Glad to have found your channel. We moved from GA. To VA. Last winter. Spent 12 years in GA finding plants that worked in a shady yard. Now have a nearly all sunny yard with minimal shrubs and flowers. In planning next year's planting your videos are very helpful. Growing an attractive space is so gratifying! Keep 'em coming!
Jim I appreciate your format of showing the perennials on your list at their peak. I’m just starting to take care of and learn about the plants at my new to me 70 year old house. I only see plants with problems mostly but the best perennial for me this year was the daffodils and day lillies that popped up in ones and twos.
My Sonoran Sunset aghastache has drawn in hummingbirds and it’s so fun to watch them! I also had great luck this year with Veronica, Daisy May daisies, gaillardia, and penstemons. But my favorite overall perennial of the year has been Firefly Peach Sky yarrow! Long bloom time and the colors change throughout their lifecycle. Super versatile and hardy.
Agree with your picks! Some of my other fav perennials this year: Yellow Bulbine, Batface Cuphea, African Basil (my bee magnet), Pugster Blue buddleia (skippers love), Blanketflower, & a Southeast wildflower seed mix from American Meadows.
Even with 100+ temperatures for over a month, my Salvia, Echinacea, Cannas, Gaura, Buddleia, Gaillardia, Plumbago and Liriope have performed like champs. I’m so proud of them ☺️
My balloon flowers bloom for months, although they need to be deadheaded to keep then going, scabiosa, coreopsis, plumbago & Shasta. Your gardens always inspire- thanks!
My favorite perennial this year was definitely the white calamintha nepeta! I've already got 6 more on order for some other spots in my garden. it's beautiful for a long time and pollinators love it.
I've become very attached to tall Phlox and I'm finding I really love white flowers in my gardens. Don't think I can live without my daylilies. I too have a giant "dwarf" joe pye weed. I moved it this year because its size wasn't working where I had it originally. And I've had my first banner year with heuchera!! There actually in more sun than I would have thought they liked.
Jim, I really appreciate the timeliness of this and your annual video. I'm already thinking about next year. Really great time to take advantage of end of the season plant and shrub sales. This video comes in handy. BTW, I have got to get my hands on a Beijing Beauty Mahonia. Not a perennial but I have been laser focused on this plant ever since you showed it a few years ago. The color and texture. Just wow.
This year I planted the native cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and it has been amazing. Next to it I grew Rhythm and Blues salvia for the first time, and I will be adding more next summer. (Unfortunately, that's an annual here in zone 5). The combination has drawn in the hummingbirds all summer long, and it's been so wonderful to watch them.
Zone 8B Wilmington NC..........Bachelor Buttons, Rockin The Blues Salvia, Rockin Deep Purple Salvia, Rockin Fuchsia Salvia, Homestead Purple Verbena, Blue Dazes Evolvulus, and two well trained climbing Black Eyed Susan vines are all still blooming profusely here since Mid May. I suppose as expected, first year Pennisetum Karley Rose just coming into full bloom now. And I have to mention 2nd year and after separating 4 mid April, Day Lilly Minnie Pearl bloomed from the 1st week of May non stop and still has some blooms now! Not sure if Bat Face Cuphea are perennial here or not, but in a pot are in full bloom.
I put in a new bright yellow cone flower this yr. It did great but went to seed very fast with our very hot summer! Zone 8 , GA! I just love that my plumbago is doing the best ever ! ( after 3 or 4 yrs!
My rudbeckia laciniata spread from one small plant about 2 years ago to probably 50 plants each at least 6 ft tall. The deer can’t reach them and the bees have had a busy summer with all the blossoms. Also, the blue fortune hyssop was quite impressive and the pollinators loved it. Another one the deer didnt bother.
Heliopsis Burning Hearts, Bleeding Hearts and Funky Spinner have been among my favourite perennials this year. All have purple/brown/dark foliage. For length of flowering, diascia Personata too has been excellent Agree with you about the salvias…..always excellent
I am in suburban Chicago (zone 6a) and my favorite flowering perennials of 2022 are Prairie Milkweed (Asclepias sullivanti), Calamintha Nepeta, Joe Pye Weed and False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides).
Black eyed susan and butterfly weed have been my best. You made your list too early for asters and goldenrod to bloom! Give some love to those fall blooming perennials. 😃
I luv bee balm. I have dwarf Pink and hot pink. I also have the red and hot pink tall bee balm. It looks so pretty mixed with the yellow tall cone flowers. The bees,hummingbirds,and butterflies luv it. My fav is the hot pink bee balm.
