Ten Low Maintenance PerennialsThe plants suggested here are hardy, easy to grow, beautiful and very rarely have insect or disease problems. Achillea filipendulina (Asteraceae or Compositae)Fern-leaf Yarrow
These clump-forming Yarrows bloom in early summer. The leaves are fern-like and aromatic. The flowers form flat-topped heads normally in shades of yellow though there are some cultivars that are pink, peach or red. Cultivars vary in height from a few inches to five feet tall and are used in perennial borders and meadows. After they bloom, cut the stems down to the ground.
Artemisia sp. (Asteraceae or Compositae)Artemisia, Wormwood, Silver-Lady Lavender, Silver or White Sage
Artemisias are easy to grow in a hot, dry, sandy location and like many heat and drought-tolerant plants most have silver-grey foliage (fernlike, finely cut, silvery-white leaves with a hairy coating covering the leaf surface). The small, inconspicuous flowers are wind pollinated. There are many cultivars that differ in height, intensity of silver colour and leaf form. There are many species in cultivation, including Absinth, and the culinary herb Tarragon. Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound' is the most popular one used in Ottawa, it forms a 30 cm (12") x 30 - 45cm (12-18") mound, used as an edging plant in the border. The leaf colour helps to tie the border together, adds an attractive contrast to dark green plants and, compliments pink, red, bronze and blue plants in the garden. They are also used in large mass plantings
Astilbe (Saxifragaceae)Astilbe
Astilbes originate in China and Japan but there has been a great deal of hybridization since the 1920's. Astilbes are considered the Queen of Flowers for moist shade, they are very low maintenance and free from problems. They produce dense, weed-proof groundcover and attractive flowers. Spike-like or soft, feathery, plume flowers rise above lacy dark green leaves; the many cultivars provide a long blooming time. Choose plants by size, flower colour and shape, and blooming time. A. x arendsii: blooms from June- August, heights range from 55 - 100cm ( 22" - 3') flowers are red, pink, cream, white or lilac, A. chinesis: this ground covering Astilbe blooms August - Sepember, height is 30 cm (12"), flowers are pink, salmon, lavender, purple, and magenta. A. glaberrima saxatilis: a rockgarden plant at 10 - 20 cm (4 - 8"), blooming in July - August, shell-pink flowers
Echinacea purpurea (Asteraceae or Compositae)Purple Coneflower
This Eastern North America native plant grows in grassy areas and open woodland meadows. The herbal remedy Echinacea comes from E. angustifolia. Flowers bloom above the rough, course leaves, which form a dense clump. The daisy flower head has a prominent hard, bristly, brown cone surrounded by drooping purple-pink petals. Echinaceas bloom from July - September. Purple Coneflower is an important plant for the summer border and for naturalizing meadows and wild-gardens. It grows to 75 - 120 cm (30 - 48 ") tall. Rudbeckia, Black-eyed Susans, Cone-flower or Gloriosa Daisy, are similar to Echinacea in form, and requirements except that the bloom is bright yellow instead of purple.
Euphorbia polychroma (or E. epithymoides) (Crassulaceae)Cushion Spurge
It is in the same family as Poinsettia and in fact it is the coloured bracts that give it, its bright greenish-yellow colour in late spring (in Ottawa when the tulips bloom). In the spring it grows rapidly into a neat mound about 30 - 45 cm (12 - 18"), high having smooth, 5 cm (2") long leaves. The stems grow a little longer after the flowers fade forming a green mound, which turns red in the fall. All spurges produce a milky sap from broken leaves or stems, which may be irritating to the skin. Interplant it with spring flowering bulbs and perennials, at the base of a rock garden or with shrubs. Other spurges grown in Ottawa are: E. griffithii: 50 - 90 cm (20 - 36") flame-orange bracts turn red in fall. E.myrsinites: a succulent, prostrate, 15 - 20 cm (6 - 8"), blue leafed, evergreen rock garden plant with yellow coloured bracts in spring.
