Let’s face it—while we would all love to have luscious, bountiful, Martha Stewart-Esque gardens, some of us just don’t have the greenest of thumbs, to say the least. The dictionary definition explains gardeners that struggle have ‘notable inability to make plants grow’ or ‘a tendency to fail as a gardener.’
Sounds a little dismal, right? But fear not—there is hope for you yet! Whether it is time or patience you are lacking, you can still have a beautiful garden. The trick is to plant low-maintenance perennials. These are some of our favorite low-maintenance perennials that are sure to come back year after year with minimal effort on your part. Enjoy!
Spirea
Spirea is one of the most popular flowering shrubs for more than a few reasons. They are low-maintenance perennials that vary vastly in size, flower and leaf color, making them super versatile. They are much-loved by pollinators, can be grown as informal hedges or perennial borders, and are relatively pest-resistant. To get the most bang for your buck with blooms, plant this low-maintenance perennial in full sun and well-draining soil.
Coneflower
Coneflowers are native to North America, which makes them a low-maintenance perennial by design. These hardy, drought-tolerant perennials will grow anywhere from two to four feet in height and will bloom from the middle of summer right until the first frost at the end of the growing season.
Day Lily
Not to be confused with true lilies, which are grown from bulbs, daylilies actually grow from fleshy roots. They are hardy, low-maintenance perennials that produce vigorous single-day blooms. Hybrid daylily varieties come in a wide range of colors that range from pale cream to yellow to pink and purple.
Stonecrop
These easy to care for, low-maintenance perennials make up a diverse group of succulents that include everything from groundcovers to shrubs. Stonecrop attracts pollinators like hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies and is perfect in containers, hillsides, rock gardens, or in nooks and crannies along rock walls.
Hostas
Hostas are prolific plants that thrive in shade gardens but some varieties are happy to grow in full sun. There is literally not much of anything that Hostas can’t handle, and once established, these perennials require little to no maintenance. Their attractive foliage varies greatly from variegated white to dark green to lime green, and they produce beautiful flowers from early summer into early fall in variations of pink, white, lavender, and even light blue.
Peonies
Peonies are truly legendary low-maintenance perennials. They have the potential to live for up to 100 years (yes, you read that right) and produce the most magnificent, layered blooms that are almost out of this world. One thing to remember with Peonies—choose their planting location wisely as they hate to be transplanted. Give them lots of space to grow out, and plant them in full sun. Once established, they’re quite easy to care for and will grace your garden with beautiful blooms from late spring to early summer for literally decades to come.
Coreopsis
Brighten up your garden with this hardy, low-maintenance perennial. Native to North America, Coreopsis is a drought-tolerant, pollinator-friendly plant that will produce masses of yellow, orange, lavender, white, or rose-colored blooms throughout early summer.
Russian Sage
The long clusters of lavender-hued blooms, hardiness, and fragrance of this low-maintenance perennial make it an obvious choice for ornamental gardens. The long-bloom time of Russian sage will help to add color to your garden throughout the growing season, and it pairs beautifully with fellow tall plants like coneflowers or verbena.