BACKYARD GARDENING MADE SIMPLE
Learn How To Garden With These Top 5 Gardening Books For Beginners
Gardening is as much about passion as it is about technique. Books can inspire beginners with beautiful garden photos, success stories, and creative ideas, motivating them to dive deeper into the world of gardening. And for those with busy schedules, books often provide tips on how to maximize results with minimal time and effort. This is particularly helpful for beginners who may be overwhelmed by the prospect of maintaining a garden.
Garden books are like green-thumbed mentors for beginners, and there’s many ways they can lend a helping hand, whether you’re just learning how to garden or looking for inspiration. Garden books provide a solid foundation of knowledge. They cover everything from soil types to plant care, helping beginners understand the basics. Beginners often struggle with choosing the right plants for their location and understanding how to care for them. Garden books offer insights into the specific needs of various plants, helping beginners make informed decisions.
When issues arise—be it pests, diseases, or other challenges—garden books act as troubleshooters. They offer practical solutions to common problems, saving beginners from potential gardening disasters. Not to mention, creating an aesthetically pleasing and functional garden requires planning. Garden books often provide tips on garden design, layout, and how to create a harmonious outdoor space.
Gardening is as much about passion as it is about technique. Books can inspire beginners with beautiful garden photos, success stories, and creative ideas, motivating them to dive deeper into the world of gardening. And for those with busy schedules, books often provide tips on how to maximize results with minimal time and effort. This is particularly helpful for beginners who may be overwhelmed by the prospect of maintaining a garden.
What Should You Look For In A Gardening Book?
There’s a few factors that make a good gardening book. Most importantly, make sure the book is applicable to your climate and region. Gardening practices can vary significantly, so a book tailored to your specific location will be more helpful. Consider your gardening experience. Some books are geared towards beginners, while others target intermediate or advanced gardeners. Pick a book that matches your skill level to avoid feeling overwhelmed or underwhelmed.
Look for books that cover a wide range of topics, from soil preparation and plant selection to pest control and seasonal care. A comprehensive guide will serve as a valuable reference throughout your gardening journey. Practical advice and actionable tips make a book more useful. Look for real-world guidance that you can apply to your garden, whether it's about troubleshooting problems or optimizing your gardening space.
Books with high-quality images, illustrations, and diagrams can be more engaging and helpful, especially for visual learners. They can aid in understanding concepts and techniques. Check the author's credentials and experience. Books written by knowledgeable and experienced gardeners, horticulturists, or botanists are likely to provide more reliable information.
If you have specific gardening interests, such as organic gardening, container gardening, or landscaping, look for books that focus on those areas. Specialized books can offer in-depth insights into particular aspects of gardening.
Learning Gardening From Books vs Video
Both gardening books and videos have their merits, and the choice between them depends on individual preferences and learning styles. However, there are some advantages to gardening books that some people find particularly appealing. Books often provide more in-depth information on gardening topics. They can go into greater detail, offering a comprehensive understanding of concepts, techniques, and plant care. Books also serve as handy references that you can easily flip through and revisit whenever needed. They don't require an internet connection, making them accessible in various settings, including the garden itself. Books are usually well-organized with clear chapters and sections, allowing for a structured learning experience.
Readers can go at their own pace when using books. They can take their time absorbing information, re-reading sections as needed, and progressing through the material at a comfortable speed. For those who enjoy getting into the nitty-gritty details of gardening, books often excel in providing nuanced information. This can be particularly beneficial for more advanced gardeners or those who want to become experts in specific aspects of gardening.
While gardening books have their advantages, gardening videos also have their strengths, such as providing a visual demonstration of techniques and being more engaging for some learners. Ultimately, the choice between books and videos depends on individual preferences and the learning style that resonates most with you.
Let's dive into these green reads.
Encyclopedia of Country Living - Carla Emery
A comprehensive guide for rural living, this book covers everything from farming and gardening to traditional crafts and skills. It's like a one-stop-shop for mastering the art of country living.
For more than 50 years, this homesteading classic has been the essential book of basic skills and country wisdom for living off the land, being prepared, and doing it yourself. Keep your family healthy, safe, and independent--no matter what's going on in the world.
From homesteaders to urban farmers, and everyone in between, there is a desire for a simpler way of life: a healthier, greener, more self-sustaining, and holistic approach that allows you to survive and thrive—even in uncertain times.
