Garden Goals: Low-Maintenance Native Perennials That Steal the Show
If your dream for the garden includes enjoying color and texture with less time weeding, this season is packed with powerhouse perennials that are native, gorgeous, and low-maintenance.
Here are a few of our favorite colorful, low-maintenance native perennials to look our for this season as spring stretches into summer.
Amsonia – Bluestar
Amsonia is a genus known for airy blue flowers in spring, low-maintenance foliage that persists all season and turns a brilliant golden fall color. Plants are tough, drought-tolerant once established, and deer usually avoid them due to their sap.
Amsonia hubrichtii – With its thread-like foliage and soft texture, this species turns into a glowing golden cloud in fall. The foliage has a beautiful texture that compliments grasses, asters, and goldenrods in the late season landscape.
Amsonia tabernaemontana 'Grande' – My favorite Amsonia. This variety has bigger blooms that last for weeks in spring. The bold foliage lasts all season and the broad leaves look awesome next to perennials in bloom.
Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red' – Eastern Beardtongue
With deep burgundy foliage and tall spires of white flowers, ‘Husker Red’ adds a dramatic flair to borders and pollinator beds. It's a magnet for bees and the flowers shimmer in the spring garden. The foliage is semi-evergreen and maintains interest throughout the winter.
Baptisia australis – Blue False Indigo
This native perennial is a true low-maintenance legend. Once it’s in the ground, it takes off—with tall spires of indigo-blue flowers in spring and a shrub-like presence the rest of the year. The beautiful mint-green foliage stays throughout the season as the flowers turn into seed pods that provide a nice accent in the garden.
Sisyrinchium angustifolium - Blue-eyed Grass
Despite the name, blue-eyed grass isn’t a grass at all. This tiny iris cousin forms tidy clumps of narrow foliage with petite starry blue flowers that pop in spring and early summer. It’s perfect for edging paths, tucking into sunny rock gardens, or naturalizing in open spaces. Low-maintenance and high charm, this is a great perennials to add in a variety of landscape settings.
These native perennials aren’t just easy to grow, but look great in the Main Line landscape in May and support local ecosystems.
Whether you're refreshing a bed or building a pollinator paradise, these all-star natives deserve a spot in the landscape this season.
