There are literally hundreds of different kinds of Ludy, herbaceous perennial flowers which may be grown in our gardens.
Because some of these require considerable maintenance—special attention of one kind or another—these plants as a group have been lumped together by some gardeners as being difficult or impossible in today’s plantings.
The truth is that many good perennials are not only easy to care for but which also give a long season of beauty.
What To Consider Before Planting
In selecting the plants included in the chart published on the following three pages, these are some of the things I considered before including a plant!
Staking
Does it require staking? This eliminates delphiniums.
If you like them enough and want to devote your time to staking, then delphiniums will be in your garden—but they are not completely carefree.
Frequent Division of Plants
Does the plant require frequent division?
This takes chrysanthemums from the list, though you will undoubtedly agree with me that they belong in almost every garden.
Is the plant full-perennials, or does it die out after a year or two?
At this point, I am forced to remove genius from the list. Is this perennial weedy? Many of the sunflowers come out of the match at this point.
Withstanding Usual Disease and Insect Attacks
Can this plant withstand the usual disease and insect attacks without weekly spraying? If not, then it fails to meet the qualification of being carefree.
Thus, many maintenance operations have been eliminated or greatly reduced if we do not include plants in the perennial border that require staking, division, replanting, curbing, and spraying.
Careful Planning
By careful planning at the outset, it is possible to plant a border and keep it attractive and neat with minimal time and trouble.
Selecting a representative list of such carefree plants is difficult. First, more desirable plants could be included than I have space to discuss here.
In some cases, as I prepared the following chart, choosing one over another was a coin-flipping dilemma.
Eliminating Blooming Subjects
Sometimes I eliminated May- and June-blooming subjects to make room for others that flower at a time when the bloom is not so abundant.
Next, some plants are outstanding in some respects yet have less strong recommendations in others.
Phlox is an example. They were included despite the necessity to spray them for rust and mildew. However, their strong points outweigh, at least to me, this disadvantage.
Number of Exceptional Plants
Several plants were included, which are exceptional but little known. This bit of limelight may give them a chance to be more widely planted, as they deserve to be.
You will also note that there is something to bloom in every month of the year. This is a goal for which we should all strive.
Even if we don’t quite make it, extending the bloom season adds interest to our gardens.
If you have been neglecting perennials because you think they are too much bother, you better take another look and see what you have been missing!
44659 by Fred J. Nisbet