A Nonstop Garden
Full sun to partial shade
Average to dry soil
When nice spring weather puts you in the mood to plant a new garden, it’s tempting to head to the garden center and pick out whichever perennials look pretty at the moment. Impulse buying like this can be fun, and your new garden will be filled with flowers right away, but there’s a good chance that it won’t look very pretty for the rest of the year, once the early bloomers are done. To get the longest possible season of interest, look beyond instant color to choose perennials with flowers that bloom for months instead of weeks, as well as those perennials that have attractive leaves for interesting color and texture from spring to frost, or even all year round.
The Garden Plan
Shopping List
1 ‘Blue Fortune’ hyssop
Agastache
3 plants
Zones 5–9
Alternates: Another 4- to 5-foot-tall perennial with an extended bloom period, interesting seed heads, and/or colorful foliage, such as ‘Bluebird’ smooth aster (Aster laevis) [3 plants], Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum) [3 plants], or ‘Prairie Sunset’ false sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) [3 plants]
‘Blue Fortune’ hyssop (Agastache)
2 ‘Color Guard’ yucca
Yucca
3 plants
Zones 5–9
Alternates: ‘Golden Sword’ yucca, or another spiky-looking, 2- to 4-foot-tall perennial with long-lasting seed heads or evergreen leaves, such as ‘Cassian’ or ‘Hameln’ fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) [3 plants] or blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens) [3 plants]
‘Color Guard’ yucca (Yucca)
3 Arkansas bluestar
Amsonia hubrichtii
1 plant
Zones 4–9
Alternates: Another mound-forming, 2- to 3-foot-tall perennial or shrub with colorful fall leaves, such as Sunshine Blue bluebeard (Caryopteris incana ‘Jason’) [1 plant] or ‘Brookside’ geranium (Geranium) [1 plant]
Arkansas bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii)
4 ‘Magnus’ purple coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
6 plants
Zones 3–8
Alternates: Another 2- to 4-foot-tall purple coneflower or other perennial with an extended flowering period, such as Gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta) [6 plants], orange coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida) [6 plants], or red valerian (Centranthus ruber) [6 plants]
‘Magnus’ purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
5 ‘Angelina’ sedum
Sedum rupestre
6 plants
Zones 3–8
Alternates: ‘Fuldaglow’ or ‘Voodoo’ sedum, or another 6- to 12-inch-tall perennial with colorful foliage, such as ‘Aztec Gold’ speedwell (Veronica prostrata) [6 plants] or ‘Big Ears’ lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina) [6 plants]
‘Angelina’ sedum (Sedum rupestre)
Planting Plan
Season by Season
Spring: This garden celebrates the return of spring with the brilliant yellow leaves of ‘Angelina’ sedum, as well as the spiky, yellow-striped green foliage of ‘Color Guard’ yucca. Flowers join in by late spring: the clustered, pale blue stars of Arkansas bluestar and, in southern gardens, the large, pink daisy-form blooms of ‘Magnus’ purple coneflower.
A little attention in early to mid spring gets this garden off to a good start for the year. Cut down any remaining dead top growth, and trim out any winter-damaged parts on the yucca. Divide and replant the yucca, purple coneflower, and sedum if they are outgrowing their spaces. Then apply a fresh layer of organic mulch over the soil.
Summer: Bluestar finishes flowering in early summer, but the other perennials are just getting started. Purple coneflower usually peaks in early to midsummer in southern gardens and in mid to late summer elsewhere. ‘Blue Fortune’ hyssop starts opening its dense spikes of light purple-blue flowers in early summer and keeps blooming for several months. ‘Color Guard’ yucca clumps usually take a few years to reach flowering size, and then produce tall, thick stalks topped with large, creamy white bells in early to midsummer. ‘Angelina’ sedum also blooms in summer, but its yellow flowers aren’t very noticeable against the yellow foliage.
A little regular attention keeps your multiseason garden going strong all through the summer. After the first year or two, cut the bluestar back by about half as soon as the flowers drop to encourage dense, bushy regrowth and prevent self-sowing. Cut finished yucca stalks off at the base, or, if there are more rosettes coming along, cut out that whole rosette at ground level to make room for the others, because it won’t bloom again. Clip off dead purple coneflower blooms above a bud lower on the stem, or leave them in place to form dark, domed seed heads for fall and winter interest. Trim off the dead flower clusters of the ‘Angelina’ sedum just above the leaves, if desired, to tidy the plants. ‘Blue Fortune’ hyssop usually keeps flowering freely without attention, but a light trim (by about a quarter) in late summer can encourage fresh flowering later on.
Fall and Winter: ‘Blue Fortune’ hyssop typically keeps producing some flower spikes well into fall, especially if you gave it a light trim in late summer. Its spikes eventually dry in place and stick around through the winter. ‘Magnus’ purple coneflower, too, produces some fresh flowers in fall, and its dried seed heads remain attractive well into winter. Arkansas bluestar leaves typically turn bright yellow in mid fall, dry to tan-brown, and eventually drop in winter. The yucca and sedum leaves continue to look attractive through fall and all winter, too: the yucca typically takes on a pinkish blush, while ‘Angelina’ sedum may turn from bright yellow to orange-yellow in cold weather.
If the yucca, bluestar, or sedum are crowding out their companions, divide them in early fall. Otherwise, hold off on cutting back until spring so you can enjoy the colorful foliage and dried stems and seed heads through the winter.
Digging Deeper
- With the tall plants toward the back and shorter plants at front, this half-circle plan is ideal for a site against a vertical surface, such as a wall, fence, or hedge. Or flip the plan along its flat side, setting the two parts next to each other to create a circular bed, or leave 24 to 30 inches between the two parts to create a walkway through the planting or a short path leading to a bench or arbor.
- Several features that make for great multiseason gardens — including many long-blooming flowers and those with interesting seed heads — attract the attention of wildlife as well as people. Butterflies love to feed on the tiny but densely clustered, nectar-rich flowers of many daisy-form perennial flowers, as well as those with spiky blooms. And when seeds form on those blossoms, you’re likely to find a variety of songbirds picking them off the plants or up from the ground around them. Add a birdbath — perhaps with a few rocks added to provide small landing platforms for butterflies and insects — and your multiseason garden will do double duty as a wildlife-attracting planting.