With hundreds of species and varieties, picking the most low-maintenance perennial flowers that can thrive without needing much from you can be challenging, especially if you’re a new gardener. To simplify matters, this list of easy-to-grow perennials will point you in the right direction.
Coneflower
Hot, sunny weather won’t stop coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) from producing armloads of flowers from early summer until fall. This low-maintenance perennial flower is a native plant that’s easy to grow and comes in purple, white, yellow, orange, and red. Most varieties have single flowers, but some newer hybrids sport eye-popping double blooms. The nectar-rich flowers will also attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in dry to medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 3-8
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Equally at home in containers or the landscape, lanceleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) is a must-have perennial for novice and experienced gardeners alike. This tough native plant will thrive in poor soil and doesn’t mind drought or heat while putting on its show of golden daisy-like flowers from late spring into summer.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in dry to medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 2 feet tall and 18 inches wide
Zones: 4-9
Hosta
Brighten shady spots in your garden and landscape with hostas (Hosta spp.) These super-easy foliage plants come in an almost unlimited selection of shapes, sizes, and colors, from ground-hugging dwarf varieties to giant-sized beauties. Plus, as a bonus, hostas develop graceful spikes of lavender or white blooms that will lure hummingbirds to your garden.
Growing Conditions: Full shade to part shade in moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide
Zones: 3-8
Peony
Add peonies Paeonia spp.) to your shopping list if you’re looking for reliable, low-maintenance perennial flowers that will bloom every year without fail. These robust plants produce masses of large, fragrant spring blooms in colors that include pink, coral, white, red, cream, and bicolor.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and wide
Zones: 3-8
Black-Eyed Susan
The more you cut the bold daisylike flowers of black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia spp.), the more blooms these prolific perennials will produce. This drought-tolerant plant’s bright yellow summer blooms are a pollinator favorite, and you can also find varieties with orange, cherry, and bicolor flowers.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 3-7
Garden Phlox
As fragrant as it is colorful, garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) ss a must-have low-maintenance perennial flower for your garden. It blooms from midsummer to fall in pink, white, rose, purple, orange, and bicolor. Place garden phlox in a sunny location with plenty of air circulation to help keep plants healthy. This gorgeous, easy-to-grow perennial is also highly attractive to hummingbirds.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide
Zones: 4-8
Blazing Star
Commonly called gayfeather or blazing star (Liatris spicata), this tough-as-nails native plant produces feathery-looking flower heads of pink, white, or purple blooms from midsummer to fall. Not only will these colorful wands look beautiful in your garden, but they’ll also attract butterflies and hummingbirds from miles around.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 3-8
Helenium
Perk up your late-summer and fall garden with a generous helping of helenium (Helenium autumnale). That’s when these low-maintenance perennial flowers are covered with daisy-like, orange, red, yellow, or bicolor blooms. Helenium makes the perfect companion for New England asters, which bloom around the same time. Plus, both of these sun-loving native plants will attract hordes of butterflies.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in well-drained soil
Size: Up to 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide
Zones: 3-8
Daylily
All you have to do with daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.)is plant them in a sunny spot and add a little mulch around these easy-care perennials to keep weeds at bay. They come in all sorts of colors and bloom types, and some varieties will even rebloom after the first flush of flowers appears.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 3-9
Hellebore
Commonly called Lenten rose, hellebore (Helleborus spp.) is a late winter-blooming perennial that can continue to bloom into spring. It features cup-shape, rose-like flowers with prominent stamens in the center. It thrives in shady spots and tolerates drought well.
The leaves, stems, and roots of hellebore contain toxic chemicals, so keep it away from pets and small children.
