When you hear perennial, you probably think of peonies rather than pines. The word today typically describes (or, as a noun, refers to) plants that die back seasonally but produce new growth in the spring. For a low-maintenance garden filled with nonstop color and charm, plant these perennial flowers.

Understanding the Context

They are easy to grow and guaranteed to come back every year! To help you grow a low-maintenance garden, we've rounded up the best perennial plants, complete with zone requirements, sunlight needs, ideal soil conditions, and average bloom times. Perennial plants can be short-lived (only a few years) or long-lived. They include a wide assortment of plant groups from non-flowering plants like ferns and liverworts to highly diverse flowering plants like orchids, grasses, and woody plants.

Key Insights

In agriculture, a number of economically important crops are perennials and produce a harvest for a number of years. These include all tree crops (such as apples, citrus, nuts, coffee, chocolate, oil palm, etc.), blueberries, cranberries, asparagus, grapes, alfalfa, rhubarb, chives, mint, and others. Knowing the difference between annual vs perennial flowers will help you understand how each type will behave in your garden. Specifically, you’ll understand blooming times and whether the plant will survive through winter. There are many different types of perennial flowers that can brighten up just about any garden.

Final Thoughts

In this article, we take a deeper look at our favorite perennial flowers, with names and pictures of each one. Perennial flowers make some of the most beautiful scenery you can plant in your garden. PERENNIAL definition: 1. lasting a very long time, or happening repeatedly or all the time: 2. a plant that lives for…. Learn more.