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Most perennials bloom for just two to three weeks a year, so if you want to have flowers blooming throughout the growing season, you’ll need to combine plants with different bloom times. For a long display, interplant spring and summer-blooming bulbs and annuals, many of which flower all summer long, with your perennials.

Orchestrating a succession of bloom from spring to fall can be a complicated job. To make it easier, first make a map of the garden-to-be. Draw in the locations of clumps of plants before you decide what they will be. After that, choose your color scheme and assign colors to the different plant clumps.

Now it’s time to select plants. Choose those in the appropriate colors, being mindful to plan for a variety of blooming times, heights, plant forms, flower shapes, and textures. Use the box here to guide you to perennials that flower at different times. (See here for profiles of these plants.)

FLOWER FORMS

To make your garden more exciting, include flowers in a variety of shapes. Since many flowers are spherical, include some of the following:

Spiky flowers —are often clusters of small blooms growing along a vertical stem. Speedwells (Veronica species) and salvias, as illustrated above, are good examples of spiky flowers.

Cup-shaped or bell-shaped flowers, —such as those of tulips and this bellflower, look like upwardfacing cups or dangling bells.

Trumpet flowers, —exemplified by day-lilies and lilies, as illustrated above, have a narrow, tubular throat and widely flared, pointed petals.

Daisylike flowers, —such as tickseed and this boltonia, have round centers surrounded by lots of narrow petals. These blooms are actually composed of disc flowers that make up the center, and ray flowers (which often look like petals) that circle the central disc flowers.

Tubular flowers —are elongated and sometimes flare at the top. They are more narrow and slender than trumpets. Good examples are foxglove (Digitalis species) and this nicotiana.

BLOOMING SEASON

Spring-blooming Perennials:

• Bergenia (Bergenia species)

• Bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis)

• Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens)

• Christmas rose (Helleborus niger)

• Cranesbill (Geranium species)

• Columbine (Aquilegia species)

• Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

• Garden pinks (Dianthus species)

• Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus)

• Iceland poppy (Papaver nudicaule)

• Iris (Iris species and cultivars)

• Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla species)

• Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis)

• Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale)

• Peony (Paeonia species)

• Primrose (Primula species)

• Red-hot poker (Kniphofia uvaria)

• Salvia (Salvia species)

• Sweet violet (Viola odorata)

• Thrift (Armeria maritima)

Summer Perennials:

• Baby’s breath (Gypsophila paniculata)

• Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus)

• Beard-tongue (Penstemon species)

• Bee balm (Monarda didyma)

• Bellflower (Campanula species)

• Blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora)

• Blazing star (Liatris spicata)

• Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

• Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

• Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii)

• Coneflower (Rudbeckia species)

• Cranesbill (Geranium species)

• Daylily (Hemerocallis cultivars)

• Delphinium (Delphinium species)

• False indigo (Baptisia australis)

• False spirea (Astilbe species)

• Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia)

• Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata)

• Garden pinks (Dianthus species)

• Great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

• Lavender (Lavandula species)

• Ligularia (Ligularia species)

• Meadowsweet (Filipendula species)

• Monkshood (Aconitum species)

• Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana)

• Pincushion flower (Scabiosa caucasica)

• Plantain lily (Hosta species)

• Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

• Red-hot poker (Kniphofia uvaria)

• Rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)

• Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)

• Salvia (Salvia species)

• Showy primrose (Oenothera speciosa)

• Speedwell (Veronica species)

• Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa)

• Thrift (Armeria maritima)

• Tickseed (Coreopsis species)

• Tufted pansy (Viola cornuta)

• L Yarrow (Achillea species)

Late Summer and Fall Perennials:

• Aster (Aster species)

• Autumn Joy stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’)

• Blazing star (Liatris species)

• Boltonia (Boltonia asteroides)

• Bugbane (Cimicifuga species)

• Coneflower (Rudbeckia species)

• Garden chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum x grandiflorum)

• Goldenrod (Solidago cultivars)

• Monkshood (Aconitum species)

• Obedient plant (Phystostegia virginiana)

Bleeding heart

Tickseed

Blazing star

Purple coneflower

Daylily

Bellflower

Red-hot poker

Christmas rose

Pincushion flower

Long-Blooming Perennials

Some perennials bloom for an especially long time. They are beautiful in themselves but are also valuable because they help bridge gaps between more seasonal flowers that come and go. The following plants bloom continuously for four to six weeks, or produce flushes of bloom off and on all summer. Some plants, such as foxgloves and some delphiniums, often bloom a second time if cut back after flowering.

• ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’)

• Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus)

• Bee balm (Monarda didyma)

• Blanket flower (Gaillardia species)

• Bugbane (Cimicifuga racemosa)

• Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii)

• Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’)

• Daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’, ‘Black Eyed Stella’, and ‘Happy Returns’)

• Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia)

• Lancaster geranium (Geranium sanguineum var. striatum)

• Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana)

• Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

• Speedwell (Veronica spicata ‘Goodness Grows’ and ‘Sunny Border Blue’)

• Thrift (Armeria maritima)

• Tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’)

• Yarrow (Achillea species)

FOLIAGE

Flowers come and go in a perennial garden, but from spring until fall the leaves are always there. One secret of great garden design is to choose plants for their foliage as well as their flowers. Here are some guidelines to get you started.

A variety of leaf sizes and textures adds interest. Big, bold leaves such as those of bergenia or hosta bring substance and drama to a composition. Delicate, feathery leaves such as those of yarrows, fringed bleeding heart, and threadleaf coreopsis look airy and light. Spiky, upright foliage like that of irises contributes vertical lines that add drama to a collection of low or mounded plants.

Different shades of green add complexity to a bed or border. Combine blue- green, gray- green, yellow-green, deep forest green, and light spring green for more appeal. Lighter greens can bring an area forward visually or light up a shady spot while darker greens can make areas recede. Once you begin to notice foliage colors, you’ll appreciate their subtleties.

Colored foliage can add excitement or help soften bright colors. Chartreuse and golden leaves such as those of some hostas can light up a dim corner of the garden. Purplered leaves, such as those of ‘Husker Red’ penstemon (P. digitalis) are dramatic. Silver foliage such as that of artemisias helps blend strong colors (especially in sunny gardens) and softens harsh contrasts; it imparts a feeling of misty softness to a more subdued garden of blue and pink flowers.

Variegated leaves, patterned with two or more colors, can add dimension. They may be edged, streaked, striped, splashed, spotted, flushed, or mottled with two, three, or even more colors. Use a light hand when adding variegated plants—too many make plantings look busy and chaotic, and can actually detract from the flowers.