My rockstars this season have been Echinacea Purpurea and Asclepius Tuberosa! I also have Liatris Spicata and Lonicera Sempivirens provide super strong performances 🤩
Jim, I have lots of favorite perennials this year. This week, my favorites are probably my coneflowers, Pow Wow white, Pow Wow Wildberry, and my newly planted, Cheyenne Spirit. Choosing a favorite perennial is hard to do, it's like trying to pick a favorite child! However, with perennials, I have dozens to choose from so it's not an easy task! I hope that you and Stephany are having a wonderful week! ~Margie😊💐🦋
Love the way your monarda overlaps the horizontal line of the fence top just a bit. Beautiful color. Phlox x Flame Purple. Beautiful saturated color too. I just wish it was taller as a summer phlox.
My new favorite this year is Double Sunset Gaillardia. Each plant has a multitude of flowers. Bonus - 3 different looking flowers types throughout. Seriously, they look totally different. Haven't had to deadhead once and it's still blooming here in southern Maryland. My winner with hummingbirds and bees was Hyssopus officinalis. Third year in the same container left outside all winter.
Lavender Hyssop. Makes a great tea with some chocolate mint, turmeric, and honey. I do not like black licorice, which the Hyssop reminds me of, but the taste of it is really good. Also purple shamrock or wood sorrel. My granddaughter loves the sour taste of them. As you can tell, I like ones that look and taste good.
Hello Jim! I truly enjoy all of your fact filled videos and greatly appreciate you putting the plant names and zones they thrive in on the screen. Here in zone 6, one perennial I can always count on is Echinacea Purpurea Magnus, which just gets filled with more flowers each year. and complements anything I plant beside it. BTW.... I always read that planting only one of this & that variety of flower makes a garden look cluttered. BUT, your garden certainly proves that theory wrong! Its just gorgeous and amazing in how beautiful you made it in such a short time! Thanks kindly for all of your expert advice!
My Callicarpa Americana (beautyberry) is producing many grape colored berries now. It has generally done very well this season after a February pruning earlier this year.
My favorite is heuchera, which doesn't flower all season (it's gorgeous when it does though). However nothing else compares to it for non-stop color and low maintenance. I highly recommend it to people that don't want to be out there cutting things back and deadheading. They come in so many colors, purples, black, fiery red, maroon, bright lime, and on and on. It's the best for shade and there are some hybrids that do well in half day sun.
I have not had good results with these. I have planted so many and they either die very soon after or don't make it a full year. Last year I planted my last one (promised myself that I wouldn't spend money on any more). Only one is going strong - guacamole - but I bought it as a huge plant and it is now about half its size. So perhaps that is why it made it the entire year? I have three others that are hanging on but they are down to about the size of a teacup. Any tips on what I may be doing wrong? I have tried several shade areas. Perhaps I am not watering correctly? That said, the ones that I "inherited" with my house do great. So maybe it is just me.... ??
Thank you, love your videos and highlights of plants! My favorite new perennial this year is White Culvers Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) I was pleased our local nursery had it for sale. It is a standout and can't wait to see it in full height next year.
The native blue & red Lobelia that I grew using winter sow in milk jugs two years ago have really hit their stride this year. I planted in different areas & conditions to see where they'd do well as I grew tons from one jug each. Really like the blue coming up in the Rudbeckia & Helianthus. The red has performed well too though better where it's wettest. All types of Salvias, couldn't pick just one. My Gold Jubilee Agastache likes to set new flowers lower down, I deadhead only when the bees are done with the first flush. Deer never sample them where they have the Lobelia, Helianthus & even the Chelone!
Daphne, the one with white margins thrived here in Austin, TX 8b, as did plumbago, both blue and white (it.is a perennial here). A favorite rose, Lady Hillingdon, a 1910 introduction, also prospered. Antique roses that survived for decades without fertilizer are big winners here. So too are Drift roses. Lavender does well here and is grown commercially in decomposed granite. My daylilies survived, but did not rebloom as much as usual because of heat and drought.
Dry, hot - really a drought - summer here in New York. Good year for lavender, nepeta, geraniums - and actually the hosta was absolutely fabulous until very recently.
Russian Sage, any bee balm, sneezewort, sombrero series coneflower, prairie dusk penstemon & ironweed rlly did well. Sedum is about to bloom as well as our many solidago cultivars. Surprise over-performer … Calamint
Agastache bolero has been amazing. I cut it back in early July. It’s now bigger and covered with blooms. Brings in hummingbirds. I have a red dinner plate hibiscus that has been wonderful this year, too.