Growing Conditions: Full shade to part shade in well-drained soil
Size: Up to 18 inches tall and wide
Zones: 4-9
Bearded Iris
Crownlike, fragrant flowers in jewel-like colors make bearded iris (Iris x germanica) a top pick for your spring garden. These easy-care sun-lovers also sport handsome sword-shaped foliage that keeps the plant attractive in the garden even after the flowers fade. Many bearded iris varieties are available, including dwarf and miniature types and plants with variegated foliage.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 3-10
Catmint
A fast-growing perennial, catmint (Nepeta spp.)sports graceful stalks of blue, white, or pink flowers in the spring. It will quickly rebloom if you cut the plants back after the first flush of flowers fades. Catmint also has fragrant foliage that you can dry. For best effect, plant this rugged bloomer in large drifts or clumps.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in dry to medium, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and wide
Zones: 4-8
Sedum
Stage a colorful fall finale in your garden by including a generous supply of sedum. (Sedum spp.). These drought-tolerant perennials come in an almost unlimited selection of heights and colors, from ground-huggers that barely grow 6 inches tall to stately, upright plants that can reach 3 feet in height. From late summer to fall, their showy, nectar-rich flowers will draw hungry pollinators.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 3-9
Baptisia
Enjoy pretty spikes of blue, purple, yellow, or white pealike blooms every spring with baptisia (Baptisia australis) Commonly called false indigo, early American colonists often used this low-maintenance perennial flower to make natural dyes. It’s reliable, often blooming yearly in the same spot for decades. Baptisia grows slowly, so buy the largest plants you can find.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in dry to medium, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 4 feet tall and wide
Zones: 3-9
Heuchera
Turn your shady backyard into a colorful foliage garden with heuchera (Heuchera spp.). Commonly called coral bells, this clump-forming beauty comes in a wild assortment of leaf colors, including orange, chartreuse, purple, cherry, bronze, red, bright green, and bicolor. The plants also develop stalks of tiny pink or white bell-shaped flowers from early to midsummer. Heuchera makes an excellent groundcover or container plant.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 4-9
Blanket Flower
Let blanket flowers (Gaillardia spp.) cover your landscape in vibrant shades of yellow, orange, and red. This drought-tolerant sun-lover is a snap to grow, and its cheerful flowers are highly attractive to bees and butterflies. Blanket flower isn’t a long-lived perennial, so to keep the color show going, add new plants every two or three years.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 3-10
Bee Balm
If you want to create a beautiful pollinator garden, include bee balm (Monarda spp.). Bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies flock to this vigorous perennial that develops masses of blooms that resemble mopheads. It’s also one of the top rabbit-resistant plant choices for your garden. Select mildew-resistant varieties of this plant if you live in a warm, humid climate.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist to wet, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide
Zones: 4-9
Chrysanthemum
Whether you plant them in flower beds or fall containers, chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum spp.) are the rock stars of the autumn season. They offer stunning flowers in different shapes and sizes in a host of colors that include white, yellow, pink, orange, red, lavender, and bicolor. Chrysanthemums are relatively short-lived, so replant every year or two to keep your garden colorful.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 5-9
Yarrow
Even in times of drought, you can count on yarrow (Achillea spp.) to thrive in your garden. The plant’s aromatic, ferny foliage supports a midsummer explosion of gorgeous flowers in yellow, rose, white, pink, or lavender. Its flat-topped flower clusters make great cut flowers for those fill-in spots in bouquets.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in dry to medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and wide
Zones: 3-9
Aster
No fall garden is complete without asters (Symphyotrichum spp.). These late-flowering beauties add a much-needed color boost just when the garden starts to fade. They are also prized by migrating Monarch butterflies who dine on the nectar-rich blooms on their long-distance, southward journeys.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide
Zones: 4-8
Salvia
Bursting into bloom in early summer, perennial salvia (Salvia spp.) develops bold spikes of purple, blue, or pink flowers atop pretty gray-green foliage. A sun worshipper, salvia isn’t too fussy about soil type and will bloom again if you shear away the flower spikes after they fade. Perennial salvia attracts hordes of bees and butterflies when in bloom. It pairs beautifully with black-eyed Susan and coreopsis.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in dry to medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 2 feet tall and wide
Zones: 4-8
Russian Sage
The perfect partner for coneflower and black-eyed Susan, Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) produces clouds of bluish flowers in the late summer and fall. This easy-to-grow woody perennial has fragrant gray-green leaves that look terrific even when the plant isn’t in bloom. In some regions, this mint-relative can grow too well, spreading itself aggressively by seeds and underground stems, so plant where you can keep it contained.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in dry to medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide
Zones: 5-9
Joe Pye Weed
A big, bold native perennial, Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium spp.) will quickly fill sunny spots in your landscape. It thrives in moist soil so use it in problem wet spots in your landscape. It’s also a reliable fall bloomer, developing rounded heads of pinkish purple flowers that will attract scores of colorful butterflies. This hardy native has a tendency to spread, so plant it where you can keep it under control.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in dry to medium, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 7 feet tall and 4 feet wide
Zones: 4-9
Asiatic Lily
Asiatic lily’s (Lilium spp.) chalice-shaped, upward-facing flowers are always a highlight in the summer garden. Available in various colors and bicolors, Asiatic lily seems to glow when the sun touches its petals. Although Asiatic lily can be planted in the spring, the plants tend to do better when started in August or September.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Zones: 4-8
Lady’s Mantle
Add a bit of texture to your landscape with lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis). This perennial has unique cupped leaves with a velvety texture, on which drops of water remain after a rain like tiny gems. It also features dainty yellow flowers held in airy masses above the foliage in summer until the blooms become too heavy and then gracefully droop down. The flowers last several weeks and are excellent for cut and dried flower arrangements.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 18 inches tall and 30 inches wide
Zones: 3-8
Astilbe
Plumes of colorful flowers and pretty fern-like foliage make astilbe (Astilbe spp.) an unusual stunner in the garden. The flowers range from cotton-candy pink to red to white. The plants are not picky about light conditions, but do like consistently moist soil. They look great in a border against the large foliage of ferns, hosta, or coral bells.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil
Size: 1 to 3 feet tall and 18 to 30 inches wide
Zones: 4-8
Lavender
A perennial classic, lavender (Lavendula spp.) thrives in dry, sunny Mediterranean-like conditions. It’s endlessly versatile, looking at home amid other flowers in a mixed border or on its own as a tidy hedge. The plant has incredible weather resilience, holding up to drought, harsh sun, and wind. Its only strict requirement is well-drained soil (its roots do not do well in soggy soil).
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: 1 to 3 feet tall and wide
Zones: 5-9