Garden Plans: Perennials

This flower garden plan will provide many years of enjoyment since perennials repeat each year; no replanting required! The key to a perennial garden is careful selection of plants, so we've given careful consideration to our plant list as well as plot plan.

Not only do perennials keep coming back, but also long-flowering perennials can contribute color for two months or longer. Attractive leaves, showy seed heads, and fetching foliage add even more interest. For early color, add daffodils, crocus, and other spring bulbs.

This 5x10-foot rectangle suits a path or driveway border and requires well-drained soil and full sun. In longer beds, repeat the pattern.

Flower Garden Plan

Garden Plant List

1. Blue Ice’ bluestar (perennial): Dense mounds feature starry blue flower clusters in mid- or late spring. Slender, rich-green leaves turn bright yellow in fall. It is about 18 inches and grows in Zones 4 to 9. Six plants.
2. Purple coneflower (perennial): Large, daisy-form, purple-pink flowers with prominent centers bloom through the summer atop 3- to 5-foot-tall stems. Also look for cultivars with white, orange, or yellow flowers. It grows in Zones 3 to 9. Six plants.
3. ‘Miss Manners’ obedient plant (perennial): Sturdy, upright stems are topped with spikes of bright-white blooms from midsummer to early fall. Obedient plant can be a rampant spreader, but this cultivar is fairly well behaved. It is 18 to 24 inches tall and grows in Zones 3 to 9. Six plants.
4. ‘Little Bunny’ fountain grass (perennial): Dense clumps of spiky foliage feature brushy, silver seed heads from late summer into winter. It is 12 to 18 inches in bloom and grows in Zones 5 to 9. Nine plants.
5. Lady’s mantle (perennial): One-foot-tall mounds of elegantly pleated, velvety, scalloped-edge leaves boast frothy clusters of green-yellow flowers in early to midsummer. It is about 18 inches tall in bloom and grows in Zones 4 to 7. Three plants.
6. Zagreb’ coreopsis (perennial): Moderately spreading clumps of slender green leaves bear an abundance of bright-yellow, daisylike flowers through summer. It is 12 to 18 inches tall in bloom and grows in Zones 4 to 9. Three plants.
7. ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (perennial): Clumps of grassy foliage, 2 to 3 feet tall at maturity, feature 5- to 6-foot-tall stalks topped with plumes that are pinkish-gray in summer and tan in winter. It grows in Zones 5 to 9. Five plants.