With its origins in the back-to-the-land movement of the late 1960s, Carla Emery’s landmark book has grown into a comprehensive guide to living a self-sustaining lifestyle. Learn how to live independently in this comprehensive guide, including how to:
Can, dry, and preserve food
Plan your garden
Grow your own food
Make 20-minute cheese
Make your own natural skincare products
Bake bread
Cook on a wood stove
Learn beekeeping
Raise chickens, goats, and pigs
Create natural skincare products
Make organic bug spray
Treat your family with homemade remedies
Make fruit leather
Forage for wild food
Spin wool into yarn
Mill your own flour
Tap a maple tree
Gaia’s Garden - Toby Hemenway
Focused on permaculture, "Gaia's Garden" explores sustainable gardening practices that mimic natural ecosystems. It's a guide to creating harmonious, self-sustaining gardens that work with nature rather than against it.
Gaia’s Garden has sparked the imagination of home gardeners the world over by introducing a simple message: working with nature, not against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and forgiving gardens.
Many people mistakenly think that "ecological gardening"―which involves growing a wide range of edible and other useful plants―can take place only on a large, multiacre scale. As Hemenway demonstrates, it’s fun and easy--even for the beginner--to create a “backyard ecosystem” by assembling communities of plants that can work cooperatively and perform a variety of functions, including:
Building and maintaining soil fertility and structure
Catching and conserving water in the landscape
Providing a rewilded and biodiverse habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animals
Growing an edible “forest” that yields seasonal fruits, nuts, and other foods
This revised and updated edition also features a chapter on urban permaculture, designed especially for people in cities and suburbs who have very limited growing space. Whatever size yard or garden you have to work with, you can apply basic permaculture principles to make it more diverse, more natural, more productive, and more beautiful. Best of all, once it’s established, an ecological garden will reduce or eliminate most of the backbreaking work that’s needed to maintain the typical lawn and garden.
No Dig: Nurture Your Soil to Grow Better Veg with Less Effort - Charles Dowding
As the title suggests, this book advocates for a no-dig approach to gardening. It delves into the benefits of preserving soil structure and health by avoiding traditional digging methods, making vegetable gardening more efficient and eco-friendly.
Have you ever wondered how to transform a weedy plot into a thriving vegetable garden?
Well now you can! By following the simple steps set out in No Dig, in just a few short hours you can revolutionize your vegetable patch with plants already in the ground from day one!
Charles Dowding is on a mission to teach that there is no need to dig over the soil, but by minimizing intervention you are actively boosting soil productivity. In fact, The less you dig, the more you preserve soil structure and nurture the fungal mycelium vital to the health of all plants.
This is the essence of the No Dig system that Charles Dowding has perfected over a lifetime growing vegetables.
So put your gardening gloves on and get ready to discover:
Guides and calendars of when to sow, grow, and harvest.
Inspiring information and first-hand guidance from the author
“Delve deeper” features look in-depth at the No Dig system and the facts and research that back it up.
The essential role of compost and how to make your own at home.
The importance of soil management, soil ecology, and soil health.
Now one of the hottest topics in environmental science, this "wood-wide web" has informed Charles's practice for decades, and he's proven it isn't just trees that benefit - every gardener can harness the power of the wood-wide web. Featuring newly- commissioned step-by-step photography of all stages of growing vegetables and herbs, and all elements of No Dig growing, shot at Charles’s beautiful market garden in Somerset, you too will be able to grow more veg with less time and effort, and in harmony with nature - so join the No Dig revolution today!
Our Kindred Home - Alyson Morgan
Alyson Morgan, a second-generation Haitian American, grew up feeling disconnected from her roots and suffering from the trauma of racism. To heal herself, she found a connection with the natural world around her: slowing down, respecting the seasons, and growing or foraging plants in her local area. To Alyson, connection with the earth means finding a sense of place and home in an era of stress and overwhelm. Now she shares her methods of homesteading for anyone to practice in their own life. Beautifully photographed, with plant monographs, illustrations, and recipes, Our Kindred Home explores our deep ties to the natural world and offers regenerative and sustainable ways of living.
Alyson helps readers better understand the deep grief and systemic harm that stems from disconnection with nature, and provides pathways for healing, such as:
• An exploration of ecological grief and its impacts
• Information for working with subtle body energy
• Tools for observing, identifying, foraging, and cultivating plants
• Methods for creating infusions, honeys, vinegars, and oils
• More than 80 seasonal and 40 plant monographs
With the whole world in environmental crisis, creating a relationship with the earth that is reciprocal rather than exploitative and understanding our fundamental interconnectedness is more vital than ever. In Our Kindred Home, you'll find everyday ways to connect to the earth for resilience, resistance, liberation, and collective healing.
