Sunny and warm weather is in the forecast this weekend, giving us the perfect opportunity to get outside and get our yard and gardens ready for spring and summer. If you’re trying to decide what kinds of flowers, shrubs or other plants to put in your yard this year, you should check out this suggested list of perennials by Birds & Blooms magazine.
These 5 perennials are low maintenance, inexpensive and drought resistant.
Sedum
You rarely have to worry about whether this low maintenance will come back each year. One of the most reliable growers around, it offers delightful color well into fall. The star-shaped blooms are a treat for butterflies, and fall-blooming varieties offer fuel to monarchs and other late fliers on their journey south.
It’s one of the first perennials to emerge in spring, and then it offers interesting foliage until it begins blooming from late summer through the end of fall.
Agastache
This drought-tolerant perennial often gets forgotten, but it’s the perfect addition to any wildlife habitat, with flowers that attract hummingbirds and butterflies all summer long. Late in the season, the seed heads provide food for birds. You can choose just about any flower color you want, with cultivars offering orange, pink, red, purple and blue blooms.
The tall blooms offer a great backdrop to just about any perennial or annual you add to the landscape.
Coreopsis
Though you can also find this bloom as an easy annual to grow from seed, make sure you pick up the perennial version, too. It loves the sun and thrives in dry conditions. New varieties offer pretty alternatives to the traditional yellow blooms, and the orange, pink and bright-red -varieties add a color twist to this favorite.
Yucca
If “More for less” is your motto, yuccas are a must-have. This enormous grower can get up to 5 feet wide, so instead of buying four or five plants for an area, fill the same space with just a couple of yuccas. The spiky leaves are a stunning focal point throughout the season, and tall white flowers bloom in midsummer.
Yarrow
What’s not to love about this perennial? It can grow in almost any condition, it blooms all the way until frost, and it offers lovely color both in the garden and as a cut flower. Now all you have to decide is which cultivar to grow! Moonshine has light-yellow blooms; Red Velvet offers a nice strawberry-pink alternative. Just pick one that is not too aggressive, and you’ll be on the road to success.
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