Perennials are plants that live from season to season in contrast to annuals that live one year or season and then die. Technically trees and shrubs are perennials but usually the term usually refers to herbaceous plants.

EVERGREEN PERENNIALS

Evergreen perennials usually bloom during one season and keep their green leaves all year.

Primrose (Primula polyanthus) comes in a wide range of colors and prefers part shade. It starts blooming in February and continues until June when the hot weather comes.

Primula ‘Belarina Pink’

Primula ‘Amethyst Ice’

Primula ‘Belarina Cream’

Primula ‘Belarina Lively Lilac’

Primula ‘Belarina Double Valentine’

Primula obconica

Erigeron ‘Cape Sebastian’

Beach Aster (Erigeron glaucus)

Erigeron glaucus ‘Wayne Roderick’

Sea Breeze Aster (Erigeron glaucus ‘Sea Breeze’)

Sun Drops (Calylophus drummondianus)

Catmint (Nepeta faassenii)

Fairy Wand (Dierama pulcherrimum)

Aphyllanthus monspeliensis

Veronica spicata ‘Glory’ (dark purple) and Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa caucasica)

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia grandiflora)

Blanket Flower requires a lot of deadheading. This deadheading took over an hour but resulted in flowers throughout the summer.

Gaillardia ‘Arizona Apricot’ seed heads still look good even before deadheading.

Penstemon ‘Firebird’

Penstemon ‘Sour grapes’

Penstemon pinifolius

Penstemon pinifolius ‘Mersea Yellow’

Society Garlic (Tulbaghia violacea)

Giant-flowered Soapwort (Saponaria lempergii ‘Max Frei’)

Red-Hot Poker (Kniphofia hybrid)

Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos cv. )

Comfrey (Symphytum officinalis ‘Hidcote Blue’)

Mullein (Verbascum chaixii ‘Album’)

DECIDUOUS (herbaceous) PERENNIALS

Ground Orchid (Pleone formosana)

Oenothera missouriensis

Oenothera fruticosa ‘African Sun’

Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum odoratum) fall color. ‘Variegatum’ is top photo.

Lungwort (Pulmonaria longifolia)

Bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’)

White Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis ‘Alba’)

Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus). The flowers are chocolate color and smell like chocolate.

Astilbe chinensis var. taquetii

Astilbe chinensis pumila

Astilbe arendsii white variety

Pink Astilbe

Meadowsweet (Filipendula rubra)

Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro)

Coneflower (Echinacea)

See also Echinacea post of 8/4/19

Lobelia cardinalis

Lobelia speciosa ‘Starship Deep Rose’

Lobelia gerardii ‘Vedrariensis’

Lobelia tupa

Hummingbird Bush (Dicliptera sericea)

Daylily (Hemerocallis)

See Daylily post of July 17, 2020

Ballon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus)

Foxtail Lily (Eremurus isabellinus)

Peach-leafed Bluebell (Campanula persifolia)

Campanula primulifolia

Verbena bonariensis This plant is more or less evergreen at Dawn Gardens but it is cut back every year.

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida) spreads by rhizomes.

Gloriosa Daisy (Rudbeckia hirta) doesn’t spread; the clump just gets bigger in diameter.

Rudbeckia ‘Henry Elders’

Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’

Coreopsis verticillata ‘Zagreb’ (deep yellow); ‘Moonbeam’ (pale yellow)

Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’

Phlox paniculata

See Phlox post of 7/31/19

Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum)

White Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum ‘Album’)

Throat Wort (Trachelium caeruleum) Very tough woody perennial that will self-sow and bloom all summer and most of fall if deadheaded.

Maltese Cross (Lychnis chalcedonica)

Canna Lily (Canna)

Allium ‘Millennium’

Japanese Windflower (Anemone x hybrida)

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’

New England Aster (Aster ‘Purple Dome’)

Aster oblongifolius ‘Dream of Beauty’

New York Aster (Aster novi-belgii cv. )

Alstroemeria hybrids come in many different colors.

Sneezeweed (Helenium cv. )

Aster ‘Snow Furry’

Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’

Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Alba’)

Bidens ‘Bee Bold’

Russian Sunflower (Helichrysum angustifolia)

See post of Jan. 8, 2020

Disney Ginger (Hedychium ‘Disney’)

Arkansas Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) fall color and blue flowers in the Spring.

Aster ‘Monte Cassino’

Copper Canyon Daisy (Tagetes lemmonii)

Falkia repens

Veronica spicata ‘Glory’

Culver’s Root (Veronocastrum virginianum)

Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis)

Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Technically Foxglove is a biennial – planted one year, blooms the next. But at Dawn Gardens they tend to last several years.

Burnet (Sanguisorba obtusa)

Sanguisorba cv.

Corydalis flexuosa ‘Porcelain Blue’

Symphytum officinalis ‘Hidcote Blue’

Columbine (Aquilegia Pagoda Pink & White)

Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Dahlia