You forgot to mention flox or phlox. They were great for me this year, though the weather was really bad in Denmark. The "Fashionably Early" varieties did not come back this year, though stalwards like Nicky, David, Blue Boy, and Christine were wonderful. I too, am enjoying my cone flowers and hardy geraniums, like Rozanne, Sweet Heidy, tiny monster, and rose clair, never fail to impress. These varieties are growing by the day... with more possibilities than you can imagine. Will gladly recommend rudbeckia hirta sometimes seen as a hybrid of echinachea and rudbeckia are also delightful fall colors.
Jim, You chose some excellent perennials for your best performer list. I have a few of the same on mine ( Zone 6a Southeastern Michigan) including: Little Joe Pye Weed, Blue Fortune Hyssop, & Fall in Love Sweetly Japanese Anemone. Also very strong in my garden this year have been: Echinacea Purpurea, Rudbeckia Goldstrum, Rudbeckia Triloba, Rudbeckia Laciniata 'Herbstsonne', Bobo Hydrangea, Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea, September Charm Japanese Anemone, Helenium autumnale 'Helena Red Shades', Burning Hearts Heliopsis, Coral Creme Drop Phlox, Thalictrum Rochebruneanum ( Meadow Rue), and various Asters will soon be strong.
Rockin’ Fuchsia salvia, no matter how neglected, thrives and re-blooms practically year round. The verbena bonariensis is star attracting every little flying pollinators.
When you visited the impatient gardener you mentioned that your garden doesn’t have a lot of movement maybe you should consider gaura, its long skinny stems produce lots of flowers that pollinators love all season long specially bumble bees-hard workers they’re at it from sunup to sunset. Mine still going. Also perennial grasses like kharl Forster, clomping well behaved one.
My Russian Sage is my number one bee, butterfly, and moth magnet. I see little moths going after my sage in the dark. Other favorable mentions would include the Blue Pugster buddleia, Darwin Caryopteris, Coreopsis, Meadow Sage, Speedwell, and Cat's pajamas Nepeta.
Agastache scrophulariifolia - native bees love love this plant, and the birds really enjoy the seeds This is for us one of the real stars of the mid/late summer garden, that you just tuck in at the back of the border... Also on our list for the summer/early fall - any of the newer truly pink Stachys officinalis, Achillea Terracotta and Veronica White Wands...
Added yarrow this year that I didn’t originally like but got some new cultivars and colors and really pleased and surprised how much I like them. Great look at your winners.
One other perennial that did great for me back in the spring was Coreopsis auriculata ‘Nana.’ I planted it several years ago, near the base of a couple of huge boulders in my front yard, and it’s rhizomes have spread such that the plant has grown up and over into the soil space in between the boulders.
Jim- we’ve had so much rain in atlanta that the minute I walk outside, the mosquitoes are all over me. I cant believe you are able to sit outside without getting swarmed!
It's hard to pick my favorite perennial! I'd have to say my Summerific Berry Awesome hibiscus. It's on a second flush of flowers. It's been hard to keep everything watered in the heat and lack of rain. Another hardy hibiscus I recently planted has been "deleaved" within the last few days by what I'm assuming is a groundhog. It loves petunias and sweet potato vines but has so far left the coleus alone as well as the Little Joe Pie Weed which is new to me this year. It's frustrating! Thanks for your videos. Always enjoy them!
Zone 8b south Alabama flowering perennials with the most color payoff May through September, the backbone of my perennial borders, are salvia (amistad, mystic spires, fuschia, roman red) and plectranthus mona lavender. Others with significant repeat blooms: stella d'oro daylilies, duchesse de brabant rose, quietness rose. Of course the ginger lilies are in flower now and can make you forget about every other flower that ever existed with their pure white fragrant blooms. Flops were hollyhocks (rust), freesia, bleeding heart (too hot I think), bee balm (never bloomed), and nepeta (flops after every rain).
Biggest winner for me was Blue Cloud Calamint and a yellow tickseed, I believe it’s called moonbeam. Constant blooms with no dead heading nor any maintenance!!! Can’t ask for more. I’m zone 6a.
