Top Perennials You're Probably Not Planting

Cultivate a love for these oft-overlooked bloomers

Believe it or not, flowers often swing in and out of popularity over the years. Though most annuals stand the test of time, no flowers fall in and out of fashion faster than perennials. Right now, some of the more popular perennials are purple coneflower, aster, and daisies.

Because of gardening trends and what’s available in local nurseries, it’s easy to forget about some of the previously popular or even entirely overlooked perennial bloomers. Some might say perennials are too much work, but I disagree. They are reliable, often hardy, and some even re-sow themselves! What’s easier than that?

Here’s a few favorites I think are worth remembering.

Sun-Seeking PERENNIALS:

CONEFLOWER

Praised for their cheerful and brightly colored flowers, perennial coneflowers (also known as Echinacea) are a mainstay in today’s garden. I use them in both our vegetable and ornamental gardens, and they are magnets for pollinator bees and butterflies. Be sure to leave some spent blooms on the plant in the fall, since their seeds provide winter food for finches and other birds.

BLACK-EYED SUSAN

Black-eyed Susans are the most popular wildflowers grown. Very well-branched scapes carry loads of flowers from midsummer through early fall. The stems are stiff and well branched. More branches result in more flowers per plant and a showier display in the landscape. They are a great cut flower; they also work well for borders or in containers.

AGASTACHE

Found in the hyssop family of herbs, agastache has historically been used to make tea. They typically are tall, showy plants and work well at the back of a border or along a fence line. You can easily pair them with other flowers in a container. They attract pollinators and hummingbirds and seem to repel deer and rabbits.

MEXICAN SAGE

Also known as salvia leucantha, this bushy plant has sage-like leaves and velvety, bell-like purple blooms from summer to fall, which are lovely in flower arrangements. It likes sun or part-sun, is drought tolerant, and attracts hummingbirds. Expect it to get 4 to 6 feet tall and fairly wide.

ARTEMESIA

These silvery perennials are typically used as an accent plant and paired with more colorful flowers. It grows up to three feet tall, but can spread out up to 10 feet wide, and is often used as ground cover and for erosion control. The “silver mound” variety has lovely, soft foliage. They can grow best in dry soil and can perform well in rock gardens.

SUMMER PHLOX

The star-shaped, colorful blooms cluster together on this fragrant perennial. It’s short and ideal for containers or as ground cover. They are not drought-tolerant, so keep them watered and add some compost and mulch, and you’ll be good to go. If you deadhead, they will continue to rebloom.

DOUBLE FLOWERING PEONY DAYLILIES

Daylilies have long been an obsession of mine. We use lots of them throughout the gardens for their showy, carefree reliability. I can always depend on them for a great show of bloom. The ‘peony-types’ are showstoppers–invariably a visitor will comment on the “odd foliage” of our peonies…..only to discover they are daylilies!

BUTTERFLY FLOWER

Also called the butterfly weed or milkweed. The bright orange blooms are reminiscent of the Monarch butterfly, and of course, it will attract these insects to your garden. They look lovely in flower beds, rock gardens or paired with other flowers in containers. These flowers are toxic to children and pets, though, so keep that in mind.

Shade-L oving PERENNIALS:

HEUCHERA

These from my Coral Bells collection are easy to grow and blend well with other perennials in the landscape. And such color! The ‘Palace Purple’ gives a regal, unexpected look to containers and garden beds. They are ideal companions for other shade-loving varieties such as hosta, ajuga, strawberry begonias or creeping jenny. They are easy to grow and reliable year after year.

BERGENIA

It can be difficult to find flowers that are willing to live in the shady areas of your garden, and bergenia will help remedy that issue. The don’t like to be crowded, so keep about a foot of space between them. The bell-shaped blooms are typically pink, white or purple and and will extend up to 16 inches tall.

SOLOMON’S SEAL

This shade-loving plant can serve as a backdrop to some of the shorter perennials in your garden. Some will have delicate flowers, and others will produce berries (which are poisonous to humans but not birds) but mostly they’re planted for their foliage. They like rich soil but are drought-tolerant once established.

HOSTA

Hostas are easy for me to obsess over. It's the perfect way to make your garden even more compelling! Hostas give a full season effect beginning in the early spring with the lush foliage, leading to a long blooming period in the summer. One of the great features of this plant is even before and after bloom they look great in the garden, because of the foliage.

Types of PERENNIALS:

BIENNIAL – This is a plant that completes its life cycle over two years. The first year it produces only foliage and the second year it flowers, fruits and dies. Foxgloves and hollyhocks are both biennials.

TENDER PERENNIAL – A tender perennial is especially susceptible to cold weather and should be treated as an annual in most areas of the country. For instance, purple fountain grass is technically a perennial, but it will not survive temperatures below 20 degrees F.

HARDY VOLUNTEER – A hardy volunteer is an annual that reseeds itself in the garden each year making almost like a perennial. Larkspur is a hardy volunteer that I grow in my garden. To encourage hardy volunteers, allow the flowers to die back and form seed heads. Once mature, shake them over the area to be reseeded, or just leave them alone and they fall to the ground. In the spring, identify the seedlings so you don’t pull them up as weeds, and avoid smothering them with a heavy layer of mulch. Also resist using any pre-emergent herbicides in the area.