12 Easy-to-Grow Perennials

Save time and effort by planting these hardy, easy-to-grow perennials that come back year after year.

By: Leanne Potts and Debbie Wolfe

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Dependable Perennials

Want a garden that doesn’t need your help to thrive? Then you want a garden full of easy-to-grow perennials. Perennials are plants that come back every spring. You plant them once and forget about them (except for cutting back their dead stems each winter). Here’s a list of easy perennials.

Coneflowers

Heat- and drought-tolerant coneflowers are a staple of summer gardens. It blooms all summer and its purple flowers last a long time on the stem. It’s a native prairie wildflower that can be grown all over the country. Plant in full sun for the most blooms.

Learn More: Varieties of Coneflowers

Black-Eyed Susan

This hardy yellow flower is an iconic garden plant. It blooms from early summer to frost. It’s drought-tolerant, will grow in poor soil and is a sun worshiper. This easiest-of-easy perennial grows about two feet tall, so it’s perfect for the middle of a mixed bed or planted around a mailbox. Pinch off spent blooms and flowers just keep coming.

Learn More: Black-Eyed Susan: How to Grow and Care for This Cheery Perennial

Hostas

These shade-lovers are prized for their large, tropical-looking leaves in shades that range from chartreuse to blue-green to multi-color. They also send up spikes of pink, pale purple or white flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. They look more fragile than they are and are almost impossible to kill.

Learn More: 19 Great Hosta Varieties for Your Garden

Yarrow

Yarrow puts the "easy" in easy perennials. It produces flat-topped clusters of flowers in red, yellow or pink that sit atop ferny, silver-gray foliage. Yarrow is drought- and heat-tolerant and can be grown anywhere in the country. Yarrow blooms from late spring to early fall.

Learn More: Yarrow Colors and Varieties

Coreopsis

This easy perennial comes in a wide range of colors and sizes and blooms all summer. 'Moonbeam' and 'Zagreb' varieties produce drifts of yellow or pink daisy-like flowers. 'Early Sunrise' has a larger, orange bloom.

Learn More: Common Coreopsis: How to Grow and Care for Coreopsis

Daylily

Daylilies come in an endless variety of colors and flower types. They're one of the most popular easy perennials. They are hardy, sun-worshipping plants that thrive in almost any condition. Some bloom just once, others bloom all summer. Daylilies look great in mixed beds.

Learn More: The Many Faces of Daylilies

Hardy Hibiscus

These aren't the fragile, tropical blooms you see in Florida. They are hardy to USDA Zone 4, so yes, you can grow these in Maine. Hardy hibiscus grows up to 6' tall with blooms the size of dinner plates that come in red, pink, white and yellow. They do best in full sun and prefer moist soil.

Learn More: Growing Rose of Sharon

Aster

Asters are a beloved plant that’s an all-time fall favorite and you can find asters in a host of colors too. They grow 18" to 24" tall and 24" to 36" wide and are hardy in Zones 4-8. Make sure to plant them in well-drained soil, asters will rot if they stay wet for too long.

Learn More: Aster Flowers

Blanket Flower

Blanket flowers feature two-toned blossoms with red-tinted centers that fade to gold at the fringed edges. They love full sun and well-drained, even poor soil. They are deer-resistant and drought-tolerant and flower from spring through summer.

Learn More: Blanket Flower

Heuchera

Also known as coralbells, heucheras bring season-long color to the garden with their tinted leaves. Heuchera can grow in full sun but can also thrive in full shade. Their blossoms appear from early to midsummer. Heuchera is deer-resistant and hardy in Zones 4-9.

Learn More: Planting Coral Bells: How to Grow and Care for These Colorful Perennials

Siberian Iris

This stunning flower blooms in early summer. Siberian iris are carefree flowers that can grow in full sun to part shade. They bloom in a variety of colors including blue, purple, gold, burgundy, pink and white and are hardy in Zones 3-9.

Learn More: Growing Siberian Iris

Moss Phlox

Moss Phlox forms a dense, creeping mat that is the perfect plant for rock gardens, in front of raised perennial gardens, alongside paved areas or on a slope. It's a plant that isn't finicky at all. It tolerates sandy or rocky soil, drought, neutral to slightly alkaline pH and poor infertile soil. It blooms from March to May and is evergreen in Zones 4 to 8.

12 Easy-to-Grow Perennials

Related To:

Shop This Look

Dependable Perennials

Coneflowers

Black-Eyed Susan

Hostas

Yarrow

Coreopsis

Daylily

Hardy Hibiscus

Aster

Blanket Flower

Heuchera

Siberian Iris

Moss Phlox

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