Jim, Last few years just before & during Covid, I added a number of plants along 100' or so of my back fence, mostly bulbs & tubers (lilies, peonies, & daylilies), plus several blueberries, a jostaberry, & an elderberry. At the time, most got about 3-4 hours early afternoon sun, an hour or 2 of dappled sun, followed by 3-4 hours of late afternoon/early evening sun. Then, just this year, my neighbor built a privacy fence & the plants lost most of their mid-late afternoon sun. I have several questions. 1st, will the bulbing & tuberous plants have enough sun to flower next year. 2nd, will the berry-bearing plants have enough to produce fruit or will I need to relocate them? 3rd, for the 1st time ever, my peonies developed downy mildew on the leaves post flowering, most likely because of the add'l shade they're in, so I cut them back much earlier than I usually do. Do you think they will be ok? Thank you in advance for your advice, I realky appreciate it! 😊
I am so pleased with my Heliopsis helianthoides. I think they are about 3 years old and flowered all summer long. I think they got to 5 feet tall with so many flowers. Zone 7B NJ
Red Happiness agastache beats out everything in my yard (including other agastaches, salvias, cuphea, etc.) as my number one hummingbird plant. There's a hummer on that plant every time I look at it! Calamintha nepeta (white one) is my best plant for all other types of pollinators. It is always covered with all kinds of critters. I've never been very impressed with any of the purple nepetas and they don't bloom anywhere near as long as this one. (Virginia 7a)
With the last couple summers, I’d love to know what is the most drought tolerant. I live in the country and have no way to water a lot of my shrubs and perennials. (if you are ever looking for a subject)
I grew Golden Jubilee last year from seed, looked amazing and reseeded like crazy, after blooming this year the year old plants just started to look pale and drop leaves. Would a Chelsea chop in early summer help?
My garden is fairly new and I'm new to gardening in VA, so I am experimenting big time with what works here and how to take care of it. Also, my garden is sandy and sloped. The things that have done well this year with a fairly dry spring and summer are garden phlox (which is still blossoming and started in May), sweet williams and related dianthus (which have also been blossoming since May), and coneflowers which have grown tired in my garden (the plants are fairly young).
New England aster [Symphyotrichum novea-angliae] just sings here in z9b, SF Bay Area and its sirens song to all types of bees. Divides easily and comes back strong each year in pots and in the ground [needs more water in the pots].
Jim, how do you not have Japanese Beetles?? Please for the love of mercy tell us your secret! 😁 Favorite perennial for this year - Caladium in dark red/green and dark green/white. Also blue eyes grasses and Shasta Daisies.
I’d say my coneflowers and rudbeckias are doing the best for me this year. I also have that anemone but mine is in a container. I want to put it in the ground but I’m not sure where. Can they handle a moist area? I think I lose plants because my soil stays moist in some areas over the winter. I’ve also thought about dividing it and trying some in the ground.
#1 in Nashville morning shade full sun afternoon. Phlox panticulata Jeanna. Pollinators have enjoyed for 2 months now and still going strong.
Lantana has been a rockstar for me this year. And the butterflies seem to love it as well.
Glad to have found your channel. We moved from GA. To VA. Last winter. Spent 12 years in GA finding plants that worked in a shady yard. Now have a nearly all sunny yard with minimal shrubs and flowers. In planning next year's planting your videos are very helpful.
Growing an attractive space is so gratifying! Keep 'em coming!
Jim I appreciate your format of showing the perennials on your list at their peak. I’m just starting to take care of and learn about the plants at my new to me 70 year old house. I only see plants with problems mostly but the best perennial for me this year was the daffodils and day lillies that popped up in ones and twos.
My Sonoran Sunset aghastache has drawn in hummingbirds and it’s so fun to watch them! I also had great luck this year with Veronica, Daisy May daisies, gaillardia, and penstemons. But my favorite overall perennial of the year has been Firefly Peach Sky yarrow! Long bloom time and the colors change throughout their lifecycle. Super versatile and hardy.
Allium and Coneflower are two of my favorites!
Agree with your picks! Some of my other fav perennials this year: Yellow Bulbine, Batface Cuphea, African Basil (my bee magnet), Pugster Blue buddleia (skippers love), Blanketflower, & a Southeast wildflower seed mix from American Meadows.
Even with 100+ temperatures for over a month, my Salvia, Echinacea, Cannas, Gaura, Buddleia, Gaillardia, Plumbago and Liriope have performed like champs. I’m so proud of them ☺️
My balloon flowers bloom for months, although they need to be deadheaded to keep then going, scabiosa, coreopsis, plumbago & Shasta. Your gardens always inspire- thanks!
My favorite perennial this year was definitely the white calamintha nepeta! I've already got 6 more on order for some other spots in my garden. it's beautiful for a long time and pollinators love it.
I've become very attached to tall Phlox and I'm finding I really love white flowers in my gardens. Don't think I can live without my daylilies. I too have a giant "dwarf" joe pye weed. I moved it this year because its size wasn't working where I had it originally. And I've had my first banner year with heuchera!! There actually in more sun than I would have thought they liked.
