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!