Although the name “Perennial” connotes permanence, we must admit that many perennials fit the classification in varying degrees.
Some kinds are anything but enduring unless pampered or sprayed relentlessly.
Others bloom themselves to death and fade away. Yet many persevere, and these are the subject of our present concern.
In early spring, the curious reddish stems and fleshy, light green foliage of the cushion spurge (Euphorbia epithymoides) makes an appearance.
A few weeks later, the 18″ clump is crowned with chrome yellow bracts. In early summer, bright red seed pods soon take form, persisting until late summer.
By autumn, the trim foliage has a fiery glow. So here is a suggestion for the tidy, neatly rounded, and attractive rock garden or border front. Given a sunny, porous patch of earth, it lingers for untold seasons.
The white carpets of hardy candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) are particularly showy in spring, putting forth white flowers in rock gardens.
These can function as edging plants or luxuriant specimens in the forefront of borders.
Unfortunately, seedlings of the species can suffer badly from windburn and produce muddy flowers.
Select the improved form of Iberis known as Purity for a compact grower of free-flowering habit, which endures all kinds of winter weather.
What Are Lupines?
Lupines are always admired for their matchless bloom spikes, aversion to hot, dry summers, and are usually short-lived.
However, the Thermopsis clan offers a few appealing species in butter-yellow shades, which are fair substitutes.
The nickname “false lupine” is self-explanatory, and the vigor of growth, plus their clean, pea-like foliage, are strong points in their favor.
Thermopsis caroliniana grows to four feet and needs about two feet of elbow room. In late June, the sparkling yellow flower spikes are delightful to cut.
An imposing perennial, it grows best in light soil, preferring sun or light shade.
Thermopsis Montana is similar and grows about half as tall.
An uncommon midget form, only eight inches tall. Thermopsis rhombifolia flaunts its little golden tapers in early summer rock gardens.
No plant portrays the quality of eternal youth more convincingly than the gas plant or burning bush (Dictamnus albus).
Its common names refer to the plant’s habit of exuding fragrant, lemon-scented gases from the leaves and flower clusters. These may ignite, making bluish flames on sultry summer evenings.
The stately spikes of the white form are particularly effective at twilight. The red variety is an attractive purplish pink.
Both attain two and one-half to three feet of sturdy growth in sunny, well-drained areas and prosper indefinitely without attention. Ash-like leaves, remarkable flower heads, showy seed pods, a pungent aroma, and an iron constitution favor much wider use of this enduring perennial.
The sturdy false indigo (Baptisia australis) always reminds me of a fountain spraying blue bubbles when in bloom.
Countless aquamarine flowers, faintly like sweet peas, throng the gently arching, vase-like structure of The plants, which average three and one-half feet in height.
The bluish-green leaves keep their attractive appearance all summer. Baptisia bracteata has tall yellow blossoms.
Both are good cut-flowers, needing only average soil in full sun to become settled residents.
Further praise of today’s marvelous lilies is hardly needed. But, unfortunately, many gardeners still believe that these spectacular hybrids are prima donnas.
For example, consider the versatile mid-century combinations, whose prime demand is for good, sharp drainage. The flowers of some are up-facing, others outfacing, but all are amazingly floriferous.
Like Apache, darker, tawnier presentations are available, as are the subdued yellows, such as Gold Rush.
Two and one-half feet is a reasonable average for height, but Enchantment, with its scintillating orange-red chalices, is a bit taller. Summer is the high tide of bloom for this tough-fibered galaxy.
Do You Know Amsonia?
Its unwieldy name has undoubtedly hampered the popularity of Amsonia tabernaemontana, a native plant of several virtues.
The well-groomed three-foot clumps are thickets of wand-like stems liberally crowned by little steel-blue stars from spring to early summer.
The pure glossy leaves take on delightful golden tints in autumn. Although happily situated along moist poolsides, it remains indifferent to drought elsewhere.
Every added year of miserable summer conditions and increased lethargy on dehydrated gardeners adds luster to the new loosestrifes.
Almost all summer, the slender stems, which swarm under masses of fuzzy blossoms, are suitable for cutting, and the roots do not stray.
For me, the sun’s departing rays best dramatize the rich rose shades, and three and one-half feet in height is about their limit.
Furthermore, they are reliably hardy, either in sun-baked locales or on soggy water banks.
Morden Pink, an excellent loose-strife for borders, is decisively rose-pink, while Morden Gleam is not far from red.
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), partial to the leanest, sunniest ground imaginable, starts slowly in spring and is sometimes damaged by cultivating.
However, the showy orange blooms in midsummer are bright and exciting.
Balloon-flower (Platycodon grandiflorum), with its clusters of popping buds and flat-cupped blooms, is another permanent perennial.
In well-drained sites, it will flourish for years, but it is not for soggy places. Single forms are white, blue, and shell-pink, with exotic double varieties, including the delightful lavender Bristol Belle.
We cannot lightly gloss over the top-notch hybrid daylilies, which are currently so popular.
However, despite the strides that have been made in color and vigor, no special culture is needed.
The plantain lilies or hostas, which require little care beyond some shade and humus, are noted for their incredible longevity.
The essentially rugged character of most peonies and iris cannot be denied, yet the best results cannot be expected from neglected plants.
Sturdy Sea Lavender
Hardy statice or sea lavender (Limonium latifolium) produces rosettes of leathery leaves from which wiry spring stems two and one-half to three feet, swelling with spectacular canopies of mauve-lavender blossoms.
These immense, airy clusters are delightful in summer for cutting and drying with ease.
Several of the veronicas, like Minuet, with pink spires, Icicle, a striking white, and Veronica holoplylla, a distinctive blue with rich, glossy foliage, are all compact and thrifty.
Since many of these perennials are deep rooters (notably limonium, baptisia, Asclepias, hibiscus, amsonia, and peony), it is best to start with young plants. Annual feedings are needed, but too much fertilizer promotes leaves at the expense of blossoms.
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