Appreciating the diversity of perennials

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Perennials have quietly assumed a new role in our gardens. They’re now ticking all the boxes as the plants we need to be multi-functional and more environmentally friendly.

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Depending upon the hardiness zone in which we live, in terms of long, continuous colour, we can enjoy their display all year long if we choose our plants wisely.

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From the earliest arabis and aubrieta varieties to late fall asters and heliopsis helianthoides, perennials can be carefully co-ordinated to provide continuous colour. In the broadest sense, however, today’s perennial displays incorporate ornamental grasses and flowering shrubs into the mix for a much more nuanced, comprehensive performance.

Perennial versatility is something few other plants can match. Their ability to not only grow, but thrive, in varied locations, means we can depend upon them year-after-year. From hot, dry, sunny areas to cool shady corners, from wet bog-like and even riparian settings, to heavily populated cityscapes, perennials will not let us down.

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One of our greatest concerns these days is the loss of wildlife habitat, so in addition to perennials, a broad-ranged habitat garden should include a few trees, berried plants like pyracantha and ilex verticillate, and taller grasses that provide nest building materials as well as shelter and seed heads.

Planting an assortment of pollinator friendly perennials that not only have long blooming times, but also that bloom in sequence from early until late would be ideal. Achillea, agastache, echinacea, monarda, nepeta, phlox and sedum are all pollinators as well as being bird and hummingbird friendly. The addition of sterile buddleia will also attract butterflies. The addition of a few herbs like fennel, parsley and dill nearby will be of particular interest to swallowtails.

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If you’re fighting deer appetites, there are quite a number of so-called deer resistant perennials. We live with a family of deer in our area, so we have a pretty good idea of their likes and dislikes. They walk our perennial fields on a nightly basis, and haven’t touched the astilbe, coreopsis, delphiniums, dicentra, iris, lavender, phlox, rudbeckia, salvia, verbascum or veronica. They also seem to ignore ground covers like ajuga, artemisia and thyme. If you’re struggling to keep your vegetables, annuals, roses and fruit trees intact, these perennials might just be a partial solution to this problem.

Wet feet aren’t a favourite of most plants, but if you have a wet section in your garden, especially over the fall and winter months, certain perennials can turn it into a beautiful area. Sometimes simply berming up these areas with some good soil will help minimize the effects of the wettest seasons. Placing some ‘Big O’ drainage pipes can prevent excessive water buildup, but there are some beautiful, moisture-loving varieties that can turn a problem spot like this into a very attractive garden bed.

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Astilbe can be the mainstay of wetter areas and aruncus dioicus, or Goatsbeard, tolerates wet soils and provides an abundance of white blooms. For evergreen foliage, early flowering bergenia is forgiving of wet roots. Chelone obliqua, or Turtlehead, does well with wet feet, as does the large family of iris. Giant-headed ligularias are spectacular in boggy areas and their tall, yellow flower heads complement the dark green or burgundy foliage, creating a stunning focal point.

If you’re dealing with a sloping bank, place some larger stones, buried to about one-third of their depth, down along the grade. It not only looks great, but really helps to retain sloping banks, and provide secure planting pockets. Well established perennials will spread roots to help stabilize the bank and ultimately reduce soil erosion.

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It seems that hot, dry areas are becoming the most challenging spots to deal with in our gardens. One of the most important things to do first is to ensure that each of the planting beds have moisture retaining organic matter worked into the soil. Next, select perennials that will thrive in that location.

Sedums play such an important role in a full sun garden and, if you want even more summer colour, delosperma now come in a wide range of vibrant tones and they bloom for a long period.

To add some diversity to these toasty areas, there are lots of other heat resilient perennials. All of the coreopsis verticilliata varieties like c. Zagreb, c. Moonbeam and c. Sylvester stand up well. Iberis has become very popular lately and, for a touch of silver, perovskia is a nice late summer performer. Dwarf grasses like pennisetum Little Bunny and yucca plants will add a certain desert theme to these dry areas as well.

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As we look at our landscaping from an environmental and ‘new climate reality’ perspective, we need to think, plan and plant differently today.

As we move into our perennial flowering season, especially over the next three months, we can truly appreciate their great diversity and the huge value they bring to so many varied landscape situations.

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