Jim, I really appreciate the timeliness of this and your annual video. I'm already thinking about next year. Really great time to take advantage of end of the season plant and shrub sales. This video comes in handy. BTW, I have got to get my hands on a Beijing Beauty Mahonia. Not a perennial but I have been laser focused on this plant ever since you showed it a few years ago. The color and texture. Just wow.
Helpful information for my planning and planting in 2023.
This year I planted the native cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and it has been amazing. Next to it I grew Rhythm and Blues salvia for the first time, and I will be adding more next summer. (Unfortunately, that's an annual here in zone 5). The combination has drawn in the hummingbirds all summer long, and it's been so wonderful to watch them.
Zone 8B Wilmington NC..........Bachelor Buttons, Rockin The Blues Salvia, Rockin Deep Purple Salvia, Rockin Fuchsia Salvia, Homestead Purple Verbena, Blue Dazes Evolvulus, and two well trained climbing Black Eyed Susan vines are all still blooming profusely here since Mid May. I suppose as expected, first year Pennisetum Karley Rose just coming into full bloom now. And I have to mention 2nd year and after separating 4 mid April, Day Lilly Minnie Pearl bloomed from the 1st week of May non stop and still has some blooms now! Not sure if Bat Face Cuphea are perennial here or not, but in a pot are in full bloom.
I put in a new bright yellow cone flower this yr. It did great but went to seed very fast with our very hot summer! Zone 8 , GA! I just love that my plumbago is doing the best ever ! ( after 3 or 4 yrs!
I would say that my coneflowers and black eyed susans shut down quicker this year than last.
@@JimPutnam My Black eyed Susanne did the same, I was disappointed 😞.
My salvia Amistad too has been a big favorite of the hummingbirds. The bees love the Russian sage and catmint here in Cali zone 9b.
Pink jewel salvia and purple coneflower were amazing for me this year!
Lycoris radiata.
A century old patch, and pure joy.
My rudbeckia laciniata spread from one small plant about 2 years ago to probably 50 plants each at least 6 ft tall. The deer can’t reach them and the bees have had a busy summer with all the blossoms. Also, the blue fortune hyssop was quite impressive and the pollinators loved it. Another one the deer didnt bother.
Heliopsis Burning Hearts, Bleeding Hearts and Funky Spinner have been among my favourite perennials this year. All have purple/brown/dark foliage. For length of flowering, diascia Personata too has been excellent
Agree with you about the salvias…..always excellent
I am in suburban Chicago (zone 6a) and my favorite flowering perennials of 2022 are Prairie Milkweed (Asclepias sullivanti), Calamintha Nepeta, Joe Pye Weed and False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides).
Black eyed susan and butterfly weed have been my best. You made your list too early for asters and goldenrod to bloom! Give some love to those fall blooming perennials. 😃
Great list Jim! I'm looking forward to trying some of those shade plants here in zone 10a 🌱
I luv bee balm. I have dwarf Pink and hot pink. I also have the red and hot pink tall bee balm. It looks so pretty mixed with the yellow tall cone flowers. The bees,hummingbirds,and butterflies luv it. My fav is the hot pink bee balm.
I love my Stella D'oro day lillies and my yarrow!
My rockstars this season have been Echinacea Purpurea and Asclepius Tuberosa! I also have Liatris Spicata and Lonicera Sempivirens provide super strong performances 🤩
Jim, I have lots of favorite perennials this year. This week, my favorites are probably my coneflowers, Pow Wow white, Pow Wow Wildberry, and my newly planted, Cheyenne Spirit. Choosing a favorite perennial is hard to do, it's like trying to pick a favorite child! However, with perennials, I have dozens to choose from so it's not an easy task! I hope that you and Stephany are having a wonderful week! ~Margie😊💐🦋
Love the way your monarda overlaps the horizontal line of the fence top just a bit.
Beautiful color.
Phlox x Flame
Purple.
Beautiful saturated color too. I just wish it was taller as a summer phlox.
My new favorite this year is Double Sunset Gaillardia. Each plant has a multitude of flowers. Bonus - 3 different looking flowers types throughout. Seriously, they look totally different. Haven't had to deadhead once and it's still blooming here in southern Maryland.
My winner with hummingbirds and bees was Hyssopus officinalis. Third year in the same container left outside all winter.
