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Often, gardeners use flowering perennials to create flower beds. With their help, it is easy to create a beautiful composition that will delight the eye for several years. Perennials do not require special attention and care. Most of these flowers are cold-resistant and do not require digging up for the winter. Plants retain their decorative qualities throughout the spring-autumn period and do not need to be cut. Picking perennial flowers for a flower bed is quite simple if you know the existing species and varieties of such plants, as well as some of their characteristics.
When filling a flower bed with perennials, it should be understood that all types of such plants differ, first of all, in height, as well as in the flowering period, shape and color of flowers. When composing compositions, it is these parameters that you need to pay attention to. We will try to give a description and a photo with the names of the most popular and beautiful perennials, classifying them by height.
tall perennials
By definition, tall flowers are those whose height during flowering exceeds 80 cm. Among such plants, unpretentious species can be distinguished, the root system of which is compact, extending vertically deep into the ground. These include gypsophila paniculata, mullein, aconite, dahlia. These perennials remarkably survive various weather disasters, including drought.
Gypsophila paniculata
This wonderful perennial plant reaches a height of 120 cm. It grows in the form of a bush, which looks like a white cloud during flowering. This effect becomes possible due to the huge number of small flowers, up to 6 mm in diameter, and thin, barely noticeable leaves. Gypsophila flowers are painted white, sometimes with a pink tint. Inflorescences can be simple or double.
Gypsophila blooms for 45 days from July to August. It is often used cut to complement flower bouquets. Perennial in one place without a transplant can grow 3-4 years.
Mullein
This plant can be found growing wild on the outskirts of a field or forest clearing. In culture, there are also many varieties of this beautiful, unpretentious, drought-resistant plant.
Mullein leaves are squat, up to 25 cm long, collected in a rosette. Inflorescences are located on peduncles, the height of which can reach 2 m. The color of flowers, depending on the variety, can be brown, yellow, pink, purple.
Aconite arcuate
A wonderful, tall, perennial plant that can decorate any garden with its flowers from August until the onset of frost. Such a non-standard flowering period makes aconite in demand in the composition of constantly flowering flower beds.
Aconite inflorescences are located on high, up to 2 m, peduncles. They can be tied to the wall of a building or a fence to decorate the surface. The color of the flowers is purple, sometimes whitish. In some cases, flowers can combine purple and white at once.
Among the tall perennial flowers with a sprawling root system, large-headed cornflower, goldenrod, mallow, delphinium can be distinguished. These plants are more demanding on moisture and nutritional value of the soil, they need special care.
Large-headed cornflower
This tall perennial can bring yellow, sunny colors to any flower bed. The plant is a shrub that does not require a garter. Its stems are strong, up to 1,5 m high. Large-headed cornflower blooms from July to September. Cornflower flowers are single, large.
Goldenrod
Goldenrod is a widespread ornamental plant. It can be found in every second yard. The stems of the plant are tall (up to 2 m), erect, leafy. At the tops of the stems are baskets with lush, yellow inflorescences. Goldenrod blooms in late summer. In the care of the plant is not demanding. For the winter, it is necessary to cut the bushes to a height of 10-15 cm from ground level.
Mallow
Tall, perennial plant, well known to many gardeners. There are many varieties of mallow with different flower colors. Among them there are varieties with a peony and a simple flower, white, pink, yellow, burgundy, purple.
You can learn more about the types and varieties of mallow from the video:
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The height of the flowering perennial reaches 120 cm. The flowering period is approximately 70 days, falls on June-August. Mallow should be grown in well-lit areas of the earth.
Delphinium
Legends were made about this flower in ancient times, but even today it amazes with its beauty. There are over 400 different types of delphinium. Among them there are annual and perennial plants.
The height of the delphinium reaches 180 cm. Its strong peduncles are abundantly strewn with beautiful small flowers of various colors: white, blue, purple, pink. In nature, there are more than 800 different shades of delphinium. The size of the flowers may also vary. For example, there are varieties with double inflorescences, up to 12 cm in diameter.
In addition to the listed flowering perennials, Volzhanka, rudbeckia, mountaineers and some others should also be classified as tall. When choosing tall perennials for the garden, it is necessary to pay attention to their photosensitivity in order to correctly determine the best growing place. It is necessary to transplant such plants at least once every 1 years.
Perennials of medium height
The tallness of perennials plays a particularly important role in the preparation of combined flower beds, where several different plant species are involved at once. In this case, the principle of layering applies, when lower plants are placed closer to the edge of the flower garden, and tall flowers are placed at a distance from the viewpoint. Thus, the bulk of the plants in the flower garden has an average height. Medium-sized flowers include flowers with a height of 30 to 80 cm. Among them are:
Irises
This perennial is unique in its varied coloration. Flowers from 40 to 70 cm high may have pink, yellow, white, brown, purple or other shades. Flowering of plants begins in late May and continues until mid-summer. Growing irises is very simple, because the perennial is completely unpretentious, successfully tolerates drought and severe winter frosts.