The New Organic Grower, 3rd Edition: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener - Eliot Coleman
Geared towards both home and market gardeners, this manual provides insights into organic growing methods. From tools to techniques, it's a guide for those wanting to cultivate organic produce, whether for personal consumption or the market.
Since its original publication in 1989, The New Organic Grower has been one of the most important farming books available, with pioneer Eliot Coleman leading the charge in the organic movement in the United States. Now fully illustrated and updated, this 30th Anniversary Edition is a must-have for any agricultural library.
Eliot Coleman’s books and innovative methods have helped innumerable organic farmers build successful farms in deep accordance with nature. The wisdom in this seminal book holds true even as the modern agricultural canon has grown―in large part due to Coleman’s influence as a wise elder with decades of experience. New information has been included in this edition to showcase the new tools and techniques that Eliot has been developing over the last thirty-five years.
Inspired by the European intensive growers, The New Organic Grower, 30th Anniversary Edition, offers a very approachable and productive form of farming that has proven to work well for the earth and its stewards for centuries. Gardeners working on 2.5 acres or less will find this book especially useful, as it offers proof that small-scale market growers and serious home gardeners can live good lives close to the land and make a profit at the same time. The New Organic Grower is ideal for young farmers just getting started, or gardeners seeking to expand into a more productive enterprise.
New material in this edition includes:
Beautiful color photographs throughout, taken by master gardener and author Barbara Damrosch (Eliot’s wife and co-farmer)
Updated information throughout on how Eliot’s practices have changed through his experiments over the years
A new section from Damrosch about incorporating flowers on the small farm
More information on new tools Eliot has invented that don’t appear in any of his other books
In the ever-expanding world of gardening literature, these books stand out as essential companions for enthusiasts at every level. Whether you're dreaming of a self-sufficient homestead, aiming for a flourishing permaculture oasis, or simply seeking practical tips for a thriving garden, these books offer the wisdom to nurture your green paradise. Let the pages of these gardening books unfold a tapestry of knowledge and inspiration as you cultivate the garden of your dreams. Happy reading and happy gardening!
Unlocking the Culinary Potential of Your Garden With Edible Flowers
When starting a cut flower garden with edible flowers, you may not know in advance if you’ll actually enjoy the flavor of the flowers you are growing - most of us have never eaten flowers before! Often, they taste a lot like they smell. But in the case of nasturtiums for example, they can have an unexpected heat. Go into your garden planning with a mindset of experimentation and you are sure to be amazed, even if your flowers end up being more for the birds and bees than your plate. There’s no such thing as a flower failure. And don’t forget that many of your favorite vegetables and fruits like snap peas and strawberries start off as flowers that can be eaten and adorned too. If you’re new to gardening, these experiments will give you the experience you need to grow confident in all your future gardening endeavors. If you’re already a gardening expert, edible flowers offer the opportunity to bring something new and unexpected into your regular gardening routine, a colorful surprise to enjoy all summer long.
The Cottage Peach is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own.
Edible cut flower gardens can bring so much joy to your kitchen. I love topping a fresh salad with spice nasturtiums, or pressing pansies into shortbread cookies. I’m a firm believer that adults need opportunities to play too - and growing flowers that we can eat is the perfect way to incorporate that playful energy into our days. Outside of garnishes and baking, they can make an excellent cup of tea, or folded into fresh churned butter you can add color to your breakfast toasts and more. The options are endless when it comes to what you can do with edible flowers. Playing with texture, scent and color can turn an otherwise basic recipe into something really special to share with friends and family this summer and beyond. My favorite cakes have been topped with sage leaves and calendula blossoms, and you can make a mocktail truly unique with just a few sprigs of lavender.
Health Benefits of Flowers
There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that fresh flowers inside can have a positive impact on mental health. Here are a few of the key benefits:
Boosts mood: Research has shown that flowers can have an immediate impact on mood, making people feel happier and more relaxed.
Reduces stress: Flowers have been shown to have a calming effect, reducing feelings of anxiety and stress.
Improves memory: Studies have found that having fresh flowers in the home can improve memory, particularly in older adults.
Increases creativity: Flowers have been found to stimulate the mind and increase creativity, making them a great addition to workspaces or creative spaces.
