Perennials make the gardening world go round. They form the backbone of abundant borders and seasonal containers and do us the added benefit of returning year after year with little prodding. If you're wondering how to make the most of your perennial favorites, we've got some expert tips and tricks sure to help you get your bloomers looking good all season long.
The Best Perennial Plant Combinations for Utah
There's no denying the visual impact of a perfectly sculpted perennial border flowering from spring to fall in a profusion of stunning colors. If you want to maximize your perennial garden's aesthetic and ensure it gets the attention it deserves, try these expert plant combination and design ideas:
Use Contrast
One of our favorite ways to make our perennials pop is to play around with whatever makes them different. Perennials come in so many shapes, sizes, colors, and textures that it's always an adventure in creativity to pair them up. For instance, try combining spiky plants like lupines or veronica with rounder flowers like coneflowers and perennial daisies, or arrange plants with large, lush foliage alongside flowers with tall, elegant stems, like crocosmia. Remember to play around with color in the garden, too, and look for pairings that complement each other well and create a sense of harmony.
Fill Space
A great way to create superstar perennial combinations is to group them together according to light requirements, watering needs, and soil preferences. While many perennials appreciate a day full of sunshine, there are many varieties—like hostas and astilbes—that also thrive in low-light space, making it easy for you to use up every inch of soil space available. Making use of some solid perennial groundcovers is another must, and vigorous growers like creeping jenny, creeping phlox, creeping juniper, and blue star creeper do a great job of filling in empty spaces between taller blooms and keeping the soil covered.
Mind Your Shrubs
Don't forget the importance of combining your delicate perennial flowers with denser shrub varieties, like roses and hydrangeas. Roses, in particular, look incredible when planted alongside salvias and other tall, slender blooms that compliment the lush, delicate cottage-style flowers.
Size Matters
Some of the best perennials shine like beacons, towering above your landscape and stealing the attention in your garden. However, it's important not to forget about the little guys amidst these impressively tall showstoppers! When designing your border or containers, don't let your towering titans block out your smaller blooms; instead, try combining plants with varying heights for a more dynamic look. Think butterfly bush, foxgloves, delphiniums, lupines, larkspur, and ornamental grasses for tall varieties sure to attract local pollinators, and surround these big bloomers with low-growing perennial plants to add depth and visual interest year-round. We love dianthus, sedum, lambs ear, and anything with the word "dwarf" in the flower title! Mix it up even more by using combinations of flowering and foliage cultivars for some extra special garden interactions.
Let Them Climb!
Every garden needs a climber to offset those creeping varieties on the ground. Adding a trellis or fence to train a climbing perennial plant like clematis or English ivy adds diversity to your landscape and gives your garden that classic cottage look!
Keep The Blooms Going
Another thing we love about perennials is that they don't all show up to the party at once, meaning you can keep your garden colorful year-round by combining flowers that bloom at different times. Daffodils, tulips, and crocus, for instance, first appear in spring and pave the way for early summer and midsummer blooms. On the other hand, some perennials—like sweet alyssum and red salvia—like cooler temperatures and will bloom into the fall. Pair these cooler bloomers with trees that turn color, such as the Japanese maple, for a stunning pre-winter show. Finally, keep plants with tall seed heads, like coneflowers, for visual interest and as a food source for the birds over winter.
The trial-and-error process of finding the best perennial plant combinations in Utah is an incredibly rewarding gardening experience. With so many cultivars to choose from, you're sure to find the perfect combination for your unique landscape and personal style! Come visit us today at Millcreek Gardens in Salt Lake City, UT, for more expert design advice or to browse our incredible perennial selection!