TOP TEN HARDY PERENNIALS
The Northeast especially New England is a tough area for plant material due to the inconsistent weather patterns we are famous for. How do I classify these as hardy? Well, no matter where I put them they are easy and low maintenance. These perennials can tolerate what is thrown at them, soil conditions, weather conditions, and yet beneficial for pollinators.
PERENNIALS
1. Astilbe
A deciduous part sun shade tolerant perennial that come in a variety of colors and plume sizes. Zone 4
2. Nepeta
This is Cat Nip, the plant in all cat toys. Usually called Cat Mint – Nepeta tolerates well drained soils with sun. This plant can take a hard cutback twice a year for optimum growth. A favorite with pollinators. Zone 3
3. Rudbeckia
A great hardy perennial for garden boarders that need a long seasonal color or a roadside bed. Rudbeckia is a wild flower which naturalizes garden beds along tree lines, stone walls, boulders, and buildings. Does well in sun to part shade. Zone 3
4. Echinacea (E. purpurea)
Echinacea is a great hardy perennial that gives a wildflower field to most garden beds and where they are. Pollinator friendly and native to the northeast. Zone 3 Full Sun.
5. Stachys
(Lamb’s Ear, Stachys byzantia)
Stachys come in two different species, Lamb’s Ear or Stachys byzantia and Betony or Stachys monieri. Lamb’s Ear is usually not a cut back in the fall and is considered an evergreen. I usually clean it up in the spring if there is a lot of dessicated leaves. Betony is a perennial cut back in the fall. Both are zone 4 full sun.
6. Achillea
This perennial can be thrown into the hardest grown area, very dry and full sun areas and it will thrive. Zone 3 Full Sun.
7. Geranium
A mounding spreading perennial that tolerates full to part sun and species range from zone 3-5. They do well in well drained moist soil.
8. Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed)
A tall (5-6’) late blooming flower in the late summer to early fall, zone 3. Does well in wet and moist soil. Full sun to part sun.
9. Mayapple
Mayapple is a native that colonizes in woodland areas. The coolest thing about this little plant is the ‘apple’ after it flowers. It produces a fruit that yellows with ripening. It is edible in SMALL amounts. In fact the plant like the foliage, roots, and rhizome are toxic. It contains podophyllotoxin.
10. Monarda (Bee Balm)
Mondarda is pollinator friendly with bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and hummingbird moths. It likes to colonizes areas. The native Bee Balm called Monarda fistulosa, is a light purple and not as invasive as the other hybrid species. Can tolerate most soil areas, zone 3-4 full sun to part sun.