Promotes well-being: Fresh flowers have been shown to promote a sense of well-being, helping people to feel more balanced and centered.
Provides a connection to nature: Flowers are a reminder of the beauty and abundance of nature, providing a connection to the natural world and promoting feelings of peace and calm.
When starting a cut flower garden with edible flowers, you may not know in advance if you’ll actually enjoy the flavor of the flowers you are growing - most of us have never eaten flowers before! Often, they taste a lot like they smell. But in the case of nasturtiums for example, they can have an unexpected heat. Go into your garden planning with a mindset of experimentation and you are sure to be amazed, even if your flowers end up being more for the birds and bees than your plate. There’s no such thing as a flower failure. And don’t forget that many of your favorite vegetables and fruits like snap peas and strawberries start off as flowers that can be eaten and adorned too. If you’re new to gardening, these experiments will give you the experience you need to grow confident in all your future gardening endeavors. If you’re already a gardening expert, edible flowers offer the opportunity to bring something new and unexpected into your regular gardening routine, a colorful surprise to enjoy all summer long.
Overall, fresh flowers inside have been shown to have a positive impact on mental health, helping people to feel happier, more relaxed, and more connected to the world around them. Whether you enjoy having fresh flowers in your home, workspace, or creative space, the mental health benefits are undeniable.
Below are some of my favorite flowers for a cut garden bed. They all have a good vase life and are easily started by seed. There are many, many other edible flowers not included on this list, so I encourage you to do some research of your own.
What edible flowers do you grow?
10 Perennial Plants That Will Thrive in Your Shady Garden
Beautiful shade gardens are a bit trickier than sunny gardens simply because there’s a much wider variety of perennials that grow in full sun than perennials that grow in shade. It can be done, though, and I’m here to help you do it.
The Cottage Peach is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own.
Choosing the Best Flowering Perennial Plants for Your Shade Garden
Beautiful shade gardens are a bit trickier than sunny gardens simply because there’s a much wider variety of perennials that grow in full sun than perennials that grow in shade. It can be done, though, and I’m here to help you do it.
One way to make a garden is to fly by the seat of your pants – go to the garden center, pick what looks pretty to you, make sure they like the shade, then figure out where to put them when you get home. I did plenty of that myself in my early years of gardening, and still do sometimes. As I’ve become more experienced, though, I’ve come to appreciate the role of planning in garden design.
What is a Perennial Plant?
First, let’s talk about what a perennial plant is not. You know when you go to a garden center in the spring and there are plants already blooming with bright flowers and you’ve been starving for color all winter and you Must. Buy. Them. All? Those are annual plants, plants that will die in the fall of the year you put them in the ground. You get the instant satisfaction of pretty colors in your yard, but you’ll have to do it all over again the next spring, and the one after that.
Perennial plants may die back to the ground in fall or winter (some don’t), but their roots are still alive, and, year after year, each spring the plant will come back bigger, stronger, and with more blooms. These are the plants we use to build a garden that will become more lush and beautiful every year. Another great thing about perennials is that as they grow we can divide them, creating many plants from the one purchase.
How Do You Divide Perennial Plants?
As I explained in this post, most perennials are happy to be divided. There are two basic methods I use to I divide a perennial plant. The first is to use a sharp-edged shovel. Pressing straight down on the shovel with my foot, I can separate the roots belowground. It’s then easy to dig out only the section I want to move. The other way I divide a plant is to dig the whole thing up. Some plants’ roots will easily separate into pieces once they’re out of the ground. Others will need to be split with a shovel or gardening knife.
The benefits of making a plan for your garden
A little planning will ensure you choose plants that will thrive in your yard’s conditions. Maybe your shady area has one end that gets partial sun, you have a pile of rocks to plant around, or the area tends to be dry. Choosing the right plant for the right spot sets your plants up for success.
Planning your garden also allows time to think about what size each plant will grow to be, what its watering needs are, what types of foliage you’d like to see near each other, how much maintenance will be needed, and what color the flowers will be.
You can also take the time to learn which plants might have edible or medicinal uses, making your garden both beautiful and useful.
**Please note that many plants which are edible for humans may be toxic to cats and dogs.**
How Many plants Should you Buy?
It’s tempting to buy one of each of the perennial plants you like, and that can be a good way to experiment and learn how different plants grow. As far as garden design goes, though, it’s better to choose fewer varieties of plants and get more of each of the ones you choose.
Large swaths of the same plant have a bigger impact that a collection of different plants. They also make your garden look lush and intentional. Additionally, you might want to put the same variety of plants in different areas of the garden to provide balance.
