Perennials 

Perennials are a smart gardener’s best friend simply because they are a permanent plant that has a specific bloom time in the year. Unlike annuals that die away at frost, perennials can live for years blooming annually for around 4 – 8 weeks. You can count on them to put on a show with little effort from you!

Many perennials are herbaceous, that is to say that the foliage dies back to the ground as the plant’s roots go dormant for the winter. Then you’ll get nice fresh new leaves the next spring!

Few perennials are “evergreen” in our Pacific Northwest climate, but the ones that are evergreen are fabulous! We like to carry a good collection for the fall and winter months because, in addition to adding foliage interest to your garden, they do an excellent job in your planters and hanging baskets.

Perennials, like most plants grown properly, require very little to perform well. Make sure to:

• Plant them in the correct sun exposure (sun/shade)
• Enrich the soil often with compost and mulch
• Feed and water as needed
• Groom after bloom

There seems to be as many perennial varieties as there are varieties of specific spaces in the garden pallet to fill. Be sure to plan your garden with bloom-time in mind as well as color, height and spread. It will change looks every few weeks as different perennials go in and out of bloom. Different combinations will come into play. It can be very exciting and rewarding!

Plant Suggestions

Sunny spaces: Peonies, Poppies, Daisies, Cone Flowers, Salvias, Lavender, Dianthus, Carnations, Lilies, Gaura, Delphinium

Shady spaces: Bleeding Hearts, Hardy Fuchsias, Hostas, Brunnera, Astilbe, Columbine, Bergenia, Helleborus

Foliages and fillers: Hostas, Ferns, Astilbe, Ladies Mantle

Fragrance varieties: Peony, Lavender, Chocolate Cosmo, Scented Geranium, Lily, Lily-of-the-valley

Rockery Spaces: Aubretia, Arabis, Armeria, Carnations, Creeping Phlox, Alyssum, English Daisy, Snow in Summer, Candy Tuft, Lithodora or Heuchera

Ground Covers: Creeping Thymes, Sun rose, Blue Star Creeper or Brass Buttons

Hummingbird attractants: Columbine, Cleome (Spider flower), Crocosmia, Delphinium, Foxglove, Heuchera (Coral Bells), Red Hot Poker, Bee Balm, Penstemon, Salvia

Butterfly attractants: Columbine, Aster, Astilbe, Coreopsis, Delphinium, Echinacea Purpurea, Bee Balm, Penstemon, Phlox, Verbena Bonariensis, Centranthus Ruber (Jupiter’s Beard), Globe Thistle

Theme gardening: fragrant, formal, chocolate flowers/foliage, monochromatic, faux tropical, herbal knot garden, fairy garden

Cutting garden: Peonies, Lilies, Phlox, Poppies, Achillea (Yarrow), Campanula persicifolia (Peach-leaved Bellflower), Echinacea (Coneflowers), Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan)

Perennials Photo Gallery

Photographs courtesy of Skagit Gardens