List of Perennial Flowers

When it comes to making a list of perennial flowers that I like to grow, I run smack into my enthusiasm for this class of flowering plants. In my old nursery days, I grew over 1800 varieties for sale and I have absolutely no idea how many were in the gardens (well over 1800) as I’d start around 300 new varieties and/or species every year from seed for my plant trials. As one customer said, “I just discovered this rock garden plant and I’ve been gardening for years. I come here and you have 13 species of it!”. (He was referring to my Draba collection). We had all kinds of alpines on trial and some South African plants and the only plants I regret leaving behind were the seedling Hellebores from Germany that were about to start flowering the year after I sold the farm. Never did see those plants. Out of the 300 new seed lots every year, only a few would grow, survive and thrive in my USDA zone 4 garden because these were some of the rarer or more tender plants and I’d try to push them beyond their natural boundaries. Oh well – “That one didn’t make it – toss that tag.” The Princess sometimes wonders why I don’t take it personally or get upset when a plant dies – once you’ve killed several million plants, what’s another one or two?

So you can understand it if I tell you I have trouble making lists of perennial flowers for my new gardens next year.

The shade garden is easy. I’m going to visit some nursery friends and simply say – “Sell me what you have” and take home one of everything. Seriously. Garden writing and gardening is my business so this qualifies as a business expense (eat your heart out) and because I love shade gardens and have a potentially huge one, I’m going to fill it up. I won’t even make a list, I’ll simply start pulling plants from the nursery areas, write them down as I pick them, and that’s my perennial plant list. If it thrives in the shade, if I can find it, I’ll buy it next spring. And yes, that probably means one of every Hosta in the nursery (or at least those that don’t feature green/white striped leaves -darn I hate those varieties) and way too many Heuchera and Pulmonaria (can’t have enough Pulmonaria) not to mention ferns. I have an entire garden I’d like to make into a fern garden in the next few years so this is the first visit for this plant (breeding stock)

Part shade gardens plant lists are also fairly easy – I won’t be bringing home any spreading thugs (like Campanula) but will be bringing home a great many plants that I know will tolerate some extra sun. Plants such as Hellebore, Heucherella, and Actaea will be collected in full force for next year.

The sun garden next spring is a little trickier. I don’t have as much room in there (yet) because the main borders aren’t going to be built until next year. These plants are only for the house gardens; the main border will run out and up the driveway a bit and occupy much of what is presently the “front lawn” (if I even dare to call this area a “lawn”) I’m going to focus on the “new” perennials; varieties I haven’t grown yet but need to write reviews about. Most of these will go into the new cottage gardens and I can tell you I’ll be bringing home a few new daylilies, all the new coneflowers and a straggle of this and that.

You can see some of the plant lists I’ll be picking from on these lists of perennial flowers over on my perennials site.

Because as I design out my garden this year, one of the things I’m looking for are plants that serve double duty. I want fragrant perennials and long-blooming ones as well. I want extended color ranges and a really serious cottage garden look.

I’m going to save restraint in color choice for another year. This garden is going to be a quiltwork of plants rather than a restrained design. The plants will be laid out when they arrive back at the house next spring – there’s no overall master-planning here, no landscape sketches. This is a plantsman’s garden and I’m laying in the bones. After the “bones” plants are laid in, then I’ll start collecting again.

As always, this is the warning shot across the bows and simply confirms my intention to lay in the plants. I’ll share it all in pictures with you next spring because the gardens are put to bed for the winter; they’re down and dormant and I’m getting set for my winter activities (doing a lot of writing)

Finally, I know that many times garden writers suggest making lists (I’ve even suggested it once or twice to help those afflicted with plant lust restrain themselves) but this isn’t going to be part of next spring’s ritual. I’m not the organized kind of gardener who shops with a list so why would I go to the trouble of actually making one. I’m the kind of plant collector who grows plants because he loves them not for the “effect” they will add to my landscaping. I can hardly wait.