Perennial Planting Guide
If you're looking for ideas and inspiration on gardening with perennials, you've come to the right place. These articles cover general gardening topics as well as detailed information on specific perennial plants.
- For more information, and to learn how to plant perennials, watch our Videos On Perennial Plants!
How To Plant Bare Root and Potted Perennials »
Here are step-by-step instructions for planting bare root and potted perennial plants.
Visual Guide To Bare Root Plants »
This gallery shows you what to expect, and what to look for when you receive your bare root perennial plants.
When Your Perennials Arrive »
How to coddle your perennial plants from the moment they arrive. Potted plants and roots need special care after a long quick transit. Here's how to start each one right.
First Frost Date Chart »
When will your annual flowers be killed by frost? When will your gardening season end? This chart tells it all by giving you cities coast to coast and their "first killing frost date." Just check out your nearby cities, and you'll know when to expect it will happen.
Top Perennial Plants For Wildflower Meadows »
After seeding and tending wildflower meadows for over 20 years, we’ve learned a lot. Most of our work has been done in Vermont, but by working with wildgardeners from all over North America for over two decades, we also learned which plants do best in various areas.
How To Plant Your American Meadows Pre-Planned Garden »
Our Pre-Planned Gardens are the perfect way to bring professional garden design to your home. Each Pre-Planned Garden includes reliable, easy-to-grow plant varieties, care instructions, and a convenient Pre-Planned Garden Map to make planting easy.
Understanding Your Shade Garden And How To Plant For It »
Once you understand the light exposure of different parts of your property, you can make better choices when selecting plants, and give them what they need to thrive.
How To Plant A Bird Garden With Native Flowers »
If you’re a gardener, there’s a very good chance that you adore the sight of birds visiting your garden throughout the season and enhancing it with their energy and sound. Many of us encourage those visits simply with a birdfeeder; but when we choose to plant a garden specifically to feed the birds, we connect on an even greater level with our feathered companions, and have the great pleasure of watching them gather those seeds in the way that nature intended.
How To Divide & Share Plants With Friends This Fall »
Fall is an ideal time of year to dig up and divide overcrowded plants in your garden. It's also the perfect time to help your favorite new (or seasoned) gardener add to their landscape!
Everybody Loves Lupines »
From the Pacific to the Coast of Maine, wild lupine species light up almost every state. And their hybrids are favorites in perennial gardens everywhere.
Why America Loves Astilbes »
These elegant plume-flowered perennials are a gardener's dream: They create color in shade. They're easy to grow and super cold-hardy. They spread quickly and can be divided for more in a year or two. The elegant plumed flowers are even great for cutting. What more can you ask?
Clematis, The Queen of Vines »
Every summer it happens. You notice the cascade of lavish flowers on the same porches in the neighborhood. So why not have that big display in your yard? On your mailbox? Or your trellis. Growing classic clematis is easy, and the vines reward you more and more as the years go by.
Butterfly Bushes »
To a butterfly, they're much more than just another pretty flower. No wonder Butterfly Bushes (Buddleia davidii) are super-popular. These beautiful blooming shrubs don't just attract butterflies like any bright-colored flowers. With their honey-like scent, they're irresistible butterfly magnets.
Daylilies »
From the lowly "ditch lily" have come over 20,000 elegant hybrids, making Daylilies the most popular perennials of them all. And no wonder--in a true rainbow of colors with all sorts of flower forms, this dependable plant is a snap to grow. Today, the parade goes on--every gardener has his or her favorites.
Hardy Hibiscus »
Not the fussy houseplant, tropical Hibiscus, but the wonderful tough, perennial yard shrubs created from some of our most beautiful North American wildflowers. These beauties are becoming more and more popular, as far north as Zone 4.
All About Irises »
A quick guide to growing all the Irises: The big Bearded Irises you plant in late summer, the bulb Iris you plant in fall, and Siberian, Japanese and Louisianas you plant in spring. They're all great, all easy to grow, and when you plant any iris, you're dealing with the official flower of kings and queens.
The "Other" Irises: Siberian, Japanese, Louisianas »
Don't let the big Bearded Irises fool you. These are the beardless ones, the often overlooked easy-to-grow "Other Irises": Japanese, Siberian, Louisianas, and Wild Iris species. If you're only growing the big Bearded Irises, click here to see what you're missing.
