Peonies

Peonies may look like shrubs because they grow into sizable plants. But they die back to
nothing every winter, showing that they are in fact perennials. One of the longest-lived of all
perennials, peonies can live and bloom for 50 years or more. The trade-off for perennials'
long lifespans is that they only flower for a short period of one to three weeks, compared to
annuals, which will bloom for months at a time but then die.
 Day Lilies
Day lilies are in the onion family and are not related to true lilies, though their flowers look
somewhat similar. This easy-care perennial grows as a clump of tall, straplike leaves. The
flowers appear in summer on tall stems above the leaves. Each flower lasts for only a day,
but the plant produces so many flowers that it remains in bloom for a few weeks.
 Black-Eyed Susans
Black-eyed Susan is a wildflower that grows in open fields almost everywhere in the United
States. Its daisylike flowers with yellow petals and brown centers are familiar to nearly
everyone. Cultivars that are more compact and less straggly than the species can be bought
at garden centers. This sunny-colored flower brightens up late summer gardens.
 Hostas
Hostas are grown mostly for their foliage. This plant forms an enormous rosette of large,
pointed, green leaves that add structure to the garden. It flowers in late summer, with stalks
of white or pale purple bells rising above the leaves. Some people enjoy the flowers while
others cut them off so as not to be distracted from the sculptural mounds of foliage.
 Red Clover
Red clover is a herbaceous perennial plant that can be found growing all over the prairies.
Red clover is a favorite plant of farmers to feed to livestock and is important because it fixes
nitrogen in the soil. It takes the red clover more than two years to flower and reproduce,
making it a true perennial.
 Agave
An example of a monocarpic perennial is the agave. These take years to grow, but when they
finally flower and produce seed they die. It is not the flowering that kills them but the
chemical changes that they undergo after producing seed.
 Bearded Iris
Irises are perennial plants, growing from creeping rhizomes (rhizomatous irises) or, in drier
climates, from bulbs (bulbous irises). They have long, erect flowering stems which may be
simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The
rhizomatous species usually have 3–10 basal sword-shaped leaves growing in dense clumps.
The bulbous species have cylindrical, basal leaves.
 Banana
The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. All the above-ground parts of a
banana plant grow from a structure usually called a "corm". Plants are normally tall and
fairly sturdy, and are often mistaken for trees, but what appears to be a trunk is actually a
"false stem". Bananas grow in a wide variety of soils, as long as the soil is at least 60 cm
deep, has good drainage and is not compacted. The leaves of banana plants are composed
of a "stalk" and a blade.
 Goldenrod
These species are perennials growing from woody caudices or rhizomes. Their stems can be
decumbent to ascending or erect, ranging in height from 5 to 100 or more cm. Some species
have stems that branch near the top. Some species are hairless others have strigose,
strigillose, hispid, or short-villous hairs. The basal leaves in some species remain persistent
through flowering, while in others the basal leaves are shed before flowering.
 Pine Tree
The bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some species have thin, flaking bark. The
branches are produced in regular "pseudo whorls", actually a very tight spiral but appearing
like a ring of branches arising from the same point. Many pines are uninodal, producing just
one such whorl of branches each year, from buds at the tip of the year's new shoot, but
others are multinodal, producing two or more whorls of branches per year.
1. Water your perennials well after you plant
them. Then lay a 2- to 3-inch-deep layer of
mulch over the soil around your new plants.
The mulch will help the soil hold moisture and
prevent weeds from growing.
2. Deadheading simply means cutting the faded
flowers off your plants. It makes your plants
look better and it prevents them from setting
seed so you don't have a mess of coneflowers,
phlox, columbine, or heliopsis seedlings
popping up in your garden.
3. One of the best things about perennials is that
they grow bigger and better each year. But
many will start to crowd themselves out if
they get too big. Keep them performing well
by digging them out of the ground and
splitting them into smaller chunks every three
or four years.
4. There's no one-size fits all rule for watering
perennials. Some varieties stand up to
drought and others need to be kept moist all
the time. Keep your plants healthier and make
watering a breeze by grouping plants by their
water needs.
5. Some perennials are prone to a common
disease called powdery mildew. It creates a
gray or white fuzzy growth on the leaves. To
keep this, water perennials in the morning or
early afternoon hours and use a soaker hose
instead of a sprinkler.
6. If you have rich soil or amend it with compost
or other forms of organic matter on a regular
basis, you probably won't need to feed your
plants. But if you're cursed with poor soil,
fertilizing can be helpful. In most cases, all you
need is a general-purpose garden fertilizer.
7. Perennials that are reliably cold hardy in your
region shouldn't need any special winter care.
But spreading a layer of mulch over them
after the soil freezes can help prevent winter
damage during an especially cold season.
8. To keep perennials denser and shorter, you
may want to pinch or shear them, a couple of
times early in the season. This process is
called pinching because you can actually pinch
off the top of each stem between your thumb
and forefinger — but using scissors or pruning
shears is quicker and easier.
9. Bamboo makes good support for flowers with
tall, single spikes — such as delphiniums and
lilies. Wait until the stems are several feet tall
and starting to form flower buds. Pound the
stake several inches into the ground at the
base of the plant and tie the stem loosely to
the stake.
10.Mulch helps make your flower beds look neat,
but it does a lot of other good things for the
garden, especially conserving moisture and
keeping weeds in check.