Low maintenance flowering perennials
A beautiful garden with less work, that’s the dream for every gardener, isn’t it? I get asked quite often about garden design services and while I don’t offer that, I can definitely recommend plants that give you lots of beauty with very little upkeep.
When I’m choosing new cultivars to include in my perennial collection, I evaluate them on certain criteria to know how much work they will require each season. This tells me as a cut flower grower how profitable they will be. For a home gardener, this criteria can help you decide if the plant is worth the labour required.
A plant makes the cut (pun intended!) in my perennial garden if:
It is adapted to my climate. This is my most important consideration because unless a plant is cold hardy and can handle a dry summer, it will not thrive here no matter what I do. I can’t tell you how many dollars I’ve spent on plants that were not quite hardy to my Zone. I think Zone 3 gardening is for those afflicted with an abundance of optimism! Sometimes a gamble on a Zone 4 or 5 plant pays off and I find one that can actually grow here, but most of the time it doesn’t. There is a difference between surviving our winter and thriving in this climate as well. Some plants may produce green foliage each year but not bloom, others suffer significant winter kill and struggle along, never really recovering before the frost sets in. Sticking with plants that are hardy to your Zone will save you money and heartache.
It forms roots rather than rhizomes. I love Lily of The Valley, mint and yarrow but they can be beasts in the garden. All three are examples of plants that are rhizomatous. If you’ve grown them, you are familiar with their habit of spreading and taking over your garden beds. A rhizome is another stem from which a whole new plant can spring up. This is an excellent adaptation from the plant’s point of view. However, as the grower, you may not want to spend time edging and pulling rhizomes throughout each season. A little research before you buy will tell you which plants form rhizomes.
It is of medium height with sturdy, not hollow stems. Six foot tall Pacific Giants Delphinium in the back of the perennial border make a beautiful statement but come with the challenge of supporting all those long stems. Climate change is increasing wind speed and summer storms are getting more intense. Medium to low growing perennials don’t require staking and tying up, unless it’s a plant with a very heavy flower head like a peony. I consider any plant over 2.5 feet tall to need staking in my field, which is exposed to our prevailing north west winds. If you can provide a sufficiently sheltered spot for a tall growing perennial, you may be able to get away without staking.
It will self sow. While some growers might consider this an annoying habit, I love it. Seeds really are miraculous little things. I can try my best to germinate some perennials indoors, with special lights, heat and TLC, to no avail. The same plant drops it’s seed in the fall, snow covers it, and in spring I see a new plant growing next to the old one. Humility in spades!! There is no easier way to increase your perennial stock than with a prolific self sower.
With those features in mind, here are six perennials from my own Zone 3 garden that are stars. All can be started from seed but can also be found in better greenhouses near you.
Baptisia australis. Blue, yellow and white Baptisia are lovely prairie hardy plants. Like many perennials, it takes a while to get established. Once it matures, you will have early summer blooms that attract pollinators and useful foliage all season. There are many newer Baptisia hybrids that come in beautiful bicolors but most are not as hardy as the ones grown from seed.
Echinacea purpurea. So beautiful in the garden, echinacea is buzzing with bees and butterflies all season long. It blooms from early summer until frost in my garden. From seed, it comes in rosy pink, white, green, yellow and red-orange.
Erigeron speciosus blooms in early summer, coinciding with peony season in my climate. This plant is a vigorous self sower, giving you new bonus plants each year in the spring from the seed it drops in the fall. It’s available from seed in lavender, deep purple and bright pink. I love the soft, frilly blooms in bouquets.
Thalictrum. You might know this plant as meadow rue as it’s common in the boreal forest. I grow three kinds: T. delavayi (lavender), T. delavayi alba (white) and T. rochebruneanum (purple). Guess who loves this plant? My favorite bird, that’s who! Hummingbirds perch on the tall stems and feed from the dainty little flowers from mid summer until frost. Despite it being quite tall, the stems are wiry and don’t require support, especially if grown in full sun.
Scabiosa caucasica. Perennial scabiosa is a bumblebee magnet in the garden. I always check under the flowers before I harvest because inevitably there is a sleepy bee hiding that I might disturb. This is another prolific self sower in the garden. If you leave some seed heads on the plants in the fall, you will be rewarded with more scabiosa in the spring. I grow the Fama series in white and blue and if you remove the spent blooms, it will flower from late spring until hard frost.
Astrantia major. These sparkly stars are one of my favorite perennials. They add so much to an arrangement and come in a range from pure white to pink, to deep burgundy. In my climate, I get two flushes from them: late June and late September. I wish I had 50 plants in each color!
Courtesy Google images