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I'm a garden writer. Here are 10 perennials you haven't heard of – but should plant
These beautiful, lesser-known perennials deserve a spot in your garden...
A garden is loveliest when it's brimming with combination of annuals for instant impact and perennials for seasonal colour.
And while I adore popular perennials such as lavender, coneflowers, and irises, there are so many other lesser-known perennials that are under-appreciated.
In fact, adding a few of these overlooked perennials to your garden provides an additional layer of interest and makes your space uniquely yours.
Many of my less common favourites are old-fashioned plants that aren’t seen as often in nurseries these days, though you can find them online. Some I love simply because of their whimsical common names. Others are new hybrids that are less vulnerable to disease and pest pressure, so they deserve a spot in your garden as low-maintenance plantings.
My picks provide colour, texture and fragrance for your garden, as well as supporting pollinators.
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Ahead, you'll find my favourite perennials that you’ve probably never heard of – but should definitely plant this year:
Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)
Sunlight: Full sun
Lady’s mantle has the most striking scalloped leaves, covered in hundreds and hundreds of teeny golden flowers in late spring. The most appealing feature is how water droplets glisten on the pretty leaves. I love going out after a rain shower to see the sparkly droplets or dew on the foliage.
Pigsqueak (Bergenia)
Sunlight: Part shade to shade
You need to grow this old-fashioned plant if only for its adorable name. Clusters of pink or white flowers appear in mid-spring nestled above thick, glossy evergreen leaves. The plant gets its name from the sound it makes when you rub the leaves between your fingers. Plus, early season pollinators love it.
Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium)
Sunlight: Sun to part sun
This old-fashioned favourite has tonnes of purple blooms in spring. I love the way the bell-shaped flowers on long stems rise above fern-y ladder-like arrangement of leaves. It also makes a great addition to cutting gardens. Pollinators are attracted to it too as a bonus.
Dead Nettle (Lamium maculatum)
Sunlight: Full to part sun
Okay, so it’s not the most appealing common name. But this perennial has gorgeous silvery-splashed foliage and pink, white, or purple flowers that appear from spring to summer. In my garden, it’s equally happy in shade or sun. It gets its name because the foliage resembles plants in the nettle family, which have stinging hairs – but this plant lacks these hairs (thus it’s “dead”).
Barrenwort (Epimedium)
Sunlight: Part sun to shade
Heart-shaped foliage and tiny, delightful flowers in spring make this ground cover a low-maintenance favourite in my garden. It’s one of the few perennials that thrives in dry shade. Some varieties also sport coppery autumn foliage.
Geum (Geum)
Sunlight: Full sun
Blooming in shades of peach, pink, lemony yellow, or red from early spring well into summer, I’ll never understand why this lesser-known perennial isn’t found in every garden. Tall flowers with wiry stems dance above mounded foliage. Butterflies also love this flower. Simply remove spent flowers for repeat blooms.
Goatsbeard (Aruncus)
Sunlight: Sun to part sun
Feathery flowers top this perennial that thrives in shade. Butterflies, bees and birds love this plant, so add it to your pollinator garden for maximum impact. The bushy clumps can grow to 6 feet tall, and the blooms do resemble a billy goat's wispy beard.
Calamint (Calamintha nepeta)
Sunlight: Full sun
This is definitely one of the lesser-known perennials on my list, but it deserves a spot in every garden for its oodles of tiny purple flowers atop minty-scented foliage and easy-care nature. It looks amazing massed in my border plantings, and pollinators love it.
Cranesbill (Geranium)
Sunlight: Full to part sun
This perennial geranium gets its name from the delicate flowers atop long stems, which become seedpods that resemble a crane in flight. The minty-scented foliage spreads rapidly and it's one of my all-time favourite easy-care ground covers. Charming flowers in hot pink, pale pink, purple or white, depending on the variety, appear in late spring to early summer.
Lungwort (Pulmonaria)
Sunlight: Part sun to shade
It may not have the most attractive name, but this plant was once purported to have medicinal purposes in treating lung diseases. It’s a hardy perennial that can handle even the coldest winters. It has attractive silvery-spotted foliage, covered in tiny pinkish-to-blue flowers in early spring.
Arricca Elin SanSone is a writer, editor, and content creator who specializes in lifestyle and gardening. With a background in health reporting, she applies these same research skills when writing about the science of growing things. She trials new plants in her expansive garden, and her houseplant collection consists of 60+ varieties. Arricca has written thousands of articles for publications such as Country Living, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Prevention, VERANDA, Southern Living, and more. She’s happiest when digging in the dirt, baking, or spending time with the people and dogs she loves.
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