Tried and True – Perennial Performers

 

Seasonal Annuals can offer your garden amazing color, but replacing them each season can get old. Perennials, on the other hand, are planted once, and will return each year bigger and better. Perennials traditionally require less care, and some even thrive on neglect. 

 

If you are ready to share a little room in your garden for these returning performers, here are a few suggestions of some “Tried and True” Perennials that are easy to care for, and give you a great summer display.

 

Sunny gardens have lots of Perennial options. Hardy Salvias are a great start, like ‘East Friesland’ and ‘Blue Queen’. These flowers are beautiful blue-purple flower spikes. After the first bloom do a little deadheading and you’ll get a second bloom.

 

‘Walker’s Low’ Catmint (Nepeta), is a terrific blooming machine, drought tolerant and deer resistant. This perennial will grow to 2-3 feet of silvery aromatic foliage, and bloom beautiful lavender-blue flowers from May until frost. It is named after a location in England, Walker’s Low. It may need trimming back in Mid-July to keep it looking fresh. 

 

Lavender is a wonderful addition to a sunny garden. There are so many different kinds to choose from. English Lavender usually blooms once a season, but the evergreen silvery foliage is fragrant and very pretty year round. Spanish Lavender has cute bunny-ears petals atop the flower buds that bloom almost continuously. Both varieties are drought tolerant once established and are great as cut flowers for your summer bouquets.

 

Finding a blooming perennial for your shady gardens is a bit of challenge in summer. One fabulous solution is Hardy Fuchsias. These workhorses bloom their little hearts out. The flowers are wonderful splashes of magenta and pink, which Hummingbirds LOVE. You can get away with also planting Hardy Fuchsias in a sunnier area by planting the crowns just a bit deeper in well drained soil and by giving them extra water.

 

A shady companion to the Hardy Fuchsias is the Tassel Fern. These ferns grow to 2 feet tall and are so glossy-shiny they reflect light even in the shade. Dare I say, they look …plastic. But their foliage has the coolest texture.

 

These are just a few of many great performing perennials that will do outstanding in your garden or in a container. With just a little care from you, they will come back year after year. Now you can use all the time you’ve saved planting each year, actually enjoying your garden.