Tough Plants for Midwest Gardens

Steely-blue globe thistle is a bee magnet. It's also great to grow for fresh-cut or dried flowers. Hardy in zones 3 to 10, this tall perennial adds structure to the landscape or garden. Lyon suggests growing E. sphaerocephalus if you want a bushier, mounded plant; it has rounded, silvery-white flowers. 

Author Edward Lyon is a horticulturist and a working gardener who doesn't mind getting dirt under his nails. His book is an A to Z guide to the best trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, grasses and vines for the Midwest. It's also packed with tips on growing techniques and regionally appropriate gardening styles. 

Also called turkeyfoot grass, big bluestem is a tough ornamental grass. This perennial native is a great addition to fall landscapes, when the bluish-green foliage turns red, purple and bronze.

Think miniature orchids when you look at the spurred flowers of barrenwort, a perennial that works well as a ground cover. The blooms appear in early spring and may be red, orange, yellow, white or other colors. Despite its shallow roots, barrenwort is drought-tolerant, Lyon says.