Easy perennials to grow. We all like easy.

image from istockphoto.com 

Good morning….it is almost perfect.  Blue clear sky, little wind…what a great day to be in the garden.  I am enjoying my garden, all the wagons and tall racks.  I am watering, which is daily sometimes twice a day.  Wind really dried the soil out.  How about your gardens?  I bet it is time to weed, and work in them.  OR just have that cup of coffee and enjoy the beauty around you.
Here are some easy perennials to plant.  Yes, I have these here if you want to plant them. AND they are on sale.    

What are Perennials?
Perennials are those flowers that return reliably year after year—whereas annuals are those one-season wonders that add color and need to be replaced every spring. It’s the perennials that form the backbone of a garden, whereas annuals are planted for spots of color. Think of perennials as the foundation. Learn more about the difference between annuals and perennials.
An advantage of perennials is that they require minimum maintenance. After establishment, most perennials require minimum pesticides or pruning. They just need well-drained soil that’s amended with compost or organic matter. However, there are literally thousands of varieties of perennials, and while some are indeed as easy as pie to grow, others require at least as much attention as annuals. So, if an easy garden is what you seek, choose the right perennials!

When to Plant Perennials
You can plant a perennial any time, but the best times are fall and spring. This allows the plant to get well-established before winter or hot, dry summers. We prefer fall because the soil is already warmed. Planting in summer is okay, but you’ll need to water frequently.
The following are among the easiest perennials common throughout most of North America.

Why These Perennials Are So Easy
The plants listed here are perfect perennials because they …
do not need fussy care, such as pinching, staking, and deadheading (although some of these plants, like daylilies, can benefit from deadheading)
are fairly resistant to pests and diseases and may even be unappealing to deer (although a hungry deer will eat just about anything)
have a long life span (more than 5 years)
adapt to a wide range of conditions
do not spread all over the garden via invasive rhizomes
grow and bloom well even if you do not divide them
are tough enough to hold their own against invasive neighbors
will grow almost anywhere in North America (Zones 2 to 9)

Easy-to-Grow Perennial Flowers for Beginners
Black-eyed Susans
Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) are a popular native flower and have been a staple for so long that just about everyone grows them. Sturdy stems bear cheerful golden daisy-like flowers with a black, conelike center. They occur singly atop 1 to 2-foot stems. Take note, though, that this is a late starter, flowering at the end of summer.

Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea spp.)
Echinacea purpurea, commonly known as coneflower, is a popular and easily grown native perennial in the U.S. that produces long-lasting lavender flowers on smooth 2 to 5-foot  robust stems and bears a prickly, green to orange center. It blooms from midsummer to early fall, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. The flowers are used to make an extremely popular herbal.

Daylilies
Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.) are the workhorse of the garden and very low-maintenance, thriving in full sun but also can tolerate partial shade. It’s not an original native, but it’s been here a long, long time. Lots of choices here, from big flowers to small, from dwarfs to giants, from early bloomers to fall bloomers—all trumpet-shape and borne over attractive, arching, grasslike foliage. Some varieties, such as the ever-popular ‘Stella de Oro’ (yellow flowers), bloom all summer! Colors include yellow, orange, pink, purplish red, and “white” (well, more like cream), often with a contrasting eye. Each flower lasts but a day (thus the name, “daylilies”), but stems can produce dozens of flowers… and there can be dozens of stems!

Hostas
Ever popular, hostas are tough as nails as long as you remember two things: You must buy slug-resistant varieties (these usually have thick leaves), and deer belove hostas. Hostas come in various sizes and are grown mostly for their foliage—usually large leaves, with attractive veining in shades from dark green to chartreuse and blue, often with beautiful yellow or white variegation. The trumpet-shaped flowers are white to purple and usually fairly insignificant; however, there are some large-flower, highly scented varieties. Hostas require full shade to partial shade and bloom from early summer to fall.

Peonies
Your great-great-grandmother probably grew peonies (Paeonia spp.)—and, likely, they’re still exactly where she planted them! Peonies are about the longest-lived perennials around. The deeply cut leaves are a glossy dark green that reddens in the fall, but their main attraction is the huge, showy, blowsy blooms that are pink, white, or red (and, more recently, yellow or peach). Flowers can be single, semidouble, or double, but take note: many of the double varieties require staking. Peonies bloom in mid-to-late spring..

Foxglove
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a stunning tall flower with tubular blossoms that often looks best at the back of a garden; it’s also rabbit- and deer-resistant. Common foxglove is a biennial, which means they form a rosette and leaves in their first year, bloom in their second year, and then die. Foxgloves reseed easily, so plant foxgloves two years in a row for flowering plants. Also, new perennial varieties of foxglove have been developed that flower in year one.
NOTE: Foxglove is highly poisonous, so don’t plant them if you have pets or young children who might gnaw on the plants. Additionally, foxglove is not native to North America and may be considered invasive in some locations.

Columbine
Columbine (Aquilegia) is a beautiful woodland perennial with dropping, bell-like red petals which attract hummingbirds. Once started, columbine propagates for years and, although perennial, increases rapidly by self-seeding.

Showy Stonecrop
One of the taller members of the genus Hylotelephium (formerly Sedum), these popular garden plants are extremely easy to grow. White to pink cauliflower blooms appear over succulent, blue-green leaves. Blooms in fall. Read more about Stonecrop.

Astilbe
Astilbe (Astilbe x arendsii) has a low growing habit that makes it work as a border plant or ground cover. The flowers are fluffy pink or white panicles above dense fern-like foliage

Phlox
A very common wildflower, phlox blooms anytime from late spring through the summer months in pastel pink, purple, or white flowers. Most species need full sun to thrive. Butterflies and hummingbirds love phlox!

Bee Balm (Wild Bergamot)
Bee balm (Monarda spp.) blooms yearly in mid to late summer. It’s beloved by pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, who enjoy the sweet nectar found in its tubular-shaped florets. In zones 4 to 8, it grows in full sun to part shade and prefers average to consistently moist soil. Deer tend to leave it alone due to its minty-scented foliage.
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New England Aster
The native aster has colors ranging from lavender to blue to white, with showy flowers. The perennial’s hairy, clasping leaves are arranged densely on its stout stems, and the plant can grow to six feet or more in height.
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/easy-perennial-flowers
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa   641-794-3337  641-903-9365  cell  [email protected]