14 Perennial Plants With Long-Lasting Flowers

Allium "Drumstick"

Who couldn't love a plant that looks like an Easter egg on a stick, especially one with color-changing blooms? Allium "Drumstick," an ornamental member of the onion family, is "a really cute, short little plant," Yost says. It blooms from late spring to late summer in compact heads that evolve from green to pink to reddish-purple as the days of summer pass. 

• Bloom time: late spring to late summer
  
• Zones: 4 to 8
• Size: 12 to 36 inches tall x 12 to 18 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun, with afternoon shade in hot regions; sandy, well-drained soil

Aster

Blooming from late summer into fall, asters provide important food for monarch butterflies and birds migrating southward, says Derek McKay, a horticulturalist with Ted Lare Design Build & Garden Center in Des Moines, Iowa. "Most bloom right in time to help them make their journeys out," he says. Their daisy-like flowers come in white, pink, purple, lavender, and blue.

• Bloom time: late summer through fall
• Zones: 3 to 9
• Size: 12 to 72 inches tall x 12 to 48 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun to part shade; moist, well-drained soil

Astilbe

Astilbe's feathery clusters of teeny white, pink, purple, or red blooms add a bit of fantasy to your garden, and it's among the rarer flowering perennials that like shade. While the blooming period is just two to three weeks, different Astilbe species flower at varying times from spring through fall, "so picking out a couple different astilbes to use in your garden can be a really great move."

• Bloom time: spring through fall (if you plant multiple varieties)
• Zones: 4 to 8
• Size: 12 to 36 inches tall 18 x 30 inches wide
• Growing conditions: prefers partial shade; rich, moist, well-drained soil

Butterfly Bush "Blue Chip"

Part of a new miniature butterfly bush series, Blue Chip produces spikes of blue-lavender flowers that bloom continuously from spring to fall. And unlike many butterfly bush varieties, which seed so prolifically that some states have declared them noxious, this one produces few seeds—so it's not likely to get out of hand. 

• Bloom time: spring to fall
• Zones: 5 to 9
• Size: 12 to 24 inches tall x 12 to 24 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun; average, medium-moisture, well-drained soil

Catmint

If you love the look of lavender, but don't like babying your garden, check out this robust alternative. Catnip's cousin, catmint thrives in almost any soil, and spring blooms last as long as six weeks. Cut it back as it becomes leggy to encourage a second flush of blooms in late summer. In addition to lavender hues, blooms can be pink, white, or yellow.

• Bloom time: six weeks (with a chance for a second round of blooms)
• Zones: 3 to 9
• Size: 6 to 12 inches tall x 12 to 36 inches wide
• Growing conditions: part to full sun; any well-drained soil

Purple Coneflower

Purple coneflower can take a few years to produce blooms, but once this prairie perennial plant is established, you'll have abundant flowers from mid- to late summer and again in the fall if you remove spent blooms. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees love its nectar, and overwintering birds gather sustenance from the flower heads' seeds.

• Bloom time: half the summer, plus a second blooming in fall
• Zones: 3 to 9
• Size: 12 to 36 inches tall x 12 to 24 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun; well-drained soil

Coreopsis "Threadleaf"

This perennial plant produces small flowers that begin in early summer and keep going all summer long if you pinch off old blooms. Create a sunshiny mix by planting pale yellow "Moonbeam" alongside the richer, more golden "Zegreb," Yost suggests.

• Bloom time: all summer (if deadheaded)
• Zones: 3 to 9
• Size: 12 to 48 inches tall x 12 to 36 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun; slightly dry, well-drained soil

Daylily "Stella d'Oro"

Disease-resistant daylilies produce trumpet-shaped blossoms that fall off every day (thus the name), but a steady succession of new ones keep the color coming. While most daylily varieties bloom for just one to three weeks, the popular Stella d'Oro variety serves up golden-yellow blossoms from May to September or even October, depending on where you live. 

• Bloom time: spring to early fall
• Zones: 3 to 10
• Size: 9 to 12 inches tall x 10 to 12 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun; moist, well-drained soil

Ironweed

This drought-tolerant perennial blooms for a month to six weeks. "It's native to the continental U.S., so it's very hardy," says McKay, who also likes its deep purple flowers that are "almost an electric purple." Pollinators, including long-tongue bees, monarchs, and swallowtails, love its nectar, and it's also a food source for caterpillar moths.

• Bloom time: six weeks
• Zones: 4 to 8
• Size: 12 to 36 inches tall x 24 to 36 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun; rich, moist soil

Lady's Mantle

Lady's mantle spills onto paths in Martha Stewart's perennial garden in Bedford, N.Y. Its dainty yellow-green flowers bloom in masses similar to baby's breath from late spring to early summer. What Yost loves about this one: fuzzy blue-green foliage that beads up with jewel-like droplets after it rains. 

• Bloom time: late spring to early summer
• Zones: 3 to 8
• Size: 12 to 36 inches tall x 12 to 24 inches wide
• Growing conditions: prefers part shade but tolerates sun; any soil

Rose "Knock Out"

"This would probably be my number one for longest bloom time," says Yost, whose Pearl River, N.Y., garden blooms with her favorite hue, Blushing Pink, from May to October. Knock Out is also available with vibrant hot pink and buttery yellow blooms, among others, and there's a petite variety for balconies and small spaces. Boost bloom quantities by planting in a spot that gets eight hours of direct sun daily, and go easy on nitrogen fertilizer, which pumps up foliage over flowers.

• Bloom time: May to October (depending on variety)
• Zones: 4 to 11
• Size: 36 to 48 inches tall x 36 to 48 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun; well-drained soil

Russian Sage

This pretty perennial plant has silver-foliage and long, thin clusters (a.k.a panicles) of tiny lavender-blue flowers that bloom from mid- to late summer through fall, especially if you pinch off blooms to encourage a second flush. Yost describes it as a tough plant that takes drought conditions well. "The original was a little floppy, but there's a good one called Little Spire that's more compact," she says.

• Bloom time: mid- to late summer through fall (if spent flowers are pinched off)
• Zones: 4 to 9
• Size: 36 to 48 inches tall x 36 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun; rocky or medium to dry, well-drained soil

St. John's Wort

Plant this deciduous shrub in full sun and prune it in early spring to encourage its star-shaped flowers to proliferate later. Its showy, golden-yellow blooms start in midsummer and keep on coming for almost six weeks.

• Bloom time: six weeks (starting in midsummer)
• Zones: 3 to 8
• Size: 12 to 36 inches tall x 12 to 48 inches wide
• Growing conditions: part shade to full sun; prefers well-drained, medium-moist soil

Salvia

Most salvia species can be counted on for a relatively long blooming period starting in spring and extending into late summer or early fall. They tolerate drought well, but providing plenty of water will encourage longer blooming or even a second flush.

Yost's favorite: Caradonna, which produces tall, dark purple stems topped with blue-violet flower spires. McKay likes Back to the Fuchsia, which adds two-toned pink accents to his Des Moines garden between what he calls peony season and iris season, which is "kind of a hard season to find blooms for."

• Bloom time: spring through early fall
• Zones: 5 to 10
• Size: 12 to 60 inches tall x 12 to 48 inches wide
• Growing conditions: Full sun to partial shade; prefers well-drained soil