Perennial Flowers by Season: A Guide to Staggered Bloom Times

Perennials are loved by gardeners for their ability to grace a garden year after year, often growing stronger and more beautiful as they age.

But unlike ever-blooming annuals, most perennials have a relatively short bloom season, lasting from a few days to a few weeks. Planting a variety of perennials with staggered bloom times ensures ongoing blooms in your yard all season long.

Remember to plant perennials with showy foliage or other seasonal attributes so that when the flower burst is finished, attractive leaf color or pattern, seedpods, or texture remains.

You also need to increase the volume of plants you use if you want season-long color. Where three or four annuals brighten a bed with nonstop blooms, you may need at least a dozen different perennials to ensure long-lasting color. That many plants need a larger bed than annuals.

Use this list to help you plan your perennial flowers by season of interest.

Spring-Blooming Perennial Flowers for Shade

• Barrenwort (Epimedium)
• Bleeding heart (Dicentra)
• Columbine (Aquilegia)
• Primrose (Primula)
• Foamflower (Tiarella)
• Bergenia
• Heart-leaf brunnera (Brunnera)
• Hellebore (Helleborus)
• Jacob's ladder (Polemonium)
• Lungwort (Pulmonaria)
• Viola
• Solomon's seal (Polygonatum)

Spring-Blooming Perennial Flowers for Sun

• Alpine clematis (Clematis alpina)
• Candytuft (Iberis)
• Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata)
• 'Crater Lake Blue' Veronica
• Dianthus
• Sea thrift (Ameria)

Late-Spring to Early Summer Perennial Flowers For Shade

• Astilbe
• Coralbells (Heuchera)
• Meadow rue (Thalictrum)
• Foamy bells (X Heucherella)
• Lady's mantle (Alchemilla)
• Yellow corydalis (Corydalis lutea)

Late-Spring to Early Summer Perennial Flowers For Sun

• Bear's breeches (Acanthus)
• Baptisia
• Fleabane (Erigeron)
• Iris
• Lamb's-ears (Stachys)
• Peony (Paeonia)
• Geranium
• Salvia 'May Night'

Summer-Blooming Perennial Flowers for Sun

• Balloon flower (Platycodon)
• Bee balm (Monarda)
• Bellflower (Campanula)
• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
• Blanket flower (Gaillardia)
• Blazing star (Liatris)
• Butterfly weed (Asclepias)
• Catmint (Nepeta)
• Coneflower (Echinacea)
• Crocosmia
• Delphinium
• Evening primrose (Oenothera)
• Dianthus
• Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata)
• Globe thistle (Echinops)
• Hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos)
• Helenium
• Hollyhock (Alcea rosea)
• Hyssop (Agastache)
• Knautia
• Lavender (Lavandula)
• Lily (Lilium)
• Maltese cross (Lychnis chalcedonica)
• Meadowsweet (Filipendula)
• Mullein (Verbascum)
• Penstemon
• Pincushion flower (Scabiosa)
• Red-hot poker (Kniphofia)
• Sea holly (Eryngium)
• Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum)
• Veronica
• Yarrow (Achillea)
• Yucca

Summer-Blooming Perennial Flowers for Shade

• Astilbe
• Goatsbeard (Aruncus)
• Hosta
• Ligularia
• Lilyturf (Liriope)
• Lobelia
• Meadow rue (Thalictrum)
• Yellow corydalis (Corydalis lutea)
• Yellow wax-bells (Kirengeshoma)

Late Summer- and Fall-Blooming Perennial Flowers for Sun

• Aster
• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
• Boltonia
• Chrysanthemum
• Coneflower (Echinacea)
• Gaura
• Hyssop (Agastache)
• Japanese anemone (Anemone japonica)
• Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium)
• Obedient plant (Physostegia)
• Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
• Sedum
• Stokes' aster (Stokesia laevis)

Late Summer- and Fall-Blooming Perennial Flowers for Shade

• Bugbane (Actaea)
• Lobelia
• Toad lily (Tricyrtis)
• Yellow corydalis (Corydalis lutea)
• Yellow wax-bells (Kirengeshoma)