Lavender Hyssop. Makes a great tea with some chocolate mint, turmeric, and honey. I do not like black licorice, which the Hyssop reminds me of, but the taste of it is really good. Also purple shamrock or wood sorrel. My granddaughter loves the sour taste of them. As you can tell, I like ones that look and taste good.
Fantastic video thank you.
Hello Jim! I truly enjoy all of your fact filled videos and greatly appreciate you putting the plant names and zones they thrive in on the screen. Here in zone 6, one perennial I can always count on is Echinacea Purpurea Magnus, which just gets filled with more flowers each year. and complements anything I plant beside it. BTW.... I always read that planting only one of this & that variety of flower makes a garden look cluttered. BUT, your garden certainly proves that theory wrong! Its just gorgeous and amazing in how beautiful you made it in such a short time! Thanks kindly for all of your expert advice!
I love the tractor seat plant and have a couple mine are 4 ft tall
My Callicarpa Americana (beautyberry) is producing many grape colored berries now. It has generally done very well this season after a February pruning earlier this year.
My favorite perennial this year is Chinese foxglove. It's a good ground cover and it's spreading wildly in moist shade.
My favorite is heuchera, which doesn't flower all season (it's gorgeous when it does though). However nothing else compares to it for non-stop color and low maintenance. I highly recommend it to people that don't want to be out there cutting things back and deadheading. They come in so many colors, purples, black, fiery red, maroon, bright lime, and on and on. It's the best for shade and there are some hybrids that do well in half day sun.
'Caramel' is my favorite, full season interest!
I have not had good results with these. I have planted so many and they either die very soon after or don't make it a full year. Last year I planted my last one (promised myself that I wouldn't spend money on any more). Only one is going strong - guacamole - but I bought it as a huge plant and it is now about half its size. So perhaps that is why it made it the entire year? I have three others that are hanging on but they are down to about the size of a teacup. Any tips on what I may be doing wrong? I have tried several shade areas. Perhaps I am not watering correctly?
That said, the ones that I "inherited" with my house do great. So maybe it is just me.... ??
Agastache Black Adder blooms for a long time in my garden, one of my favorites.
Mine as well!
Thank you, love your videos and highlights of plants! My favorite new perennial this year is White Culvers Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) I was pleased our local nursery had it for sale. It is a standout and can't wait to see it in full height next year.
Walkers Low catmint…give her space and lot of sun and she’ll perform all summer.
The native blue & red Lobelia that I grew using winter sow in milk jugs two years ago have really hit their stride this year. I planted in different areas & conditions to see where they'd do well as I grew tons from one jug each. Really like the blue coming up in the Rudbeckia & Helianthus. The red has performed well too though better where it's wettest. All types of Salvias, couldn't pick just one. My Gold Jubilee Agastache likes to set new flowers lower down, I deadhead only when the bees are done with the first flush. Deer never sample them where they have the Lobelia, Helianthus & even the Chelone!
Daphne, the one with white margins thrived here in Austin, TX 8b, as did plumbago, both blue and white (it.is a perennial here). A favorite rose, Lady Hillingdon, a 1910 introduction, also prospered. Antique roses that survived for decades without fertilizer are big winners here. So too are Drift roses. Lavender does well here and is grown commercially in decomposed granite. My daylilies survived, but did not rebloom as much as usual because of heat and drought.
Always love your videos. My midnight masquerade penstemon was really impressive in the spring. I also love my giant sunset hissop!
Dry, hot - really a drought - summer here in New York. Good year for lavender, nepeta, geraniums - and actually the hosta was absolutely fabulous until very recently.
Salvia incredible this year - but it's an annual here! (I take cuttings pre-frost and it works very well).
Russian Sage, any bee balm, sneezewort, sombrero series coneflower, prairie dusk penstemon & ironweed rlly did well. Sedum is about to bloom as well as our many solidago cultivars. Surprise over-performer … Calamint
Agastache bolero has been amazing. I cut it back in early July. It’s now bigger and covered with blooms. Brings in hummingbirds. I have a red dinner plate hibiscus that has been wonderful this year, too.
You forgot to mention flox or phlox. They were great for me this year, though the weather was really bad in Denmark. The "Fashionably Early" varieties did not come back this year, though stalwards like Nicky, David, Blue Boy, and Christine were wonderful. I too, am enjoying my cone flowers and hardy geraniums, like Rozanne, Sweet Heidy, tiny monster, and rose clair, never fail to impress. These varieties are growing by the day... with more possibilities than you can imagine. Will gladly recommend rudbeckia hirta sometimes seen as a hybrid of echinachea and rudbeckia are also delightful fall colors.
