The Practiced Perennial Gardener

Easy to grow perennials

I spend hours upon hours dragging around water hoses, shoveling mulch, picking off bugs and pulling weeds.  The last thing I need is a plant that is fussy about growing conditions and vulnerable to every disease and pest under the sun.  Don’t get me wrong I have some pet varieties that require more attention from me than others but I am not willing, nor do I have the time to pamper every plant I grow.   

How I define easy:1.)  Plants must be somewhat drought tolerant, they don’t need to be able survive desert conditions but if I have to give the plant a drink every time it gets hot then that plant is off the list. 2.) Flowering must be maintenace free. If I have to drive stakes into the ground and rig up a mess of twine or constantly deadhead faded flowers that plant is not “easy”.3.) The plant must be disease and pest resistant. It makes no sense to spray poisons and then try to attract birds and butterflies to the garden. If the plant can’t take on nature by itself  then I certainly don’t want a garden full of them.4.)  A plant can be easy to grow but the flowering time is so short it may as well be a weed since it offers very little interest to the garden for most of the season.  This rule does not apply to plants that have short bloom times but offer elements of texture.I know that is a tough list of requirements and it weeds out many  varieties of perennials that other gardeners consider easy.  My intention is to give you a list of truly easy to grow plants that are beautiful as well as low maintenance.   One thing that aggravates me about the mail order perennial business is that according to the descriptions everything is  ”Easy to Grow”.   Every perennial in the catalog or on a website is not easy to grow  now matter how many times they repeat the phrase.  In fact I consider some varieties as prima Donna’s and will not even waste my time with them.  That being said don’t let me discourage you from selecting  varieties that you like.  The plants I have trouble with may thrive in your area and under your care. The lists below are my easy to grow picks and under that is my difficult to grow list.        Easy:

• Achillea
• Buddleia (not really a perennial but often found in mail order catalogs)
• Coreopsis
• Dianthus
• Echinacea
• Gaillardia
• Hemerocallis ( Daylily – very easy)
• Hostas (as long as you keep them in the shade)
• Iris
• Sedum
• Veronica
• Ferns (again keep them in the shade)
• Ornamental Grasses
• Shasta Daisy
• Poppies
• Phlox
• Rudbeckia
• Knockout Roses ( not a perennial but I just could not leave out this great shrub rose)

     Tough:

• Aconitum  (monkshood)
• Delphinium   (unless you live in area with cool summers)
• Lupine  (unless you have a deep rich soil)
• Hybrid Tea Roses  (every bug and fungus in the world love these things – use floribundas instead)
• Lavender (can be tough but if you get it placed in the right spot it is easy)

Happy Gardening

Filed under: Uncategorized on February 19th, 2010