Best Perennials for a Low-Maintenance Flower Bed

The Short List

For a sunny bed that mostly looks after itself, plant daylily, purple coneflower, catmint, salvia, yarrow, thread-leaf coreopsis, Shasta daisy, iris, stonecrop and baptisia. For shade, plant hosta. Ten of these come from Iowa State University Extension’s list of easy-to-grow perennials, which describes them as dependable plants without a lot of fuss. The eleventh, baptisia, is profiled by University of Illinois Extension as an easy native with few pest and disease problems.

Nearly all of them want the same two things: full sun and soil that drains. Get those right and the list needs little beyond water in its first season and an occasional division years later. The table below gives the conditions, bloom season and size for each plant so you can match them to your bed.

Eleven Easy Perennials Compared

Light, soil, bloom season and size for the first ten rows are from Iowa State. The baptisia row is from Illinois.

Perennial	Light and soil	Bloom season	Size
Daylily	Full sun to light shade; a wide range of soils with good drainage	Early to midsummer	18 to 36 inches tall and wide
Purple coneflower	Full sun; average to dry, well-drained soil	Early summer through late summer	24 to 36 inches tall, 18 to 24 inches wide
Catmint	Full sun; well-drained soil	Late spring through summer	18 to 24 inches tall, 24 to 36 inches wide
Salvia	Full sun; well-drained soil, moderate moisture	Late spring into early summer	18 to 30 inches tall and wide
Yarrow	Full sun; dry to average, well-drained soil	Early to midsummer	18 to 30 inches tall
Thread-leaf coreopsis	Full sun; average to dry, well-drained soil	Early summer, often into late summer	12 to 24 inches tall and wide
Shasta daisy	Full sun; well-drained soil, moderate moisture	Early to midsummer	24 to 36 inches tall, 18 to 24 inches wide
Iris	Full sun; well-drained soil	Late spring to early summer	24 to 36 inches tall
Stonecrop, upright types	Full sun; dry to average, well-drained soil	Late summer into fall	18 to 24 inches tall
Baptisia	Full sun, tolerates part shade; well-drained soil	Late spring to early summer	3 to 4 feet tall and wide
Hosta	Partial to full shade; moist, well-drained, organic soil	Early to midsummer, grown mainly for foliage	6 to 36 inches tall and wide

Match the Plant to the Bed

Sort the list by soil moisture before you think about color. Four plants are at their best in average to dry ground: purple coneflower, stonecrop, yarrow and thread-leaf coreopsis. They suit the hot strip along a driveway or a bed the hose does not reach. Salvia and Shasta daisy want moderate moisture, so give them the part of the bed that is easier to water.

Daylily is the most forgiving about soil. Iowa State says it adapts to a wide range of soils provided drainage is good, and it accepts light shade. Hosta is the opposite case, a shade plant that needs moist, organic soil. Do not mix hostas into a dry, sunny planting and expect both to stay easy. Group plants with similar water needs so one watering schedule fits the whole bed.

Baptisia needs room and a permanent address. Illinois Extension says plants typically grow 3 to 4 feet tall and wide in a bushy, shrub-like mound, and that the large root system makes them difficult to transplant. It may take a couple of years to reach full size and bloom heavily. In part shade blooming may be reduced and the plant may become leggy, and Illinois suggests a peony cage over any plant that flops. Once settled in full sun, its deep roots make it drought-tolerant.

Plan Bloom From Late Spring to Fall

A bed that blooms only in July looks finished by August. Spreading bloom across the season costs no extra work, since it is decided once, at planting. Baptisia, iris and salvia open the season in late spring. Daylily, yarrow and Shasta daisy carry early to midsummer. Purple coneflower and thread-leaf coreopsis run from early summer into late summer, and upright stonecrop closes the year from late summer into fall.

Catmint is the long bridge. Iowa State lists its soft blue-purple flowers from late spring through summer, which covers the gap after the iris and salvia finish. Hosta flowers in early to midsummer, but its leaves are the reason to grow it, and they hold a shady bed together for the whole season.

These plants do not flower before late spring. For color earlier than that, tuck fall-planted bulbs between the clumps. If you are weighing a mixed bed, our annuals versus perennials guide covers what each adds.

Test Drainage Before You Plant

Every plant in the table asks for well-drained soil, and Clemson’s fact sheet states that good drainage is critical to the success of most perennials. University of Georgia Extension gives a simple test. Dig a hole about 10 inches deep and fill it with water. The next day, fill it again and time how long the water stays. If it drains away in 8 to 10 hours or less, drainage is satisfactory.

If the bed passes, prepare it once and well. Both Clemson and Georgia recommend spading perennial beds deeply, to a depth of 8 to 10 inches. For clay, Clemson advises mixing in at least 2 inches of composted pine bark or composted leaf mold. A bed that fails the test is a poor home for coneflower, yarrow or stonecrop, so either improve it or choose another spot.

Plant and Space for Less Work Later

Clemson says most perennials should be planted in the fall or early spring, and that fall planting should be finished at least 6 weeks before hard-freezing weather.

Space each plant by the mature width in the table, not by the size of the nursery pot. A catmint that reaches 24 to 36 inches across needs that much room, and a baptisia needs 3 to 4 feet. Clemson notes that most perennials eventually become overcrowded and require division, so clumps planted closer than their mature width will reach that point sooner. When it arrives, the steps are in our guide to dividing perennials.

Water, Mulch and the Few Chores Left

Watering is the main job in the first season. Clemson’s figure is that most perennials need at least 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water per week from rain or irrigation. Water thoroughly and deeply, then let the soil surface dry before watering again. Georgia warns against frequent light waterings because they wet only the upper soil and result in shallow root growth.

Mulch takes on part of the weeding. Clemson recommends a 1- to 2-inch layer of compost, pine bark or pine straw over a perennial bed to help keep down weeds and conserve moisture.

Two optional chores remain. Removing old flowers encourages rebloom, according to Clemson, and Georgia adds that it often stimulates side shoots that carry more flowers. Our deadheading guide shows where to cut. Staking is the other one. Clemson notes that many perennials need it, but most plants in the table top out at 36 inches or less, and the one tall entry, baptisia, is the plant Illinois suggests caging if it flops.