How to Choose Perennials For Your Garden

Shasta daisies add their simple charm to a perennial garden.

With a little care, perennials come back year after year, gracing your garden with beautiful, long-lasting flowers throughout the growing season. They allow you to take a different approach -- perennials have a shorter blooming season than annuals but allow you to avoid replanting each year and to experiment with different plant families. Browsing through your choices and coming up with a pleasing combination can be a delightful preseason activity.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• A seed catalog
• A garden plan

1. Sketch a diagram of your yard and where you plan to put your garden. Within the garden area, sketch areas for taller perennials at the back and shorter, spreading ones in the front.

2. Visit a garden center, or consult a local extension office or master gardeners group, to learn what perennials do the best in your climate and growing conditions. Learn what U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone you live in, which determines the perennials that can survive the winters in your locality. Check plant labels or catalog listings for hardiness information, the Cornell University Department of Horticulture recommends.

3. Pick plants such yarrow, bellflower, valerian, coneflower, blanket flower and Shasta daisy that bloom throughout the summer months if you want to focus on flowers to cut and display. If you want a drought-tolerant garden, plant low-maintenance grasses, such as pampas grass, maiden grass, sedge and fountain grass. For a garden that blooms throughout the growing season, add iris, lupine, balloon flowers and columbines that bloom early, giving the spring garden color and texture.

4. Plant seeds for a budget-friendly, cheaper approach and established plants if you want more blooms your first year.

References

• Purdue University Consumer Horticulture: Choosing Perennials for Season-Long Color
• Cornell University Department of Horticulture: How to Grow Perennials
• Virginia Cooperative Extension: Perennials: Culture, Maintenance and Propagation

Resources

• The United States National Arboretum: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
• University of Illinois Extension: Gardening with Perennials