Perennial planting day represents one of the most exciting aspects of garden development—the opportunity to establish plants that will return year after year, building complexity and beauty with each growing season. Today we're adding carefully selected perennials to our transformed west border, focusing on both native species and exciting new introductions that will provide blooms from late spring through fall.

Strategic Plant Partnerships: Early and Late Season Bloomers

One of the most important principles in perennial garden design is creating partnerships between plants that bloom at different times, ensuring continuous interest throughout the growing season. Our featured combination perfectly demonstrates this concept.

The Star Partnership: Prairie Princess Vernonia and Cotton Ball Thalictrum

Prairie Princess Vernonia - This compact ironweed represents a significant breakthrough for gardeners who love native plants but lack space for full-sized species. While our native New York ironweed can tower overhead, this dwarf version stays manageable at 26-30 inches while delivering the same intense pinky-purple (almost fuchsia-purple) blooms that pollinators adore.

What makes this plant particularly striking is its foliage—olive-green, strappy leaves combined with burgundy stems create visual interest even before the late summer blooms appear. Hardy in zones 4-9 and preferring full sun, this 2026 introduction fills a significant gap in the native plant market.

Cotton Ball Thalictrum - Paired with the late-blooming vernonia, this meadow rue provides the early season color when the ironweed is still developing. Growing 38-42 inches tall with substantial basal foliage and tall flower stalks topped with poufy, pollinator-beloved blooms, this variety offers the classic thalictrum appeal in a more manageable size.

The combination works beautifully: bright green, columbine-like foliage contrasting with olive strappy leaves, early white flowers followed by late purple blooms, and complementary heights that create natural layering.

Expanding Our Phlox Collection: The Luminary Series

Phlox remains one of our garden's most reliable performers, and we're expanding our collection with proven varieties from the Luminary series.

Backlight Phlox - Our third large clump of this exceptional variety speaks to its success in our garden. At 28-30 inches tall with bright, clear white flowers and remarkably healthy foliage (no mildew issues), this phlox has proven both beautiful and reliable. The only challenge? It's become a favorite of rabbits and groundhogs, necessitating protective black chicken wire cages.

Pink Lightning Phlox - Slightly taller at 36 inches, this newer introduction promises vivid pink flowers that should create stunning contrast with the white backlight variety. While our plants arrived with somewhat faded greenhouse blooms, we'll pinch these back to encourage strong establishment and more intense color later in the season.

Unique Additions: Texture and Color

Bells and Whistles Campanula - This bellflower brings something entirely different to our border with its interesting blue-violet color and 28-inch height. Hardy in zones 3-8 and adaptable to full sun through part sun, it will provide mid-season color in a unique shade that's rare in our garden.

Primo Peach Berry Ice Heuchera - One of our absolute favorite perennials, this coral bells variety offers 8-10 inch foliage in stunning peachy-pink tones. While it can reportedly spread to 30 inches wide, we've yet to see that kind of expansion in our garden. With improved drip irrigation in the area, we're hopeful for more vigorous growth this season.

Violets Are Blue Delphinium - New for 2026, this medium-sized delphinium (30-36 inches) promises the classic delphinium structure and beauty without requiring staking. Hardy in zones 3-7 and blooming in early summer, it will create a "river" of blue spikes along our border, perfect for the cottage garden aesthetic we're developing.

Plants for Different Garden Zones

Full Sun Additions

Sweet Romance Lavender - Though not new to us, we're expanding our lavender plantings by creating hedges around our Princeton Century ginkgo and paper bark maple. At 12-18 inches tall and blooming from early summer through fall, this variety has proven successful in our challenging, moisture-rich environment where many lavenders fail.

Shade Garden Enhancements

Spot On Pulmonaria - This lungwort variety brings early spring color (bright pink and blue flowers) when little else is blooming. The spotted foliage provides beautiful texture throughout the season in our emerging shade areas under the pollarded willow. At 14-16 inches tall and hardy in zones 3-9, it's perfect for part shade to shade locations.

Pink Diamonds Dicentra - This bleeding heart variety breaks conventional rules by thriving in full sun to part sun rather than requiring deep shade. The shimmering blue, parsley-like foliage provides season-long interest, while pink flowers bloom from late spring through early fall. At 12-16 inches tall and wide, it fits perfectly in smaller spaces while providing reliable color.

Planting Techniques and Challenges

Power Planter Success

Our DeWalt power planter continues to revolutionize our planting process, creating perfect-sized holes for one-gallon containers with minimal soil disturbance. The key to success when working around existing compost mulch is going slowly and using light pressure on the trigger to maintain control.

Working Around Infrastructure

Planting in an established garden requires careful attention to existing irrigation lines and hardscape features. Near our pondless waterfall, we reverted to hand digging to avoid damaging the water feature's tubing—a reminder that sometimes old-school methods are still necessary.

Soil Amendments

We continue using Coast of Maine rose and flower planting soil as our standard amendment, providing organic matter to improve soil structure while maintaining compatibility with our existing soil composition.

Design Principles in Action

Layered Bloom Times

Our plant selections ensure color from late spring (cotton ball thalictrum, pulmonaria) through fall (vernonia, sweet romance lavender), with peak summer interest from phlox, delphinium, and heuchera.

Foliage Contrast

Beyond flower color, we've focused on contrasting foliage textures—strappy vernonia leaves against broad thalictrum foliage, fine delphinium against bold heuchera, spotted pulmonaria against ferny dicentra.

Native Plant Integration

Including native species like vernonia ensures our garden supports local wildlife while maintaining aesthetic appeal. Compact native varieties allow us to enjoy benefits of indigenous plants without overwhelming smaller garden spaces.

Maintenance Considerations

Rabbit and Groundhog Protection

Several varieties require protection from wildlife pressure. Black chicken wire cages provide effective protection while remaining relatively invisible once plants fill in.

Irrigation Needs

With extensive drip irrigation throughout the west border, these perennials should establish quickly and thrive with consistent moisture. We're particularly interested to see if improved irrigation increases the spread and vigor of our heuchera plantings.

Seasonal Care

Most selections require minimal maintenance beyond occasional deadheading and spring cleanup. The phlox may need division every 3-4 years, while the native vernonia should be virtually maintenance-free once established.

Spontaneous Additions: Verbena Bonariensis Seedlings

One of gardening's greatest pleasures is working with self-seeded volunteers. We collected numerous verbena bonariensis seedlings from around the garden, transplanting them into gaps throughout the border. These add vertical, airy texture while connecting our new plantings to the established garden's existing plant palette.

Looking Forward

As these perennials establish and mature, they'll create the foundation for a border that improves year after year. The combination of reliable performers (phlox, heuchera) with exciting new varieties (vernonia, delphinium) ensures both dependable beauty and the thrill of gardening experimentation.

Most importantly, these plants will provide habitat for pollinators, fragrance for human enjoyment, and the deep satisfaction that comes from establishing a garden that works with natural cycles and local ecology.

Thanks for growing with us!