High Performance/Low Maintenance Perennials
If you're looking for a perennial mainstay in the garden, look no further than Coreopsis. This native plant brightens the landscape with yellow blossoms up until the first frost. It's ideal for border designs, as most varieties grow no more than 2 feet high. Read more about this high performance, low maintenance perennial and its cultivars in the latest Bobbie's World blog post: http://clevelandlandscapegarden.com/coreopsis-tickseed/
Bobbie excels at designing gardens with color, texture, and year round interest. She loves to incorporate high performance, low maintenance perennials into her designs, because these plants offer great dividends to homeowners. For instance, Aquilegia (also known as Columbine) is available in a rainbow of colors with many forms and cultivars. These plants reseed prolifically, and will rebloom throughout May and June if deadheaded. For more inspiration, read the series of blog posts at Bobbie's World: http://clevelandlandscapegarden.com/high-performancelow-maintenance-perennials-part-2/
Ornamental grasses are the oft overlooked stars of the perennial garden. Both high performance and low maintenance, these plants spring to life with the slightest breeze. Offering movement, height, and color in every season, you can always depend on these lively grasses to elevate your landscape design. Read more about ornamental grasses and other perennials at Bobbie's World: http://clevelandlandscapegarden.com/high-performancelow-maintenance-perennials-part-3/ For next week, there will be part 4, also about grasses.
"I’m sure you’ve heard the tongue-in-cheek definition of a perennial, i.e. a plant that blooms each year, assuming that it survives the winter. If you select perennials or biennials that reseed, it doesn’t matter if the mother plant survives because there are always lots of babies... After all, Mother Nature does not plant in rows or squares; she plants in drifts and weaves her underlings into lovely patterns." Read more at Bobbie's World: http://clevelandlandscapegarden.com/high-performancelow-maintenance-perennials-part-2/
As you begin planning your spring garden, be sure to read Bobbie's latest blog post continuing the discussion of high performance yet low maintenance perennials. Of interest is the proper care of blue grasses, most of which should not be pruned: http://clevelandlandscapegarden.com/high-performancelow-maintenance-perennials-part-4/
Perennials are the backbone of a flower garden and the icing on the cake of a landscape but I find that they are often underused because they are perceived as too much work. However, if the designer chooses well, perennials can be maintained with minimal effort and time. I would suggest choosing perennials based on the following factors: long period of bloom, more than one season of interest, little need for deadheading, and strong stems that do not need to be staked.
Sedums are the perfect high performance, low maintenance perennials for the garden, particularly for areas with full sun and well-drained soil. With a variety of foliage and flower colors, you really can't go wrong. Sedum spathulifolium has bright yellow blooms against a backdrop of silvery leaves. Native to North American and hardy in zones 5-9, this cultivar prefers full to partial sun with well drained soil. Keep in mind that there is one groundcover sedum, S.ternatum, that thrives in dry shade. For more perennial inspiration, see Bobbie's ideabook on Houzz: https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/82233534/thumbs/high-performance-low-maintenance-perennials
Q