You can see the beauty of these flowers in the photo below, the gardener’s comments and an overview of the varieties are shown in the video:
Lilies
It is rare to meet a person who does not “like” these wonderful flowers for a flower bed. There are over 30 types of garden lilies. All of them differ in color and shape of the flower. The height of perennials is also different and can vary from 60 to 120 cm. Lilies bloom from late June to August. This beautiful perennial flower is often used as a cut flower for bouquets.
Phloxes
Phloxes are widespread in the gardens and parks of Our Country. They are undemanding to the soil and sunlight, well adapted to the shade. The height and color of phlox depends on the variety. So, you can find phloxes up to 100 cm high, however, the average plant height is only 60 cm. More often, gardeners grow white and pink phloxes, however, breeders also offer flowers of purple, blue, burgundy and other shades. Flowers of some varieties combine several different shades at once.
You can learn more about the variety of phloxes from the video:
The flowering period of phlox begins from mid-summer and lasts until the end of September.
Daylilies
If there is a desire to plant a flowering perennial, but there is no time to take care of it, then a daylily should be grown. This plant is extremely hardy. It can be grown on the most meager soils, forgetting about top dressing. Daylily survives drought and summer heat well.
The decorative qualities of the daylily are high: flowers up to 18 cm in diameter can be white, cream, pink, red, purple or another shade. The height of the daylily is from 40 to 60 cm. The plant can be used as the main and only plant in the flower bed or as an additional perennial of the middle band in the flower bed.
Euphorbia multiflora
Under this name “euphorbia” you can find a number of plants, including indoor and perennial garden plants. Euphorbia multiflora is great for making flower arrangements in flowerbeds, alpine slides and in mixborders. The height of this plant is up to 70 cm. The perennial blooms with yellow, small flowers collected in inflorescences. The flowering period of milkweed lasts all summer.
In addition to the above perennials, daffodils, peonies, tulips and some other flowering plants familiar to many are medium-sized. When planting combinations of tall and medium-sized perennials, attention should be paid to the spreading of their green mass and the type of root system, so that the plants do not suppress each other during the growth process.
undersized perennials
Low-growing perennial flowers are great for decorating lawns, flower beds, flower beds. They are planted along sidewalk paths, near a pond or porch. Anywhere these flowers, up to 30 cm high, look great. Most low-growing perennials have an early flowering period and please with beautiful flowers immediately after the snow melts. Among the most common low-growing perennials, the following types should be distinguished:
Daisy
This beautiful flower “bribes” with its beauty and simplicity. The squat fleshy green leaves seem to show small flowers on tall peduncles. Daisy flowers have a variety of colors from white to maroon. There are varieties with a combined color of the petals. On sale you can find daisies with a simple and dense flower.
In care, plants are absolutely not demanding. They can grow even in the poorest soils. Daisies bloom in early spring, immediately after the snow melts. Abundant flowering continues until mid-summer. In favorable conditions, the daisy can bloom all season.
Forget-me-nots
Forget-me-not is a well-known primrose. Its flowering period is from April to May. This amazing plant can be found in nature and in culture. There are many varieties of forget-me-nots with different flower shapes and flower sizes. A perennial up to 30 cm high reproduces well on its own, which is why it is sometimes called a weed.
The peduncle of the plant is covered with leaves and holds the inflorescences at a height of 20-25 cm. Forget-me-not flowers are blue with a yellow eye in the middle.
Adonis Spring
You can add yellow colors to the flower bed with the help of spring Adonis. This plant can be found in culture and in nature. It has divided, narrow, herringbone-like petals. The peduncle of the plant has a height of 15-20 cm. Each flower consists of 12 petals. After the end of flowering, which peaks in mid-spring, adonis bears fruit – small, but, unfortunately, inedible nuts.
Alissum
The plant is a perennial, however, some gardeners grow alyssum for one season in pots, planters. Ground cover flower with a variety of colors from white to purple, including yellow, pink, red shades. Perennial height up to 30 cm. It blooms continuously from May to July.
With the help of alyssum, you can not only decorate a flower bed or flower garden, but also saturate the backyard with a pleasant, alluring aroma.
Periwinkle
This perennial can decorate any yard or garden with a dense green carpet with blue flowers. The plant is ground cover, well adapted to adverse conditions. Having planted a periwinkle, you can forget about watering or top dressing, since the plant has enough available land resources and natural rainfall.
The flowers of this plant do not exceed 10 cm in height and 2,5 cm in diameter. The perennial reproduces independently quite quickly. Its flowering occurs in mid-spring.
Conclusion
By combining perennials of different heights, you can create an excellent flower bed, where the plants will bloom, constantly replacing each other. In such a composition, tall flowers should be placed in the center, and undersized perennials closer to the edge, so that the plants do not shade each other. Low-growing ground cover plants can be safely used to fill the free space of mixborders. Competently composed combinations of colors of various shades will always decorate the garden or lawn. A pleasant floral aroma will also give an unusual entourage to the backyard.