Blooms All Year Long

Perennials have their advantages over annuals in that they grow back every year, eliminating the labor of planting and purchasing every season. The tricky part of using perennials is maximizing bloom time throughout the year.

Because perennials are just waking up from their long winter slumber, many varieties aren’t ready to flower until summer or fall. But as with everything in the garden world – there are exceptions!

To get the season off to a great start, pick out spring blooming perennials to highlight desired areas in your landscape. There are enough varieties to accommodate most climate and sun situations. Here are just a few favorites…

Full Sun: Peonies, Iris, Lavender, Dianthus, Phlox, Heather, Pincushions.

Part sun to part shade: Bleeding Hearts, Columbine, Geranium, Violet, Hellebores, foxglove, Astilbe, Periwinkle.

Spring blooming shrubs are also a great option to accompany your perennials and fill in vertical space. Shrubs can make spectacular back-drops for lower growing perennials.

Combine any of the above plants or others you may find with summer and fall blooming varieties into your landscape design. And you should have a colorful show all season long that you can look forward to for years to come.