Looking for a beautiful taller plant for the border back? Try showy stonecrop (Hylotelephium spectabile), which can survive scorching summers and freezing winters. If your location has little rainfall, this drought-tolerant perennial is ideal.
Northern gardeners can count on peonies for spring color. These plants can endure harsh winters. Peonies come in all shapes and colors, so you should be able to match them to your landscape.
Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), an American perennial, is hardy and drought-tolerant. Pollinators flock to its summer and autumn big blossoms. Varieties come in pink, purple, yellow, orange, red, and white, with many flower styles.
Bee balm attracts bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies to gardens. Depending on the cultivar, this erect, fragrant perennial has mophead-like blooms in pink, red, orange, purple, or white.
Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) produces enormous colonies in slightly shaded areas and blooms in spring. Each plant lives a few years, but it re-seeds rapidly, so a patch of this perennial may last decades.
Coral bells (Heuchera spp.) brighten shaded garden areas. Coral bells are admired for their vivid leaves in purple, green, yellow, orange, red, and multicolored variations. The bushes also attract pollinators with early summer.
Siberian iris (Iris sibirica) from northern Turkey and Russia doesn't mind freezing conditions. Blue, purple, lilac, yellow, or white blooms bloom in spring on this dependable perennial. Heavy bunches of dark green, straplike leaves.
'Moonbeam' coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) blooms bright yellow throughout summer. It's tough and can handle winter cold. Check the plant label before buying since not all coreopsis cultivars are winter-hardy as 'Moonbeam'.