The American Gardener
 
 


Web Special
Regional Choices for Tough Perennials

SOUTHEAST

Native plant expert Jan Midgley, whose Alabama garden (USDA Zone 7, AHS Zone 8) also weathered a prolonged drought, recommends these plants:

  • Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa, Zones 3-9, 9-2)

  • Tickseed (Coreopsis spp., Zones 4-8, 9-1)

  • Black Sampson, coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia, Zones 4-9, 9-1)

  • Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius, Zones 6-9, 9-4)

  • Grass-leaved blazing star (Liatris graminifolia, Zones 5-9, 12-2)

  • Wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium, Zones 4-8, 8-3)

  • Pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 5-9, 9-4)

  • Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans, Zones 4-9, 9-1)

  • Smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve var. concinnum, syn. A. laevis var. concinnus, Zones 5-8, 9-4)


NORTHEAST

Larry Hodgson, author of Perennials for Every Purpose, writes and gardens in Quebec City, Canada (USDA Zone 3, AHS Zone 2). He lists the following perennials among the most durable for his region, as long as they enjoy protection from a reliable snow cover.

  • Bear’s breeches (Acanthus hungaricus, syn. A. balcanicus, Zones 5-10, 9-5)

  • Stemless carline thistle (Carlina acaulis, Zones 4-7, 7-5)

  • Sea kale (Crambe maritima, Zones 5-9, 9-6)

  • Crocosmia (Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, Zones 5-9, 9-6)

  • Yellow hardy iceplant (Delosperma nubigerum, Zones 6-9, 9-6)

  • Golden bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’, Zones 4-8, 9-1)

  • Eastern prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa, syn. O. compressa, Zones 3-9, 12-9)

  • Red barrenwort (Epimedium xrubrum, Zones 5-9, 8-1)

  • Armenian geranium (Geranium psilostemon, Zones 4-9, 8-5)

  • Bronzeleaf rodgersia (Rodgersia podophylla, Zones 3-7, 8-5)

  • Siberian frost grass (Spodiopogon sibiricus, Zones 3-8, 12-1)

  • Shredded umbrella plant (Syneilesis aconitifolia, Zones 5-8, 8-1)

MIDWEST

Neil Diboll of Prairie Nursery in Westfield, Wisconsin (USDA Zone 5, AHS Zone 6), offers this list of reliable performers in full sun. Look for more recommended plants for different sites from Prairie Nursery at http://www.prairienursery.com.

  • Nodding pink onion (Allium cernuum, Zones 3-9, 12-1)

  • Blue false indigo (Baptisia australis, Zones 3-9, 9-1)

  • White false indigo (Baptisia lactea, Zones 3-9, 9-1)

  • Pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida, Zones 3-9, 8-1)

  • Rattlesnake-master (Eryngium yuccifolium, Zones 4-9, 12-1)

  • Prairie blazingstar (Liatris pycnostachya, Zones 3-9, 9-2)

  • Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum, Zones 5-9, 9-1)

  • Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata, Zones 3-10, 10-1)

  • Sweet black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa, Zones 4-7, 7-1)

  • Royal catchfly (Silene regia, Zones 6-11, 11-7)

  • Compass plant (Silphium laciniatum, Zones 5-9, 9-5)

  • Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis, Zones 3-8, 10-2)

GREAT PLAINS

Harlan Hamernik of Bluebird Nursery, a wholesale nursery in Clarkson, Nebraska (USDA Zone 5, AHS Zone 6), recommends these plants for the Great Plains. See http://www.bluebirdnursery.com for more information about the plants at this wholesale nursery.

  • Fragrant aster (Aster oblongifolius, Zones 2-7, 4-8)

  • Blue wild indigo (Baptisia minor, Zones 4-8, 4-9)

  • Light poppymallow (Callirhoe alcaeoides ‘Logan Clahoun’, Zones 4-9, 12-2)

  • Prairie lode (Calylophus serrulatus, Zones 4-7, 12-1)

  • Tennessee coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis, Zones 3-9, 9-1)

  • Stemmy four nerve daisy (Tetraneuris scaposa var. scaposa ‘Prairie Sunshine’, syn. Hymenoxys scaposa, Zones 4-9, 9-4)

  • Snakeroot (Liatris punctata, Zones 3-9, 9-1)

  • Ozark sundrops (Oenothera macrocarpa ‘Comanche Campfire’, Zones 5-8, 8-3)

  • Prairie beardtongue (Penstemon cobea, Zones 4-9, 9-4)

  • Large beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus ‘War Axe’, Zones 3-9, 9-1)

  • Sticky skullcap (Scutellaria resinosa, Zones 4-9, 9-4)

  • Golden torch (Solidago ‘Wichita Mountains’, Zones 4-9, 9-4)

  • Tharp’s spiderwort (Tradescantia tharpii, Zones 7-9, 8-10)

  • Aromatic aster (Symphotrichum oblongifolium ‘Dream of Beauty’, syn. Aster oblongifolius, Zones 4-8, 8-1)

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Bob Tanem, author of Perennials for Northern California, lists the following tough plants that thrive on neglect in northern California (USDA Zone 6-8, AHS Zone 8-4).

  • Bear’s breeches (Acanthus mollis, Zones 7-10, 12-7)*

  • Bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia, Zones 4-10, 8-1)

  • Jupiter’s beard (Centranthus ruber, Zones 4-9, 8-5)

  • Purple foxglove (Digitalis purpurea, Zones 4-8, 9-1)*

  • Santa Barbara daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus, Zone 5-7, 7-5)**

  • Crown lychnis (Lychnis coronaria, Zones 4-8, 8-1) **

  • Four o’clock, (Mirabilis jalapa, Zones 9-11, 12-1)

  • Mexican sage (Salvia leucantha, Zones 8-11, 12-4)

  • Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium, Zones 5-7, 9-1)

  • Periwinkle (Vinca major, Zones 6-9, 9-7)*

    *goes dormant in drought; will revive with water
    ** self sows


SOUTHWEST

Scott Calhoun, a garden designer and author who lives in Tucson, Arizona (USDA Zone 8, AHS Zone 11), recommends the following perennials and subshrubs for the Southwest.

  • Hartweg’s sundrop (Calylophus hartwegii, Zones 9-12, 12-2)

  • Gray damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana, Zones 8-10, 12-5)

  • Turpentine bush, (Ericameria laricifolia, Zones 8-9, 7-10)

  • Chuparosa honeysuckle, California beloperone (Justicia californica, Zones 5-9, 9-5)

  • Blackfoot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum, Zones 6-9, 12-2)

  • Firecracker penstemon (Penstemon eatoni, Zones 4-9, 9-1)

  • Mexican oregano (Poliomintha maderensis, Zones 9-11, 12-2)

  • Whitestem paperflower (Psilostrophe cooperi, Zones 7-8, 4-9)

  • Autumn sage (Salvia greggii, Zones 7-9, 9-4)

  • Germander sage (Salvia chamaedyoides, Zones 7-11, 12-7)

  • Tetraneuris (Tetraneuris acaulis, Zones 3-6, 6-1)