If you want your flower garden to bloom with minimal effort year after year then perennials with low maintenance are your best option.
Perennials are not only easy to care for and cost-effective, but they’re gorgeous and can easily beautify your entire yard with shape, color, texture, and height. Since they come back year after year, making wise purchasing decisions will help you extend the life of your garden.
What Does Low-Maintenance Perennials Mean?
Simply put, perennial means “everlasting”. Plants that are put in this category tend to live between three to five year. This is why they’re so popular and are such a smart investment; you won’t need to spend time planting new seedlings or potted plants every year like you would an annual plant.
Low-maintenance perennials, for all the beauty they provide, need minimal upkeep; they don’t require as much care as other plants and flowers do. Plus, many of them have far-ranging roots that will spread throughout your flower garden and make you look like a seasoned, hard-working gardener! It almost seems too good to be true.
Don’t be mistaken, however. Perennials do need to be looked after. You’ll still need to spend some time fertilizing, watering, pruning, and mulching your plants. You’ll also need to make sure they’re not overtaken by weeds, which can sour your garden and add to your workload.
Without further ‘ado, here’s a list of low-maintenance perennials to consider planting in your garden!
1. Achillea (Yarrow)
These delicate white blooms grow in sprigs atop thin stems and are excellent additions to flower beds and herb gardens. Yarrow is often grown for its uses as a medicinal herb, aiding in the treatment of muscle cramps and minor wounds. It also has been used as a facial wash or astringent. Yarrow grows naturally in prairies and meadows and will thrive in zones 3-9.
2. Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’)
The Black eyed Susan is a drought tolerant perennial that produces a late summer to early fall color. As such, the plant is among the best plants for summer season. They can thrive on sites where a lot of plants do not thrive, such as rocky terrains and dry hillsides. Therefore, if you live in areas where not a lot of flowers can survive, you can give this plant a try. Their flowers are available in different shades of gold, orange, yellow and russet.
3. Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes’)
The Garden phlox (botanical name: Phlox paniculata) is a large bushy flowering perennial shrub that has some stunning purple varieties. Some phlox cultivars that have purple flowers that bloom in summer include ‘Grenadine Dream,’ ‘Violet Flame,’ ‘Peacock Neon Purple,’ and ‘Purple Eye Flame.’
Perennial phlox plants grow to about 4 ft. (1.2 m) tall and have a spread of around 3 ft. (0.9 m). From summer to the fall, large colorful flowers beautify this perennial with purple, white, pink, and red blossoms. To encourage more flowers to blossom, deadhead the plant after flowering in the fall.
4. Coreopsis
Coreopsis resembles daisy and blooms in beautiful hues of bright yellow, white, pink, orange, and ruby-red. It thrives in dry conditions and loves sunshine, so it needs watering occasionally when it is dry.
The dark brown spot in the middle of the flower beautifully contrasts the bright color of the petals. It will continue to cheer you up with beautiful blossoms long after other sorts of perennial flowers in your garden have faded out of bloom. Coreopsis is also the official state wildflower of Florida. It requires very little maintenance. In growing season, deadheading, or removing the dead flowers, is recommended so that new flowers can emerge more quickly. Occasional trimming is useful later in the summer season so that new blooms can last.
5. Daylily (Hemerocallis)
If you are looking for a plant to brighten your garden, the daylily is a great option that comes in a plethora of colors. These blooms will only last for a day, but they will continue to appear throughout the summer in zones four through nine. These plants grow best in full sun, and they are able to tolerate drought conditions, which means that even if you forget to water these plants, they will continue to do well.
6. Blanket Flower (Gaillardia Grandiflor)
The blanket flower has no special needs when it comes to watering. Anyone can make it bloom prolifically, without a ‘green thumb.’ All it really needs is a sunny spot and occasional watering spells. It blooms all summer around, and even in the fall. It is feasible to grow this plant in both cold and warm tropical climates (USDA Zones 3-10).
7. Lily of the Valley
Another most popular spring-flowering perennial is the Lily-of-the-valley. They are well known for its pure white, nodding bell-shaped flowers and undeniable sweet perfume. At maturity, they can grow up to 4-8 inches tall and 3-5 inches wide, produce glossy leaves that are lance-shaped. Depending on the moisture it receives, lily of the valley can thrive well under full sun or full shade conditions.
8. Hibiscus
The Hibiscus is another flowering shrub that is known for being low maintenance. Thus, growing this plant is an easy way to enhance the look of your lawn. However, during their blooming stage, the shrubs will require lots of water. Furthermore, the plant needs heavy watering especially when the weather is warm. But once the weather gets cold, the plant will no longer need utmost care and watering.
9. May Night “Wood Sage” Salvia (Salvia nemerosa ‘Mainacht’)
Salvia is an herbaceous purple flowering plant that grows every year and produces showy small flowers all summer long.
This purple perennial herb loves to grow in hot sunny climates. The flowering stems grow upright and consist of needle-like leaves with small blossoms on them. Although purple is a common type of salvia, some varieties also produce blue, red, or white flowers.
Apart from producing attractive purple flowers every year, many grow salvia (Salvia officinalis) for its delicious taste. Sage (salvia) is a popular herb used in Mediterranean, British, and American cooking. You can also use sage for its medicinal properties.
10. Bellflower (Campanula persicifolia)
If you are looking for a perennial with purple summer flowers, then the clustered bellflower is a good choice.
This tall perennial grows to about 23” (58 cm) and has clusters of purple bell-shaped flowers. One stem can hold a number of dark purple flowers measuring about 1” (3 cm). The clustered bellflower thrives in full sun and can also withstand partial shade.
11. Peonies
Peonies are another plant that tends to thrive in zones three to eight. They are a taller plant that can grow to be at least five feet tall. These plants create rose-like blooms that will look great in any garden. They also prefer to grow in well-drained soil and full sun.
12. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ‘Prairie Splendor’)
No garden should be without this native flowering plant producing large, purplish pink flowers.
The common name obviously comes from the prominent cones in the center of a single layer of slightly reflexed petals. New hybrids offer more color and form choices now.
Purple coneflower is propagated by root or clump divisions. Plant this perennial carefully because it does not like being disturbed later.
Flowering all through summer and into fall, its flowers can be harvested for making an herbal tea. In fact, all parts of the plant have medicinal properties.
13. Hosta
Hostas plant enjoys a secluded shady spot and grows into a 2 x 2 feet mound of broad green leaves. Hostas grown in heavy shade will rarely bloom, but if the plant receives a little sunlight it may send up a few spikes and produce some tiny purple blooms.