Ornamental Grasses (Poaceae or Graminae)
The grass family contains about 6,000 species. The cereal crops are Grasses. They are highly evolved, wind-pollinated plants used for their long, thin foliage (may be brightly coloured) and upright form. The look and sound when they blow in the wind is very appealing. In the late summer they have feathery flowers at the top of the stems, which remain for months. Grasses range from 15 cm - 4 m (6" - 4 yd.) tall. Depending on size they can be specimen plants, container plants, groundcovers, mass planted or accents in the garden. Control their width to about 2/3 height. Clump forming grasses are not invasive. Grasses create a casual garden style, having full sensory impact in late summer and fall. Visit the Music Garden in Toronto's Harbour front in the fall.
Invasive Grasses
Native North American Grasses
Showy Seed Heads
Drought-Tolerant Grasses
Dry, well-drained Soil
Damp soil
Hemerocallis hybrids (Liliaceae)Daylily
Daylilies have been popular since the 1930's. In the spring, grass-like leaves emerge forming a clump. The leaves have a keel down the length in the middle. The leaves range in length from 30 - 60 cm (1 to 2') and are 2.5 cm (1") wide. Open, lily-like flowers bloom from late May - late August, with the peak period in July. The flowers open one at a time from the top of a leafless stem, each lasting one day. Daylilies come in a wide range of colours: yellow, orange, peach, apricot, and rust. They are grown in the border, as a groundcover, mass planted in hard to look after areas, and in large containers. The dense foliage will smother many weeds.
Ligularia sp. (Asteraceae or Compositae)Ligularia or Golden Ray
Ligularia is a long-lived, easy-to-care-for plant when grown in cool, moist, fertile soil. Large glossy leaves mound over the soil at the base of the plant. They bloom yellow/orange daisy flowers singly or on spikes, in late summer - early fall. These tall, dramatic plants can be 3 feet across, more in rich soil. Large leafed plants create a bold tropical effect. Plant them as accents, specimens, beside ponds and streams. They always attract attention! L. dentate:'Desdemona': Leaves dark purple underneath, bright orange daisy-like flowers. L. stenocephala:Leaves deeply toothed, small yellow flowers on narrow, glossy purple-black, L. wilsoniana:Tall spikes of yellow flowers in mid-summer. Grows to 150 - 180 cm (5 - 6')
Paeonia hybrids (Paeoniaceae)Garden Peony
Peonies have been cultivated in China for centuries. In the late 1700's they were introduced to the rest of the world and have never lost their popularity. They are beautiful, easy to grow and very long lived. Peonies are a focal point in the border when they bloom, and after they remain an attractive shrub-like mounding plant. The Bomb and Double types are the most commonly used Peonies but because the flower heads are very heavy they need staking. Japanese, Anemone and Semi-double types are easier to care for in the garden because the flowers stay up without staking. Peonies form large, bushy, mounding plants, 75 - 100 cm (30 to 40") x 100cm (3'), with shiny, divided leaves that change colour in the fall to yellow or red. Single flowers form at the top of the stems, (above the mounded leaves) with other buds growing below but usually they do not open. Peonies come in pink, red and white and bloom from late May to mid-June. Ants eat the sticky material on the bud, but this does not help the flowers to open. Hot humid weather increases the possibility of Botrytis blight. Cut out the affected leaves and stems (they become brown and die back). This is not a common problem and is a sign that the plants are not growing in proper conditions
Sedum sp. (Crassulaceae)Stonecrop
Sedums are succulent, plants adapted to dry conditions. The thick fleshy leaves store water. Low mat forming species often have a wide variety of leaf and flower colour, and are excellent for rock gardens, or groundcovers even on hot, dry slopes. Taller species have beautiful fall colour, attract pollinators and give wonderful colour in borders. All sedums are nice in containers. S. acre: 8 cm (3"), yellow leaves in spring, turning green, followed by yellow flowers in late summer
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