17 best hardy perennials for months of colour in your low maintenance garden

The best hardy perennials are excellent for quickly filling your low maintenance garden with abundant foliage and flowers. They put on growth rapidly during spring, so your garden will be alive with colour and texture for months during summer and autumn. Often their seed heads are decorative too, so they’ll still be looking beautiful when spangled with frost during the winter. 

What is a hardy perennial?

A hardy perennial is a plant which grows fast during spring, then flowers. Part or all of the plant will hibernate underground from late autumn through winter, then wake again next spring. It’s not dead, just resting. Many hardy perennials repeat this cycle for several years. So if you’re looking for easy care plants and flowers that come back and bloom all summer, then hardy perennials are a brilliant choice.

What is the difference between a perennial and a hardy perennial?

There are plenty of perennials that won’t survive in freezing winter temperatures across the UK (tender perennials), but if you’re looking for low maintenance plants, I’d suggest sticking with hardy perennials, like all the ones in this list. Why make life difficult?

What is the longest flowering perennial in the UK?

Hardy geraniums (not pelargoniums, I explain the difference here…) are some of the longest flowering perennials you can grow in the UK. They start filling out with fresh green leaves in spring, then can be awash with bee-friendly blooms for months.

Japanese anemones are slower to start growing in spring, but they’re super valuable plants for providing months of colour from midsummer all through the autumn.

Nepeta is a fantastic choice if you’re looking for one of the longest flowering perennials. The delicate, lemony mint scented foliage emerges first, then fronds of tiny blue flowers will attract bees and hoverflies to feast.

What is an example of a hardy perennial?

Everything listed in this blog post is a hardy perennial. Some of the most popular ones – and personal favourites of mine – to find in garden centres include:

• – Hardy geranium
• – Astrantia
• – Salvia
• – Sedum
• – Perovskia

When should I buy hardy perennials?

The best time to buy hardy perennials and plant them is in the autumn (fall). Your ground will still be warm, and the slightly shorter daylight hours will mean the new plants will be able to stretch out their roots after planting without the risk of drying out.

You can plant hardy perennials in spring and summer, but you’ll need to keep a closer eye on the weather and make sure you keep them well watered during any dry spells.

What are the best flowering hardy perennials UK?

Although technically most trees and shrubs are perennials too, all the plants in this post are generally considered hardy flowering perennials. That’s the section you’ll find them in, if you look in a garden centre or plant nursery. 

All of the hardy perennials I’ve listed here are fantastic for growing in pots in the UK too, so don’t worry if you don’t have flower beds or borders, a couple of pots in a sunny corner will do just fine. They will need more generous watering in warm and dry spells though.

1. Hardy geranium

Hardy geraniums are always my first choice as one of the best hardy perennials for growing in the UK. Even if you only have space to grow one plant in a container, I’d strongly recommend a hardy geranium.

They come in dazzling colours, ranging from glistening whites, through soft sugared almond tones, all the way to vivid magentas and indigos, so you’re sure to find one that suits your preferences.

Different kinds of geraniums work well in different garden conditions, so even if you have a tricky space like dry shade, there will be a geranium that’ll thrive there.

Flowering for months on end, feeding beautiful bees, then quietening down through the winter to come back bigger and better next year—what more could any gardener ask for?

2. Monarda

Also known as ‘bee balm’ or bergamot, this is a great performer if you’d like to increase the number of pollinators in your garden. With scented foliage and cool tufts of punky flowers in shades of pinks, purples or reds, this is a wonderful hardy perennial to add some height to your garden.

3. Hellebore

Very valuable for its flowers in late winter and early spring, hellebores will brighten a gloomy, shady spot beautifully. Often gorgeously freckled, the open, saucer shaped flowers will attract sleepy bees looking for a spring snack. They do prefer light shade to be at their happiest.

4. Agastache

Beautiful, fluffy, indigo bottle-brush flowers sit atop these brilliant hardy perennials. They’ll be ecstatic in full sun, where the spires of scented foliage will keep appearing for months over the summer. Bees will bob and weave drunkenly from flower to flower, especially huge bumblebees. 

