Perennials

Perennials

Our enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable perennials team is here to answer your questions and help you choose the best perennials for your situation. There’s always something in bloom for sun, shade, butterflies, birds or deer resistance  as well as a variety of bulbs for your space.

Stroll through our time-tested favorites and introduce yourself to the newest varieties. We garden with perennials too; we love them and it shows!

19 found, showing page 1 of 2
Carex appalachia

Height: 6 inches

Spread: 18 inches

Sunlight: partial shade full shade

Hardiness Zone: 3a

Description:

A weeping, perennial native sedge that forms graceful, mounded tufts of very fine textured, deep green, threadlike foliage; thrives in dry to mesic woods and does best with some shade; perfect for massing, slopes, or as a shade groundcover

Ornamental Features:

Appalachian Sedge is primarily valued in the garden for its cascading habit of growth. Its attractive threadlike leaves remain forest green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes:

Appalachian Sedge is an herbaceous perennial grass with a shapely form and gracefully arching stems. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Appalachian Sedge is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Mass Planting
- Rock/Alpine Gardens
- Border Edging
- Groundcover
- Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
- Container Planting

Planting & Growing:

Appalachian Sedge will grow to be only 6 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It prefers to grow in average to dry locations, and dislikes excessive moisture. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is native to parts of North America. It can be propagated by division.

Appalachian Sedge is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a canvas of foliage against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.

Dicentra spectabilis

Height: 3 feet

Spacing: 30 inches

Sunlight: partial shade full shade

Hardiness Zone: 1b

Other Names: Old Fashioned Bleeding Heart

Description:
Bushy upright mounded selection features blue-green fern-like foliage and arching stems of heart shaped locket flowers with white protruding petals; excellent for shaded borders and beds; beautiful cut flower; goes into summer dormancy

Ornamental Features:
Common Bleeding Heart features delicate nodding pink heart-shaped flowers with white tips dangling from the stems from late spring to early summer. Its ferny compound leaves remain bluish-green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes:
Common Bleeding Heart is an herbaceous perennial with a mounded form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Common Bleeding Heart is recommended for the following landscape applications:
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
- Planting & Growing

Common Bleeding Heart will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 30 inches apart. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 15 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen! As this plant tends to go dormant in summer, it is best interplanted with late-season bloomers to hide the dying foliage.

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division.

Galium odoratum

White blooms. Fragrant lance-shaped dark green leaves. Edible foliage. Tolerates deep shade. USDA 4-8

Tiarella cordifolia

Plant Height: 6 inches

Flower Height: 12 inches

Spacing: 18 inches

Sunlight: partial shade full shade

Hardiness Zone: 3a

Ornamental Features:
Creeping Foamflower has masses of beautiful spikes of lightly-scented white star-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from mid spring to mid summer, which emerge from distinctive shell pink flower buds, and which are most effective when planted in groupings. Its lobed leaves are green in color. As an added bonus, the foliage turns a gorgeous deep purple in the fall.

Landscape Attributes:

Creeping Foamflower is an herbaceous evergreen perennial with tall flower stalks held atop a low mound of foliage. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.
This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration: Spreading

Creeping Foamflower is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
- Groundcover

Planting & Growing:

Creeping Foamflower will grow to be only 6 inches tall at maturity extending to 12 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 24 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for rich, acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider covering it with a thick layer of mulch in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This species is native to parts of North America. It can be propagated by division.

Convallaria majalis

Plants form a spreading clump of large green leaves, bearing short spikes of fragrant white bells in late spring. Takes a year or two to establish, then spreads quickly. USDA 3-8

Galium odoratum

White blooms. Fragrant lance-shaped dark green leaves. Edible foliage. Tolerates deep shade. USDA 4-8

Helleborus orientalis

Lenten Rose | White to rose-purple blooms. Mounding. Evergreen USDA 4-9

Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum 'Variegatum'

Fragrant white blooms. Varigated foliage. Naturalizing. USDA 3-8

Tiarella 'Elizabeth Oliver'

Plant Height: 10 inches

Flower Height: 15 inches

Spacing: 12 inches

Sunlight: partial shade full shade

Hardiness Zone: 4a

Description:
Large, deeply lobed green leaves with burgundy spines in the center form a neat mound of foliage; pink flower buds open to reveal the foamy white flowers on graceful spikes that persist for weeks; shade tolerant and excellent for under canopy groundcover

Ornamental Features:

Elizabeth Oliver Foamflower has masses of beautiful spikes of lightly-scented white bell-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from mid spring to mid summer, which emerge from distinctive shell pink flower buds, and which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive glossy lobed leaves remain emerald green in color with pointy burgundy spines throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes:

Elizabeth Oliver Foamflower is an herbaceous evergreen perennial with tall flower stalks held atop a low mound of foliage. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Elizabeth Oliver Foamflower is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Mass Planting
- Rock/Alpine Gardens
- Border Edging
- General Garden Use
- Groundcover
- Container Planting
Planting & Growing:

Elizabeth Oliver Foamflower will grow to be about 10 inches tall at maturity extending to 15 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 14 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for rich, acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider covering it with a thick layer of mulch in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Elizabeth Oliver Foamflower is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.

Pulmonaria 'Trevi Fountain'

Blue blooms. Silver-spotted foliage. Mounding. Compact. USDA 4-9

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'

Distinctive silvery white leaves with a thin green rim around the leaf edges. Small, forget-me-not-like flowers of light blue with yellow centers. USDA 2-8

Pulmonaria x 'Raspberry Splash'

Prolific raspberry-pink blooms. Upright silver-spotted foliage. USDA 3-9

Tiarella cordifolia 'Running Tapestry'

White blooms. Red speckled foliage. Groundcover. Native. USDA 4-8

Helleborus WEDDING PARTY? 'Flower Girl'

Height: 24 inches

Spacing: 18 inches

Sunlight: partial shade, full shade

Hardiness Zone: 4a

Other Names: Lenten Rose, Winter Rose

Group/Class: Wedding Party Series

Brand: Walters Gardens

Description:
An easy to grow selection producing romantic double blooms in shades of light pink; blooms emerge in late winter and early spring above attractive green foliage; ideal for shade gardens; great as cut flowers or in borders and beds

Ornamental Features:
Wedding Party Flower Girl Hellebore features showy nodding shell pink cup-shaped flowers with pink overtones at the ends of the stems from late winter to early spring. Its glossy pointy compound leaves remain green in color throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes:
Wedding Party Flower Girl Hellebore is an herbaceous evergreen perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Wedding Party Flower Girl Hellebore is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Mass Planting
- Rock/Alpine Gardens
- Border Edging
- General Garden Use
- Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing:
Wedding Party Flower Girl Hellebore will grow to be about 20 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Helleborus x hybridus 'Penny's Pink'

Penny's Pink' Hellebore | Muave outward-facing blooms. Marbled evergreen foliage. USDA 4-9

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