​Your Guide to Problem Solving Perennials

​Your Guide to Problem Solving Perennials

Posted by Bob Hedlund on May 28th 2021

Right here, right now, this is the most comprehensive list of problem-solving perennials for our area.

Deer Resistant Perennials

Anemone (Windflower)

Aquilegia (Columbine)

Arabis (Cress)

Aruncus (Goatsbeard)

Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly weed)

Artemisia (wormwood)

Astilbe

Aubrietia (False Rockcress)

Bergenia

Boltonia

Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass) or Karl Foerster

Campanula carpatica (Harebell)

Chelone (Turtlehead)

Convallaria (Lilly of the Valley)

Coreopsis (Tickseed)

Dianthus

Dicentra (Bleeding Heart)

Dictamnus (Gas Plant)

Digitalis (Foxglove)

Dryopteris (Wood Fern)

Echinacea (Coneflower)

Echinops (Globe Thistle)

Euphorbia (Cushion Spurge)

Eupatorium (Joe-Pye Weed)

Filipendula (Meadowsweet)

Festuca (Blue Fescue Grass)

Gaillardia (Blanket Flower)

Gypsophila (Baby’s Breath)

Helleborus (Lenten Rose)

Heuchera (Coral Bells)

Hypericum (St. John’s Wort)

Iberis sempervirens (Candytuft)

Iris

Lavender (Zone 5)

Liatris (Gayflower)

Lychnis (Rose Campion)

Mentha (Spearmint)

Miscanthus sinensis (Maiden Grass)

Monarda (Bee Balm)

Nephrolepis (Sword Fern)

Myrrhis odorata (Sweet Cicely)

Nepeta (Cat Mint)

Paeonia (Peony)

Papaver orientale (Oriental poppy)

Perovskia (Russian sage)

Physostegia virginiana (Obedient Plant)

Polemonium (Jacob’s Ladder)

Pulmonaria (Lungwort)

Pulsatilla vulgaris (Pasque flower)

Salvia

Stachys byzantine (Lamb’s ear)

Tanacetum (Tansy)

Trillium

Veronica (Speedwell)

Yucca

Deer Resistant Ground Covers

Ajuga (Bugleweed)

Asarum canadense (Wild Ginger)

Asperula oderata (Sweet Woodruff)

Convalaria (Lilly of the Valley)

Epimedium (Barrenwort)

Lamium (Dead Nettle)

Pachysandra (Japanese Spurge)

Sedum kamtschaticum (Yellow stone crop)

Vinca minor

Rabbit Resistant Perennials

Aconitum (Monkshood)

Achillea (Yarrow)

Aquilegia (Colombine)

Artemesia (Wormwood)

Astible (False Spirea)

Baptisa (False Indigo)

Campanula (Bellflower)

Cimicifuga actea (Bellflower)

Filipendula (Meadowsweet)

Geraninum (Cranesbill)

Hemerocallis (Daylily)

Iris (Bearded & Siberian)

Narcissus (Daffodils)

Nepta (Catmint)

Paeonia (Peony)

Salvia

Perennials for Under a Black Walnut Tree

Alcea rosea (Hollyhock)

Arisaema (Jack-in-the-pulpit)

Astible

Campanula (Bellflower)

Daylilies

Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman’s breeches)

Galium (Sweet Woodruff)

Geranium (Cranesbill)

Heuchera (Coral Bells)

Hosta

Monarda (Bee Balm)

Oenothera (Sundrops)

Cinnamon Fern

Phlox

Kentucky Bluegrass

Pulmonaria (Lungwort)

Raspberries, Blackberries

Sanguinaria (Bloodroot)

Sedum

Squash

Stachys (Lamb’s Ear)

Tradescantia (Spiderwort)

Perennials for Clay Soils

Aquilegia canadensis (Columbine)

Aster (New England aster)

Baptisia (Blue False Indigo)

Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass) or Karl Foerster

Echinacea (Purple Coneflower)

Eryngium (Rattlesnake Master)

Geranium maculatum (Wild Cranesbill)

Heliopsis (Oxeye)

Hemerocallis (Daylily)

Liatris (Gayfeather)

Monarda (Bee Balm)

Perovskia (Russian Sage)

Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan)

Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem)

Sedum (Stonecrop)

Acid Loving Perennials

Azaleas

Blueberry

Hosta

Hydrangea

Hemerocallis (Daylily)

Lupine

Raspberry

Rhododendron

Rhubarb

Tiarella

Tulips

Wild Ginger

Perennials for Alkaline Soils

Cotinus (Smokebush)

Syringa vulgaris (Lilac)

Achillea (Yarrow)

Astible

Clematis

Dianthus barbatus (Sweet William)

Echinacea (coneflower)

Hemerocallis (daylily)

Heuchera (coral bells)

Hosta

Lonicera (Honeysuckle)

Phlox (creeping & garden)

Salvia

Dry Soil: Shade or Under Trees

Ajuga (Bugleweed)

Alchemilla mollis (Lady’s Mantle)

Lady Fern

Aquilegia Canadensis (Columbine)

Aruncus (Goat’s Beard)

Asarum canadense (Wild Ginger)

Bergenia

Brunnera

Clematis

Convallaria (Lilly-of-the-Valley)

Dicentra eximia (fringed bleeding heart)

Digitalis (Foxglove)

Epimedium (Barrenwort)

Galium (Sweet Woodruff)

Lamium (dead nettle)

Solomon’s Seal

Vinca minor

Let your perennials work for you and get out and garden, even in those challenging locations.

Happy Planting!