7 Native Perennials to Add to Your Garden

7 Native Perennials to Add to Your Garden

It’s that time of year when we look at our uninteresting and bare landscaping and wonder, “what can I do to bring life and color?” Annuals have their place to shine, but if you want to have continuous color each year, then keep reading. Going native means less work for us – WIN. And, it also gives a boost to our local critters by providing what they need – double WIN! So, if adding native perennials to your garden is in your not-so-distant-future, we have seven to check out!

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

This striking wildflower is a favorite among pollinators and gardeners alike. With its vibrant purple petals and prominent cone-shaped center, it adds a pop of color to any garden. Purple Coneflower thrives in full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil. It blooms from late spring to early summer and is known for its medicinal properties, including immune-boosting benefits. Plant it in spring for best results.

spring color for your doorstep

Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

A classic wildflower with sunny yellow petals and a dark brown center, Black-Eyed Susan brings cheer to gardens and meadows. It’s drought-tolerant and easy to grow, making it perfect for beginner gardeners. This perennial blooms from mid-summer to fall, attracting butterflies and bees. Plant it in spring or early summer for a burst of color later in the year.

Eastern Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana)

With its delicate blue star-shaped flowers and feathery green foliage, Eastern Bluestar adds a touch of elegance to gardens and borders. This low-maintenance perennial thrives in full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil. It blooms in late spring to early summer and turns a brilliant golden-yellow in fall, providing multi-season interest. Plant it in spring for optimal growth and flowering.

Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum)

This plant is like the life of the party from summer through fall, showing off its pink and purple blooms. Crush a leaf and you’ll catch a whiff of vanilla—how cool is that? It’s perfect for attracting butterflies and bees. Best time to plant: Spring.

Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata) & Creeping Phlox (phlox stolonifera)

These low-growers are real showstoppers in the spring with beautiful blue, pink, purple, or white flowers. Spreading slowly, you’ll see them form lovely colonies over time. I personally love how they crowd out weeds! Expect them to be a hit with both hummingbirds and butterflies. Native to woodland areas and rocky slopes, where they form dense mats of foliage. Best time to plant: Early spring.

Coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.)

If you want some sunshine in your garden, this plant has got you covered with its bright yellow blooms in the summer. And it’s low-maintenance too, spreading out nicely without much fuss. Best time to plant: Early spring.

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

Don’t let the name fool you—this plant is a gem in any garden although may often be found in wetland habitats such as marshes, swamps, and along stream banks. It’s well-adapted to moist soil conditions, making it an ideal choice for rain gardens and areas with poor drainage. A cool fact is that Swamp Milkweed is a vital host plant for monarch butterflies. Monarch caterpillars exclusively feed on the leaves of milkweed plants, including Swamp Milkweed, making it essential for their survival. So by planting this perennial in your garden, you are helping support monarch butterfly populations! Best time to plant: Spring.

Now go on, get planting and let nature’s colors shine! And, remember our expert team is here to help with designing and planting your dream perennial garden, so just reach out!

Porch Color: Plants, Pots, and Process

Porch Color: Plants, Pots, and Process

 

Spring is all around us, from the blooming redbuds and chocolate chip ajuga (my personal favorite) alongside the cheerful melodies of nesting birds. Let’s bid farewell to winter’s starkness and bring some charm and color to that porch! Stepping into the lively season of spring is easier than you think with the right combination of plants, pots, and process of crafting it. Let’s explore the essentials to help you create a botanical wonder, that elevates your outdoor space and inspires your neighbors!

Plants: Blooms with Color

To create a captivating container garden that flourishes in the Middle Tennessee climate, it’s essential to select plants that not only tolerate but thrive in our conditions. Here are some delightful spring-flowering plant options:

Pansies (Viola × wittrockiana)
Bloom Time: Pansies typically bloom from early spring until the heat of summer.
Colors: Pansies come in a wide array of colors, including purple, yellow, orange, and blue.
Cool Fact: Pansies are not just pretty faces – they’re edible too! These charming blooms are often used to garnish salads or desserts, adding a pop of color and a subtle floral flavor.

 

Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus)
Bloom Time: Snapdragons bloom from late spring to early summer.
Colors: Snapdragons are available in an assortment of hues, including pink, red, yellow, white, and purple.
Unusual Fact: The name “snapdragon” comes from the flower’s unique appearance. When you gently squeeze the sides of the bloom, it opens its “mouth” like a dragon’s, revealing a tongue-like structure inside.

Petunias (Petunia × hybrida)
Bloom Time: Petunias bloom profusely from spring until the first frost in fall.
Colors: Petunias showcase a vibrant spectrum of colors, from bold reds and pinks to soft pastels and striking purples.
Fun Fact: Petunias are popular for their ability to attract hummingbirds with their brightly colored blooms and sweet nectar. These delightful visitors add an extra touch of magic to your garden.

Chocolate Chip Ajuga (Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chip’)
Bloom Time: Chocolate Chip Ajuga blesses us with its blooms from late spring to early summer, gracing the garden with its charming presence.
Colors: Its flowers display a range of hues from delicate lavender to deep purple, complementing the rich chocolate tones of its foliage.
Interesting Fact: Beyond its visual appeal, Chocolate Chip Ajuga offers more than meets the eye. Its leaves emit a subtle fragrance when brushed, adding a delightful sensory dimension to the garden. Moreover, like lavender, it holds potential for herbal remedies, contributing both beauty and practicality to your outdoor space.

