A Garden That Lasts a Century!
It’s almost impossible to imagine that the plants I choose today for my garden could be alive 100 years from now. Well, it’s true; a sustainable, low-maintenance perennial garden that can thrive for a century only requires making the right choices in what you choose to plant now!
Slow Growth Rate
Short-lived perennials grow in the garden between three to ten years. Long-lived perennials, however, outlive their friends by 10 to 40 years or longer – some thriving for a century or more!
These plants take a while to get going. There is very little growth above ground in their first year of planting. But below the surface, they’re busy developing roots. In their second season, they work on foliage. By the time the third growing season rolls around, all the waiting and patience pays off, and they are putting on a show that will continue for decades.
Perennial Benefits
Since these perennials live in the same spot for decades, their root systems anchor the soil, reducing erosion and improving overall moisture retention. These stalwarts will enhance your garden for decades, reducing the money you spend each year on other plants and the maintenance you need to do to keep the garden colorful and bright.
Caring for Old Perennials
As organic matter, such as leaves and spent flowers, accumulate in the soil around the plants, an ongoing food source for the microbial life below the soil surface is created, enhancing the plant’s health. Fertilizing a mature perennial, even with organic fertilizer, may upset the balance it has found in the soil by itself. Mulching the soil with leaves in the winter and organic compost is the best thing you can do for the plant. Keeping it shaped and pruned according to the plant’s needs is all they need. How easy is that?
My Five Favs Perennials to Plant
Peonies
Better Homes and Gardens reports that peonies planted in their test garden in the 1950s are still blooming in the 21st century. Growing to 3 feet tall, peonies are hardy to zone 3 and love full sun to part shade.
Hostas
Reaching maturity between five and eight years, they can live for 30 or more years in the ground or containers and are perfect for the shade garden.
Clematis
It is no secret that I love clematis. The fact that they can live for up to 50 years only increases the love affair. Preferring shaded cool roots – many clematis are hardy to zone 3 and can grow up to 10 feet tall.
Wisteria
Speaking of vines, there is something romantic and everlasting about the purple flowers and knotting wood of a wisteria vine. Full-sun Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) will live up to a century.
Hydrangea
They live up to two to five decades and add long-lasting summer color to the garden. Many hydrangeas are hardy to Zone 5 or lower and thrive in full sun to part shade.
Other popular choices for longevity in the garden include daylilies or irises. One California poppy in my garden started a chain reaction that, for over a decade, has kept producing generations of offspring, adding to the garden’s overall longevity.
