Topic:
Landscape Design
If you have sunny spots in your yard that are in need of some attention, consider using the space to plant a gorgeous new perennial garden. Sun-loving perennials return year after year, and can add low-maintenance beauty to your garden.
There are many wonderful full-sun perennials that grow beautifully here in Massachusetts that would make fantastic additions to your outdoor area.
While perennials are fairly easy to maintain, as they don’t need to be replanted year after year, there are some care tips regarding their ideal growing conditions that are important to know.
Perennials have a minimum full-sun requirement of six to eight hours per day. In order to guarantee that these perennial sun plants will thrive in your outdoor space, carefully consider where you’ll be planting them to make certain that they’ll receive the sunlight they need to grow well.
Here in Massachusetts, we fall between zone 5b and zone 7b of the USDA hardiness zones, so it’s important to choose plants that thrive in and are adapted to our particular climate. When buying perennial plants, most will have a care tag that will let you know which zones the plant is best suited for.
Most perennials grow best in full-draining soil, versus soil composed primarily of clay or silt. Before planting, make sure you understand the characteristics of your soil. If you know it doesn’t drain well, take the opportunity to amend the soil so that your perennials will grow well throughout the years.
Perennials can benefit from deadheading, which is the practice of removing flowers that are past their peak. Doing this can extend the plant’s bloom time by promoting new growth.
This practice works because the plant’s goal during the growing season is to produce viable seeds that will pass on the plant’s genes. By removing spent flowers before they can form mature seeds, you make sure that the plant will continue to put forth blooms.
Many of the best perennials for our area are stunningly beautiful and have the potential to cultivate major curb appeal. Below are some perennial plants worth consideration:
Coneflower (Echinacea) is native to North America and serves native pollinators year-long, providing nectar, pollen, seeds, and shelter. Most often a shade of purple, there are also cornflower varieties that boast pink, yellow, and red blooms from June to August.
Black-eyed Susans grow thickly with lots of rich, buttery yellow blooms. These plants multiply easily from year to year, and bloom during the summer months, from June through August.
Daylilies come in many colorful varieties. There are early, mid-season, and late-blooming varieties of daylilies, and if you choose to plant some of each, you can have blooms from early spring all the way to the year’s first frost.
Sedum comes in many shapes and sizes, and depending on the variety can be used as a low ground cover or a tall showpiece in your garden. Sedum has attractive fleshy foliage, even coming in evergreen varieties, and it flowers from mid-summer through late fall, usually July to October.
Yarrow is a native North American plant with clusters of blooms and fragrant, feathery leaves. This drought-tolerant plant, which blooms from mid-spring to the first frost, usually has white flowers, but can be found in a wide range of colors.
Lavender is an herbaceous perennial that thrives in very well-draining soil. In most varieties, the plant’s purple flowers appear in July and August.
Peonies are showy perennials with large, abundant blooms that are prized as a cut flower. The flowers are fragrant and often very large, and bloom impressively for a short time during the spring.
Phlox is native to North America and produces simple, delicate flowers. Phlox comes in shades of blue, purple, pink, and even red, and there are varieties available that flower in spring, summer, or fall.
Asters have plentiful small blooms in purple, pink, blue, or white. They have a bloom time ranging from late summer through fall.
Mums are perennial flowers that produce a bushy plant with dense blooms. A fall favorite, mums produce red, orange, yellow, white, purple, or green blooms from late summer until first frost.
If you’re looking for full-sun plants that will thrive in your Massachusetts garden, check out how these perennials and others can beautify your space with plentiful blooms all growing season long.
If you need help choosing your best perennials for your flower beds, or if you would like a professional installation of a new perennial flower bed, contact a local landscaping company like Moodscapes. Our team has the knowledge and expertise to make perennial flowers like these an eye-catching addition to your landscape.
To learn more about creating a beautiful home landscape, please download our free ebook, Personalized Landscape Design: Why You Should Leave It to the Professionals. And if you're ready to talk to our team to begin designing your landscape project, you can contact us here to schedule a free consultation.
