Perennial Flowers Bloom Guide

Perennial Flowers Bloom Guide


Easy-care perennials come back year after year. Check this guide to ensure your garden always has flowers in bloom!
By Justin Hancock

I love perennials because they come back every year: Plant them once and enjoy them for years! This makes perennial plants a great value, but it also means you have to plan your garden if you want them blooming in spring, summer, and fall. While annuals bloom for months, most perennials bloom for weeks.

But never fear! Use this perennial bloom guide to pick varieties that you like -- and that work for your yard -- so you can enjoy beautiful flowers from first thing in spring, through the heat of the summer, and giving your landscape a strong fall finish.

Armeria Armeria
Bloom Time:
Mid-Spring, Late Spring
Light: Full Sun or Part Shade
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 4-8
Groundcover; Tolerates Salt
Perfect partner: Dianthus
Asiatic Lily (Lilium)
Bloom Time:
Midsummer
Light: Full Sun
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 4-8
Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Yarrow
Aster
Bloom Time:
Late Summer, Fall
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 5-10
Attracts Butterflies, Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Switch grass
Astilbe
Bloom Time:
Late Spring, Summer
Light: Shade or Part shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 4-9
Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Hydrangea

Balloon Flower (Platycodon)
Bloom Time: Midsummer, Late Summer
Light: Full Sun
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 3-8
Easy to Grow; Blooms Profusely
Perfect partner: Daylily

Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
Bloom Time:
Late Summer, Early Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-7
Attracts Butterflies, Blooms Profusely
Perfect partner: Russian sage
Blanketflower (Gaillardia)
Bloom Time:
Late Spring, Summer, Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-9
Attracts Butterflies, Easy to Grow, Flowers Profusely
Perfect partner: Pincushion flower
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra)
Bloom Time:
Spring
Light: Shade or Part Shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 3-8
Easy to Grow
Perfect partner: Hosta
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
Bloom Time:
Summer, Autumn
Light: Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 5-10
Attracts Butterflies, Easy to Grow, Fragrant Flowers
Perfect partner: Bee balm
Candytuft (Iberis)
Bloom Time:
Early Spring, Mid-Spring
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-8
Blooms Profusely
Perfect partner: Creeping phlox
Clematis
Bloom Time: Late Spring, Summer, Early Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-8
Vine
Perfect partner: Baptisia

Coneflower (Echinacea)
Bloom Time: Summer, Early Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-8
Attracts Butterflies, Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Lavender
Coral bells (Heuchera)
Foliage Appeal:
Spring, Summer, Autumn
Light: Shade to Part Shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 4-8
Easy to Grow
Perfect partner: Ajuga
Coreopsis
Bloom Time: Summer, Early Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-8
Attracts Butterflies, Tolerates Drought
Perfect partner: Blue fescue
Creeping Phlox
Bloom Time:
Spring
Light: Full Sun or Part Shade
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-9
Groundcover
Perfect partner: Spring bulbs
Daisy (Leucanthemum)
Bloom Time:
Spring, Summer
Light: Sun to Part Shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 5-9
Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Alstroemeria
Daylily (Hemerocallis)
Bloom Time: Summer, Early Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-9
Easy to Grow
Perfect partner: Feather reed grass
Ice plant (Delosperma)
Bloom Time: Late Spring, Summer, Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 5-8
Groundcover
Perfect partner: Catmint
Delphinium
Bloom Time: Early Summer, Midsummer
Light: Full Sun or Part Shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 3-8
Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Yarrow
Dianthus
Bloom Time: Mid-Spring, Late Spring, Summer, Early Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-8
Fragrant Flowers, Easy to Grow
Perfect partner: Salvia
Foxglove (Digitalis)
Bloom Time:
Late Spring, Early Summer
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 4-8
Attracts Hummingbirds
Perfect partner: Baptisia
Gaura
Bloom Time: Late Spring, Summer
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 5-8
Easy to Grow, Flowers Profusely
Perfect partner: Gaura
Iris
Bloom Time:
Late Spring
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-9
Easy to Grow, Fragrant Flowers
Perfect partner: Peony
Irish Moss (Sagina)
Foliage Appeal:
Spring, Summer, Autumn
Light: Shade to Part Shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 6-8
Blooms Profusely
Perfect partner: Hosta
Isotoma
Bloom Time:
Late Spring, Summer
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 6-9
Easy to Grow
Perfect partner: Blue-eyed grass
Ivy (Hedera)
Foliage Appeal:
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
Light: Shade to Part Shade
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 5-9
Easy to Grow, Groundcover
Lavender (Lavandula)
Bloom Time: Midsummer, Late Summer, Early Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 5-8
Attracts Butterflies, Easy to Grow, Fragrant Flowers
Perfect partner: Shrub roses
Lithodora
Bloom Time:
Late Spring, Early Summer
Light: Sun to Part Shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 6-10
Tolerates Drought
Perfect partner: Lavender
Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon)
Foliage Appeal:
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
Light: Shade to Part Shade
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 7-10
Groundcover
Perfect partner: Hosta
Oriental Lily (Lilium)
Bloom Time:
Late Summer
Light: Full Sun
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 5-8
Fragrant Flowers, Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Lamb's ear
Penstemon
Bloom Time:
Late Spring, Summer
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-8
Attracts Butterflies, Attracts Hummingbirds, Easy to Grow
Perfect partner: Red hot poker
Peony (Paeonia)
Bloom Time: Late Spring
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-8
Easy to Grow, Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Iris
Phlox
Bloom Time:
Midsummer, Late Summer, Early Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 3-8
Fragrant Flower, Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Coneflower
Primrose (Primula)
Bloom Time:
Early Spring
Light: Part Shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 5-8
Attracts Butterflies
Perfect partner: Heuchera
Salvia
Bloom Time: Late Spring, Summer, Early Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 4-10
Attracts Butterflies, Blooms Profusely
Perfect partner: Coreopsis
Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa)
Bloom Time:
Mid-Spring, Late Spring, Summer, Early Autumn, Mid-Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 5-9
Attracts Butterflies, Blooms Profusely, Good Cut Flower
Perfect partner: Veronica
Sedum
Bloom Time:
Summer, Early Autumn, Mid-Autumn
Light: Full Sun
Water: Tolerates Drought
Zones 3-10
Groundcover
Perfect partner: Artemisia
Veronica
Bloom Time:
Mid-Spring
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Water: Keep Soil Moist
Zones 4-8
Groundcover
Perfect partner: Gaillardia