Perennial’s… Creating Year Round Color For Your Home

The use of perennial flowers is a great way to add color to your landscape. Perennials are flowers that bloom every year without you having to replant them.

Perennials need well drained soil and do well in raised beds with plenty of organic material.

Picking the right perennials for your garden is not a difficult task. The goal should be to have them flowering as much as possible through the year. A little research on the internet you can determine what will bloom when and how long it blooms. This way you could have something blooming all summer.  Another way is to design a chart of different perennials and their blooming dates for you part of the country. From that also build a timeline of flowering. Once you have that you can lay out your perennial bed in the way you want to see the flowers bloom. This can give you a constantly changing array of colors. Just be sure that the plants you pick will grow in your planting zone.

Perennial Plants that I especially like are:

Daylily:
Daylilies come in a variety of colors and come in varieties that bloom early, mid and late season.  For a full season of color add several different varieties to you garden. Daylilies grow into clumps and should be divided every couple of years. They are hardy zones 3-9.

Coreopsis:
Coreopsis will bloom all summer in full sun. They come in many different colors including, yellow, orange, red, pink, white and multicolor. Coreopsis is a trouble free plant that grows in zones 3-8.

Coneflower:
Coneflower is one of the most widely grown and hybridized perennial in the country. It grows best in full sun but will tolerate a small amount of light shade. Coneflower will bloom from early summer to fall and come in red, white, yellow, orange and purple. Coneflowers attract butterflies and birds and grow in zones 3-9.

Buddleia:
Buddleia, commonly known as the Butterfly Bush is an awesome plant for your garden. It comes in two sizes dwarf (1.5 to 2 feet tall) and standard (3 to 5 feet tall). Buddleia will produce waves of color all summer as long as they are planted in a bright sunny spot. Buddleia comes in a rainbow of colors and looks great in a border or can be used in containers. Buddleia grows in zones 5-9.

Peony:
This wonderful gorgeous sun lover will bloom for years increasing in size every year. They are wonderfully fragrant and can be used in fresh cut vase arrangements. Peonies will bloom in early summer, in a variety of forms; single, double and semi-double and come in a multitude of colors. Peonies grow in zones 3-8.

Be sure to add mulch when planting your perennials. Mulch will help reduce the overall amount of work in your flower beds by reducing weed growth and also helps to increase water retention. Shredded pine bark and pine needles are good mulch for your flower beds. And don’t forget the fertilizer. I recommend a slow release fertilizer like Osmocote to get you blooming all summer long.

If we can help with your Perennial flower bed… give us a call.