Perennials For The Landscape Contractor

If you’re still on the fence about adding perennials to your client’s new landscape, you may want to take a closer look. Perennials are one of the few plants that are good for any season. They make excellent anchor plants for several types of designs such as water gardens, formal gardens or rain gardens.

 

Perennials require little maintenance once established, a selling point that should be touted to clients. Some must-have varieties include brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ for shade, dianthus Fruit Punch series for heat and humidity tolerance and hardy hibiscus for a tropical look, even in USDA Hardiness Zone 4. Some perennial stars in the making are Hemerocallis ‘Ruby Spider’ with spoon-shaped flowers, phlox ‘Shockwave’ for its flowers and foliage, and hosta ‘American Hero.’

Perennials are versatile in the landscape, whether in the ground or in containers, said Freya Wellin, perennials manager at Chalet Nursery in Wilmette, Illionois. “Perennials are a steady sell throughout the season,” Wellin said.

Pay attention to tags when marketing perennials to your clients. But ultimately, color sells. “The fuller and more lush the plant the better.” Wellin suggested landscapers try a white garden that by mid-summer includes a splash of color with a hot pink daylily.  Her go-to perennials include salvia, hosta, astilbe and echinacea, while hellebores are a “fantastic” plant that many growers don’t offer, she said.

Perennials have a long blooming period, they overwinter very well, and they come in thousands of varieties, said Rick Watson, owner of The Perennial Farm in Glen Arm, Maryland. Perennials add another dimension to the production schedule because of differing bloom times and growth rates,” Watson said. “These can be easier to grow because of better branching and flowering habits, more disease resistance and faster growing times,” he said. The Perennial Farm created a Landscaper’s Choice line, which includes ferns, hosta, festuca, pennisetum, imperata, calamagrostis, miscanthus, echinacea, rudbeckia, sedum, delosperma, salvia, coreopsis, verbena and hemerocallis.