Three is generally a magic number in design, and that holds true in the garden. If you can afford more than three, stick with an odd number for the most attractive outcome.
What Perennial Flowers for Shade Should you Buy?
As this is your very own garden, you should choose the plants you find most beautiful. While you’re looking, pay attention to what color flower each plant will produce. Maybe you want a garden where all the flowers are different shades of one color, or a garden with a certain palette of colors. Or maybe you want a riotous mix of every color you can find.
Pay attention also to the foliage of the plants. Perennials that grow in shade sometimes have flowers which do not bloom for as long or as strikingly as sun-loving perennials do. The good news is each plant has a unique foliage color and shape, and they can be combined in ways that look good even when the plants are not flowering.
When choosing what perennial plants to buy, there are a few other things to think about. It’s important to look up each plant’s growing zone. You can find your own growing zone with the USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Plants outside of your zone will not grow in your area. Because I live in Zone 6b, my favorites may not be appropriate if you live in a very cold or very warm climate.
Also find out each plant’s size, whether it can tolerate partial sun, and what its bloom time is. You probably don’t want to end up with a garden that only has flowers in June!
The Best Flowering Shade Perennials
Of course it’s not possible to determine what the ‘best’ plants are. You can research yourself to find what you think are the best perennials for your shady garden, and buy what you like. To save you a bit of work, though, I’ll tell you what some of my favorite shade perennials are.
Here’s a list of 10 flowering perennials that grow in the shade, along with some information that will help you decide if they are the right plants for you:
Is That Enough Plants for a Perennial Shade Garden?
I first want to acknowledge that plants are not cheap. Making a garden is not something that has to be done in one swoop. We can buy plants as we can afford them, and some years from now we’ll have the garden we imagined. And remember, gardening friends will be happy to give you splits of their plants, and some plants are easily grown by seed.
Whether the plants I listed are enough for your shade garden will, of course, will depend on the size of your garden area and the number of each variety you plant.
If you were to plant all ten of these perennials, you could enjoy white, yellow, pink, red, orange, peach, purple, and blue flowers. You’d have plants of many different sizes, and a wide variety of foliage shapes and colors. Between them all, you’d have at least one plant blooming from spring to fall. But remember, you may want to consider choosing fewer varieties and getting more of the ones you do choose.
Whatever plants you decide on, keep in mind that gardening isn’t about perfection. It’s about playing in the dirt, connecting to nature, and expressing your creativity. Whatever you think is beautiful, is beautiful!
Perennials for the Sun: A Guide to Choosing the Right Plants for Your Garden
In planning your garden, it’s fair play to go to your local nursery and grab whatever you like the look of. However, if you’re interested in garden design and the best shot at successful and happy plants, incorporating some strategy and thought in choosing your flowering perennial plants will go a long way.
The Cottage Peach is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own.
In planning your garden, it’s fair play to go to your local nursery and grab whatever you like the look of. However, if you’re interested in garden design and the best shot at successful and happy plants, incorporating some strategy and thought in choosing your flowering perennial plants will go a long way.
What is a Perennial Plant?
First, let’s talk about what a perennial plant is not. You know when you go to a garden center in the spring and there are plants already blooming with bright flowers and you’ve been starving for color all winter and you Must. Buy. Them. All? Those are annual plants, plants that will die in the fall of the year you put them in the ground. You get the instant satisfaction of pretty colors in your yard, but you’ll have to do it all over again the next spring, and the one after that.
Perennial plants may die back to the ground in fall or winter (some don’t), but their roots are still alive, and, year after year, each spring the plant will come back bigger, stronger, and with more blooms. These are the plants we use to build a garden that will become more lush and beautiful every year.
What are the Benefits of Perennial Plants?
Aside from lasting years, there are other benefits to planting perennials. Many perennial flowers will bloom all summer, and they are beneficial to birds and other creatures in our yards, as they create habitats and dependable sources of food.
While the upfront cost of the plant may be higher than for an annual plant, the lifetime cost will not be. This is true not only because we spread that cost over years, but because one perennial plant can easily be separated as it matures and become two, or ten, or twenty plants over time.
How Do You Divide Perennial Plants?
Most perennials are happy to be divided, and in fact, some must be divided in order to thrive. Talk of green thumbs can cause people to believe plants are delicate and complicated. The truth is, the vast majority are hardy and can take a bit more roughness than you might imagine.