Jim,
You chose some excellent perennials for your best performer list. I have a few of the same on mine ( Zone 6a Southeastern Michigan) including: Little Joe Pye Weed, Blue Fortune Hyssop, & Fall in Love Sweetly Japanese Anemone. Also very strong in my garden this year have been: Echinacea Purpurea, Rudbeckia Goldstrum, Rudbeckia Triloba, Rudbeckia Laciniata 'Herbstsonne', Bobo Hydrangea, Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea, September Charm Japanese Anemone, Helenium autumnale 'Helena Red Shades', Burning Hearts Heliopsis, Coral Creme Drop Phlox, Thalictrum Rochebruneanum ( Meadow Rue), and various Asters will soon be strong.
Always look forward to your videos.
Rockin’ Fuchsia salvia, no matter how neglected, thrives and re-blooms practically year round. The verbena bonariensis is star attracting every little flying pollinators.
When you visited the impatient gardener you mentioned that your garden doesn’t have a lot of movement maybe you should consider gaura, its long skinny stems produce lots of flowers that pollinators love all season long specially bumble bees-hard workers they’re at it from sunup to sunset. Mine still going. Also perennial grasses like kharl Forster, clomping well behaved one.
Nothing beats a hibiscus in N. Florida. They take a hit but come back bigger and better every year.
My Russian Sage is my number one bee, butterfly, and moth magnet. I see little moths going after my sage in the dark. Other favorable mentions would include the Blue Pugster buddleia, Darwin Caryopteris, Coreopsis, Meadow Sage, Speedwell, and Cat's pajamas Nepeta.
My beds are less than a year old but a few did very well- mouse ear coreopsis, kismet raspberry coneflower, and swamp azalea.
Agastache scrophulariifolia - native bees love love this plant, and the birds really enjoy the seeds This is for us one of the real stars of the mid/late summer garden, that you just tuck in at the back of the border... Also on our list for the summer/early fall - any of the newer truly pink Stachys officinalis, Achillea Terracotta and Veronica White Wands...
Added yarrow this year that I didn’t originally like but got some new cultivars and colors and really pleased and surprised how much I like them. Great look at your winners.
One other perennial that did great for me back in the spring was Coreopsis auriculata ‘Nana.’ I planted it several years ago, near the base of a couple of huge boulders in my front yard, and it’s rhizomes have spread such that the plant has grown up and over into the soil space in between the boulders.
Jim- we’ve had so much rain in atlanta that the minute I walk outside, the mosquitoes are all over me. I cant believe you are able to sit outside without getting swarmed!
It's hard to pick my favorite perennial! I'd have to say my Summerific Berry Awesome hibiscus. It's on a second flush of flowers. It's been hard to keep everything watered in the heat and lack of rain. Another hardy hibiscus I recently planted has been "deleaved" within the last few days by what I'm assuming is a groundhog. It loves petunias and sweet potato vines but has so far left the coleus alone as well as the Little Joe Pie Weed which is new to me this year. It's frustrating! Thanks for your videos. Always enjoy them!
Does the hibiscus bloom last just a day? That’s what mine does.
Zone 8b south Alabama flowering perennials with the most color payoff May through September, the backbone of my perennial borders, are salvia (amistad, mystic spires, fuschia, roman red) and plectranthus mona lavender. Others with significant repeat blooms: stella d'oro daylilies, duchesse de brabant rose, quietness rose. Of course the ginger lilies are in flower now and can make you forget about every other flower that ever existed with their pure white fragrant blooms.
Flops were hollyhocks (rust), freesia, bleeding heart (too hot I think), bee balm (never bloomed), and nepeta (flops after every rain).
Biggest winner for me was Blue Cloud Calamint and a yellow tickseed, I believe it’s called moonbeam. Constant blooms with no dead heading nor any maintenance!!! Can’t ask for more. I’m zone 6a.
Texas Star hibiscus had an awesome year in my DFW garden.
Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ and Stachys ‘Humelo’ have been my favorite this summer.
Jim,
Last few years just before & during Covid, I added a number of plants along 100' or so of my back fence, mostly bulbs & tubers (lilies, peonies, & daylilies), plus several blueberries, a jostaberry, & an elderberry.
At the time, most got about 3-4 hours early afternoon sun, an hour or 2 of dappled sun, followed by 3-4 hours of late afternoon/early evening sun. Then, just this year, my neighbor built a privacy fence & the plants lost most of their mid-late afternoon sun.