5. Nepeta

A foaming mass of soft blue lavender flowers cascades from each nepeta plant from midsummer onwards. The supple leaves have a delicious lemony mint scent, and don’t mind if you accidentally step on them if you use this superb hardy perennial to line your garden path. Another firm favourite with bees, hoverflies and butterflies, who sip daintily from the tiny cups of flowers.

6. Japanese anemones

Whether you choose a white flowered Japanese anemone, or one in shades of pink, they all look as if they’ve been dipped in sugar; petals sparkling as they dip their heads in the breeze. Clumping up rapidly to make a bold statement in your garden, this makes them particularly good value—one plant will spread over time to cover up to a metre of ground. They’re also great at prolonging the flowers in your garden all through the autumn, boosting the food reserves of pollinators too.

7. Helenium

Warm your garden up with the cosy burned orange, russet and saffron colours of helenium. Gorgeous bobble shaped flowers nod merrily on tall, wiry stems, so they’re one of the best hardy perennials for growing at the back of a border. They start flowering in late summer and can continue through until late October, giving you loads of interest in your autumn garden.

8. Coreopsis

Delicate, lemon stars twinkle across this dainty plant which will love a sunny spot in your garden. Flowering from June through to September/October, it definitely earns its place in this list of the best hardy perennials. 

9. Achillea

Adapted from the wildflower yarrow, it’s now possible to find achillea in many delicious shades including gleaming whites, sunny yellows, soft pinks and rich reds. Their flat saucer flower heads provide useful structure in your garden, and perfect landing pads for pollinators eager to feast on the tiny flower buttons crowded together.

10. Echinops

Glittering disco balls of soft blue will dazzle in your garden for months from midsummer, offering a welcome variety of hardy perennial form. Echinops will be deliriously happy in a sunny place in your garden, and will attract all kinds of grateful pollinators.

11. Eryngium

Also known as sea holly, this hardy perennial will add cool blue silvery tones to your garden. Along with echinops, it does best in a sunny position. Much loved by flower arrangers, feel free to cut some stems to decorate your house too—but be sure to leave some in the garden for your local bees!

12. Sedum

The succulent stems and flat tops of sedum herald late summer and early autumn. It’s a super valuable food source for hungry bees needing lots of nectar and pollen to see them through the winter. The soft pinks and reds of the flower heads have a slightly fuzzy outline, which is a beautiful contrast with the firm silky smooth stems.

13. Verbena

You may need to buy your first verbena plant, but it’s a generous self-seeder, especially in sunny spots, so it’ll be easy for you to enjoy even more in future years. Bees and butterflies love verbena, and the vibrant fuschia flowers will be covered with happy pollinators. It’s a tall and airy plant that flowers for months from high summer, and adds valuable height to any garden.

14. Astrantia

Dancing stars of astrantia will spangle your garden for around three months over midsummer. Available in sparkling white, muted pinks or deep reds, you’ll be struggling to choose just one. Another stunning hardy perennial for cutting, and will do well in sun or part shade.

15. Salvia

Some of my favourite salvias are the inky indigo ones, shooting up in exclamation marks in a sunny spot. They’re members of the sage family, so you’ll notice that the foliage is deliciously scented. The delicate flowers arranged on the slender stems open gradually over the summer, so you’ll have gorgeous colour for around three months.

16. Persicaria

Along with Japanese anemones, persicaria is a top hardy perennial for a shady spot. Graceful spires soar skywards in late summer, from deep green spear shaped leaves. You can choose from shorter persicaria, to ones that are nearly 1m high, and in delicious shades of glistening white, through rosy pink to rich red.

17. Perovskia

A member of the mint family, perovskia will love a sunny spot in your garden. The silvery lavender blue fronds fill out quickly in summer and will form something that looks more like a bush than a hardy perennial. Its foliage has a delicious woody menthol scent.

Once you start planting hardy perennials in your garden, you’ll be converted. No more time consuming seasonal bedding displays for you, just gorgeous low maintenance plants with months of spectacular foliage and flowers to enjoy.

Which one will you plant first?

---

Looking for some excellent plant suppliers so you can boost the beauty of your garden with these brilliant hardy perennials? Here’s where I recommend you buy from…

Would chatting through your ideas for your garden help? How about booking a Tiny Garden consultation?