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Perennials

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Introduction

Perennials make up one of the largest selection of great plants for your home garden that perform year after year for a variety of styles, conditions and forms. Known for their diversity of color, size, form, fragrance, texture and structure, perennial plants are a home garden staple.

Technically speaking, perennials are plants that live two or more years, are non-woody and when mature, produce flowers annually. As a practical matter, home gardeners, nurseries and books typically lump in some woody shrubs like lavender, ferns and ornamental grasses… so we do here as well!

Perennial plants offer a seemingly endless palette of colors, shapes and textures to create stunning garden designs. From cottage gardens featuring delphiniums, daisies and hollyhocks to tropical gardens sporting ginger, cannas and oriental poppy, your choices are limitless.

We have some big categories of plants in this section of our plant database, so be sure to browse around. Don’t miss hostas, kings of the shade garden offering an incredible assortment of leaf textures, colors and shapes. Speaking of shade, be sure to check out astilbes, columbine and ferns. And, when you’re ready to step into the bright sun, browse daylilies, bee balm, coneflowers and peonies! We’ve also included bamboos and ornamental grasses in this section, so be sure to wander amongst our growing collection of plants in these sections.

For planting times and specific growing conditions, be sure to look at individual plant records for more information. But in general, perennials offer the home gardener lots of opportunity to plant, with both Spring and Fall typically being great times to dig in the dirt and start a new perennial garden!

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Care guides: Perennials

Need help taking care of your Perennials? Take a look at our care guides and learn how to make your garden flourish!

Top Perennials articles

Here are our favorite Perennials articles and resources. Be sure to check out the Perennials Articles and Posts tab for more Perennials posts and content!

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