There are two basic ways I divide a perennial plant. The first is to use a sharp-edged shovel. Pressing straight down on the shovel with my foot, I can separate the roots belowground. It’s then easy to dig out only the section I want to move. The other way I divide a plant is to dig the whole thing up. Some plants’ roots will easily separate into pieces once they’re out of the ground. Others will need to be split with a shovel, as above.
Bulbs are perennials which need to be dug up and separated. When the plant is scooped out of the ground, you will find that the bulb has multiplied, with smaller bulbs attached to it which are very easy to take off with your fingers and replant elsewhere.
Where Should I Plant My Perennials?
When making a garden, a good mantra is, “right plant, right place”. If we can find just the right plants for different spots in our yard, they will thrive with very little input from us.
In order to put the right plant in the right place, you need to become familiar with the land. Where does the sun shine all day? Where is it shady in the afternoon? Is there an area with dappled light? Does it feel much warmer near the wall of your house? When it rains, where do puddles form?
The land you live on is not all one climate. There are microclimates – pockets and hilltops, large empty areas, windbreaks, and spots near a building or fence. To learn more about this concept, I recommend the book Gaia’s Garden, by Toby Hemenway. It may take a couple of reads to really understand the many things that create different conditions in different areas of our property, but in the meantime, you’ll have the basic idea and can start planting. You’ll see what fails and what is happy, and over time you’ll learn more from your real life experience than you ever could from a book.
Once you’ve gotten to know the land, it’s time to research which plants will do best in the conditions of whatever areas you choose garden. There are plants that want only full sun and some that want full sun but will tolerate partial shade. There are plants that will only grow in full shade, drought-tolerant plants, and plants that like to keep their feet wet – they don’t want to live in a dry spot. You can find out the needs of each plant with a simple Google search.
You’ll also want to research how big the plants will get, keeping in mind the amount of space you have available to plant, and when they will bloom, so you don’t end up with everything blooming in June and there being no flowers in the garden for the rest of the season.
What Color Perennial Flowers Should I Choose?
You should choose whatever colors appeal to you. There are no rules! It can be good to pay attention to how many of each color you purchase, though, so you don’t end up with a garden that is all one color. (Unless that’s the look you’re going for – it can be gorgeous!)
How Many of Each Plant Should I Buy?
With so many perennials available, it can be tempting to buy just one of lots of different kinds. A lot of new gardeners start out that way, and it can be a good way to learn.
To make a cohesive garden, though, consider limiting the number of varieties you choose, and instead get more than one plant of those varieties. Large swaths of the same flower make a garden look intentional and full. It can also be a good idea to plant the same variety in different parts of the garden to provide balance. If you only have a few though, I recommend planting them near each other.
Three is generally a magic number in design, and that holds true in the garden. If you can afford more than three, stick with an odd number for the most attractive outcome.
What Full-Sun Perennials Should I Buy?
If you’re lucky enough to have some sunny spots in your garden, you’ll find many more options are available to you. There are plenty of shade perennials to make beautiful shade gardens (we’ll cover those next month), but your choices in a sunny spot are almost endless.
Below, I’ll save you a bit of trouble and list some of the best perennials to plant in the sun.
The first thing to check out is the plant’s growing zone. You can find out your growing zone with the USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Plants outside of your zone will not grow in your area. Because I live in Zone 6b, my favorites may not be appropriate if you live in a very cold or very warm climate.
Remember also to look at size, whether it can tolerate partial shade even though it does best in the sun, what colors the blooms are, and what the bloom time is.
12 Full-Sun Perennials for Your Garden
Here’s some of my favorite full-sun perennials. I’m also including some important information that will help you to determine if they are the right plants for you.
Do you have Enough Plants for a Full-Sun Perennial Garden?
I first want to acknowledge that buying plants can be an expensive endeavor. Making a garden is not something that has to be done in one swoop. We can buy plants as we can afford them, and some years from now we’ll have the garden we imagined. And remember, gardening friends will be happy to give you splits of their plants, and some plants are easily grown by seed.
If you were to purchase everything on this list, you would have purple, yellow, raspberry, pink, red, orange, and burgundy flowers. Between them all, they would provide at least one blooming plant from late spring to winter. But remember, you may want to consider choosing fewer varieties and getting more of the ones you do choose.
Whatever you choose, keep in mind that gardening isn’t about perfection. It’s about playing in the dirt, connecting to nature, and expressing your creativity. Whatever you think is beautiful, is beautiful.