Long-Blooming Perennial Flowers

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I like to plant annual flowers because they have such a long blooming period. Are there perennial flowers which bloom as long as annuals but don’t need replanting every year?

Unlike annual flowers which need to be replanted each year, perennial flowers live through the winter and come up again year after year. However, most perennial flowers have a short bloom period of 4 to 6 weeks.

In recent years a number of perennial flowers have been developed which have a blooming period almost as long as annual flowers. If you plant these varieties you can have a long season of bloom without the need to replant every year. You will need to go to a full-service nursery or garden store to find most of these.

My two favorite perennial flowers are Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’. Both grow about 16 inches high and spread to 3 feet in diameter. Rozanne has sky blue flowers and Moonbeam has small lemon yellow daisy flower clusters. Both bloom non-stop from May until October and do not require any dead flower removal.

Scabiosa ‘Butterflly Blue’ is a long blooming variety with pincushion type flowers on plants 18 inches to 2 feet tall. The lavender blue flowers bloom intermittently during the summer and are attractive to butterflies.

Corydalis grows 6 to 10 inches tall with yellow or blue flowers. It grows best in shady areas and blooms intermittently throughout the summer.

Lamium is a ground cover with variegated silver and green leaves with white, pink, lavender or crimson flowers. It grows about 3 to 4 inches high and blooms continuously from May to October.

Diascia is sold as an annual usually for container planting, but I have found that it will live for several years when planted in the ground. Diascia grows about 4 to 6 inches high and comes in shades of pink to orange that bloom continuously all summer long.

Echinacea (Coneflower), Gaillardia (Blanket flower), and Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan) are taller daisy flowered varieties which grow a foot to 3 feet tall and bloom continuously from mid-summer to fall. Echinacea has purple, white or several other flower colors. Gaillardia has yellow or red and yellow flowers. Rudbeckia has yellow flowers with dark centers.

I design and plant perennial flower beds and borders and add color to landscapes. Email me for a free consultation.