Dianthus (Dianthus spp.)
Bloom Time: Dianthus blooms from late spring to midsummer.
Colors: Dianthus blooms come in an array of colors, including pink, red, white, purple, and bicolor combinations.
Fabulous Fact: The name “dianthus” is derived from the Greek words “dios,” meaning divine, and “anthos,” meaning flower. These charming flowers have been cherished for centuries for their delicate beauty and delightful fragrance.

Pots: Elevating Your Style

When it comes to selecting pots for your container garden, form doesn’t always follow function. For instance, French country pots often feature rustic charm with distressed finishes and intricate detailing, perfect for adding a touch of vintage elegance to your porch. A great example would be this lovely Bergs pot. On the other hand, modern pots boast clean lines and minimalist designs, ideal for creating a sleek contemporary look. At our garden center, we offer a wide selection of pots in store and online here in various styles to suit your taste and elevate your outdoor decor.

Process: Crafting Your Botanical Ensemble

Creating a successful container garden is all about balance and composition, and the “thriller, filler, spiller” technique offers a foolproof formula for achieving stunning results. The “thriller” plant serves as the focal point, adding height and drama to your arrangement. This could be a tall grass like Miscanthus or a striking spike plant such as Dracaena. The “filler” plants, positioned around the thriller, add volume and color, filling in the space between the taller centerpiece and the trailing spillers. Choose plants with contrasting textures and complementary hues to create visual interest. Finally, the “spiller” plants cascade over the edges of the container, softening its edges and adding a sense of movement. Trailing petunias, ivy, and sweet potato vine are excellent choices for spillers.

But don’t forget about soil in our containers. That’s something that most people overlook – they get caught up with the beauty of the flowers. But, actually, the soil is the most important component, because that’s what’s going to feed our beautiful plants and give them nutrients. You want to get the best quality potting soil that you can for your containers with lots of micronutrients. We have great quality soil and different brands to choose from at Gardens of Babylon!

Pro tip: If you have pots that dry out throughout the day, buy some play sand to place in bottom of your containers and this will hold more moisture for you throughout the season! 

Ready to bring a splash of color to your porch? Visit the Garden Center to find the right soil, plants, and pots for your project. Our knowledgeable staff is here to help you every step of the way. And if you’re short on time or expertise, don’t hesitate to reach out to our botanical design team – we’ll handle all the work for you, from plant selection to arrangement. Let us help you turn your container garden dreams into reality!

Container Planting 101

My name is Dana and I’m with Gardens of Babylon and today I’m going to share with you my success tips for container planting so that your containers will look professional!

What kind of soil is the best for container planting?

So let’s talk about soil in our containers. That’s something that most people overlook – they get caught up with the beauty of the flowers. But, actually, the soil is the most important component, because that’s what’s going to feed out beautiful plants and give them nutrients. You want to get the best quality potting soil that you can for your containers.  And I love to use one that’s rated for outdoor containers; it already has some micronutrients in it.  We have lots of great quality soil and lots of different brands to choose from at Gardens of Babylon!

Pro tip: If you have pots that dry out a lot or if they’re in the hot sun you can actually buy some play sand and put it in the bottom of your containers and that will actually hold more moisture for you throughout the season! That way, you don’t have to be watering multiple times a day.

Decorate your Porch

There’s three design elements for your containers that you can follow – you need a thriller (something eye-catching), a spiller (a plant that cascades over the edges of the pot), and a filler (something to fill space between the larger plants)!

I always love to incorporate ornamental grasses because they’re gonna be very vertical and that there’s movement which I love. If you want this to be seen from the road and kind of have some curb appeal and you want people to turn their head I always incorporate yellow!  You just sort of notice yellow and it always makes you turn your head! I also love to add some white flowers, especially if you’re gonna do a lot of big bold colors! White is that design element that brings all the colors together.

You always want to fertilize your plants as well, it’s sort of like giving your plants vitamins! I love to use flower tone. 

Whatever brand you decide to use you just want to use it per package direction whatever it says. So I would then sprinkle in my fertilizer, water this in really well. As if your planters are flushed to the ground on your patio or porch it’s always helpful to get some little legs or prop them up with bricks so that there’s a little bit of air movement underneath your planters because what happens is our soil will kind of settle and if it’s right there flush with your patio or your porch it could clog and it could actually cause water to sort of sit in the bottom and rot our roots. So it’s always a good idea to kind of lift up our pots up off the ground so that that water can drain out throughout the season.

Plant love being pruned

So let’s talk about plant maintenance throughout the year. So just like we cut our fingernails or go get haircuts our plants actually need some maintenance throughout the year and if not they get scraggly they don’t bloom as well so, I just wanna let you know that plants love to be pruned.

Feel free, you’re not hurting them in any way they actually love it when you trim them and actually promote some new growth and it keeps them bushier and healthier. So what I would do especially with Coleus they tend, they tend to get sort of leggy you can always just go and take your pruners or sometimes just your fingernails and just snip off right here right before a leaf node, and I’ll show you on this one on the future what I would do is I would take my pruners and just prune the right there.

You can always just trim off any leaves that have gotten hits and then that what that’s gonna do is create, it’s gonna send a hormone when it down to this leaf node, it’s gonna signal to the plant I can go ahead and grow some more and gave new buds. Same with this there’s always just gonna be some like little scraggly leaves, just look you know you can you should even take your fingernail. Now this is just normal you know plants are just gonna they’re living creatures and they gonna require just a little bit of maintenance.

So we’ve talked about fertilizer and soil and plant care and this is gonna help set you up for success so, don’t be shy plants are very forgiving and go have fun!