I have several questions. 1st, will the bulbing & tuberous plants have enough sun to flower next year. 2nd, will the berry-bearing plants have enough to produce fruit or will I need to relocate them? 3rd, for the 1st time ever, my peonies developed downy mildew on the leaves post flowering, most likely because of the add'l shade they're in, so I cut them back much earlier than I usually do. Do you think they will be ok?
Thank you in advance for your advice, I realky appreciate it! 😊
How do you manage mosquitos without sacrificing pollinators?
I am so pleased with my Heliopsis helianthoides. I think they are about 3 years old and flowered all summer long. I think they got to 5 feet tall with so many flowers. Zone 7B NJ
Black eyed Susan bloomed for a long time, my firelight tidbit have also lasted and cats meow nepetas as well as hybiscus.
Red Happiness agastache beats out everything in my yard (including other agastaches, salvias, cuphea, etc.) as my number one hummingbird plant. There's a hummer on that plant every time I look at it! Calamintha nepeta (white one) is my best plant for all other types of pollinators. It is always covered with all kinds of critters. I've never been very impressed with any of the purple nepetas and they don't bloom anywhere near as long as this one. (Virginia 7a)
Nice. The nepeta I have all need a winter's rest
@@JimPutnam These white ones are still going strong, but the purple ones like Cat's Pajamas look horrible.
Excellent choices 🌸💕🌸
With the last couple summers, I’d love to know what is the most drought tolerant. I live in the country and have no way to water a lot of my shrubs and perennials. (if you are ever looking for a subject)
All of my sedum performed awesome this year, I probably have four different varieties at least.
St. John’s Wort is now 5 feet tall. I’m raising the canopy. Jacob’s ladder is lush and tall. Begonias are taking over. Great problem to have.
I grew Golden Jubilee last year from seed, looked amazing and reseeded like crazy, after blooming this year the year old plants just started to look pale and drop leaves. Would a Chelsea chop in early summer help?
Texas rock rose (Pavonia lasiopetala) wasn't bothered by 2 months of 100F days and kept blooming the entire time.
Can you do one of these for groundcovers? I am still not sure when and how to use groundcovers. Thanks!!
Gladiolus from the dollar tree store (who knew they’d grow so well!) 😆
Zone 8b NC. My favorite was galardia and salvia. I find my cone flowers struggle and I'm not sure why. I think they may move this fall. Thanks
BE🌸TIF🌻L‼️
Love the two tone Coleus in the background, do you know the name of it ?
Penstemons are great!
My garden is fairly new and I'm new to gardening in VA, so I am experimenting big time with what works here and how to take care of it. Also, my garden is sandy and sloped. The things that have done well this year with a fairly dry spring and summer are garden phlox (which is still blossoming and started in May), sweet williams and related dianthus (which have also been blossoming since May), and coneflowers which have grown tired in my garden (the plants are fairly young).
Thanks Jim. 🌺💚🙃
Thanks for watching!
Echinacea is the bomb here in Franktown, Colorado zone 4
Is there any chance I can have success with cone flowers in zone 9?
Thanks for sharing!
New England aster [Symphyotrichum novea-angliae] just sings here in z9b, SF Bay Area and its sirens song to all types of bees. Divides easily and comes back strong each year in pots and in the ground [needs more water in the pots].
I had no real winners this year because we were so dreadfully hot from May until this last week of Aug. High hopes for next year though.
Coneflowers and bee balm.
Did lantana Chaple Hill come back each year here in 7b?
Jim, how do you not have Japanese Beetles?? Please for the love of mercy tell us your secret! 😁
Favorite perennial for this year - Caladium in dark red/green and dark green/white. Also blue eyes grasses and Shasta Daisies.
No grass and mostly shady gardens throughout the neighborhood.
We have very few japanese beetles. Probably due to voles eating the grubs.
Veronica Georgia Blue.
Moonbeam coreopsis!
Oh yeah. Asclepius are really established and native ones are seeding. The fennel is 8’ tall.
Sedums!
Curious...how do you stay free from Japanese beetles?? That's like a million dollar question!😊
I put a Joe Pye Weed next to my kitchen window expecting it to get to 6’, not 12’. Might have to move it, 12’ sounds obnoxious
Rosanne Geranium
I'd read somewhere that Echinacea have a tap root so dont like being moved, is that an old wives tale?
I’d say my coneflowers and rudbeckias are doing the best for me this year. I also have that anemone but mine is in a container. I want to put it in the ground but I’m not sure where. Can they handle a moist area? I think I lose plants because my soil stays moist in some areas over the winter. I’ve also thought about dividing it and trying some in the ground.
I wouldn't want it wet when it's dormant
Allium 'Millenium'