digitalis purpurea
USDA hardiness zone: 4-10
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