With so many choices of hardy perennials, deciding what to plant can be overwhelming. Browsing online on the hundreds of individual perennial varieties may get you nowhere or result in a mishmash of cool perennials that don’t work well together. To save time and money, buying a pre-planted perennial garden collection or kit is the best way to have perennial flowers for several months. These pre-selected perennial garden collections group perennials with similar features or characteristics. It will help to reduce the time spent researching what to plant based on your specific needs.
Planting this spring using a perennial garden collection can help achieve flowers all summer, a garden that attracts pollinators, or even deer-resistant perennials in your garden. These are my Top Ten Complete Perennial Garden Collections to plant this spring for blooms in summer.
Top Ten Complete Perennial Gardens for Spring Planting
Best Deer Resistant Perennial Garden Kit
If deer, rabbits, squirrels, and other pesky critters think your garden is their buffet, these two deer-resistant perennial gardens are the perfect solution.
1.) Deer Resistant Sun Garden
Deer Resistant Sun Garden
This perennial garden consists of four popular deer-resistant perennials. These easy-to-grow perennials thrive in the sun, and deer stay away.
Blooming in early and mid-summer, each perennial will bloom for a week or more. May Night Salvia and Butterfly Weed bloom in early summer and off and on throughout the summer. Black Eyed Susan and Purple Coneflower bloom starting in mid-summer and last into the later days of summer.
2.) Deer Resistant Shade Garden
Deer Resistant Shade Garden
For gardens with full to part shade and hungry deer, you may wonder what to plant for color in summer. The Deer Resistant Shade Garden has color from spring through summer. Plus, all four perennials in the collection—deer, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters—don’t typically eat. The Bleeding Hearts bloom in late spring and thrive in part to full shade. Alexanders Great Brunnera blooms in mid-spring but has frosty silver foliage that stands out in the garden all season. In mid-summer, white lacey blooms from the Bridal Veil Astilbe appear and add a unique texture. Finally, in late summer, the Blue Wonder Toad Lily blooms with intricately speckled blue and white flowers.
Best Perennial Garden For Long Bloom Times
Having flowers all summer is a common goal among people planting flower gardens. The best way to have blooms all season with perennials is to plant perennials with varying bloom times. The three perennial garden collections below offer a variety of perennials for blooms throughout spring and summer.
3.) Sunny Blooms Spring through Summer
Sunny Blooms Spring Through Summer
This garden is best for a full-sun location that receives at least 6-8+ hours of full direct sun daily. Expect blooms from late spring through summer from this garden collection, including 6 different perennials.
In late spring, the Turkenlouis Poppy blooms with brilliant orange flowers. Flowers from Ceasar’s Brother Siberian Iris and Splish Splash Cranesbill appear next in early summer. Both are considered to have shades of true blue in the petals.
When mid-summer arrives, the Blueberry Sundae Daylily and Millenium Allium bloom. Once the Millenium Allium starts blooming, the flowers last for several weeks. The finale of this garden is the Flore Pleno Double Tiger Lilies blooming with speckled orange flowers in late summer.
4.) Midsummer Perennial Garden
Perennial Garden for Midsummer Blooms
Midsummer can be an easily forgotten time in the flower garden. It seems like it should be the peak of blooms; however, it can be overshadowed by the spring and early summer showing. To ensure blooms during July and August, this Midsummer Perennial Garden is your best bet. It includes several sun-loving perennials, many of which are also deer-resistant and attract pollinators. Perennials included in this garden are: Black Eyed Susan, Purple Coneflower, Globethistle, Swamp Milkweed, Cupid Culver’s Root, and Stella D’Oro Daylilies.
5.) Part Sun Perennial Garden
Part Sun Perennial Garden Collection
This garden is for those spots that get some sun but not a full day’s worth. Often these may be eastward-facing locations in the garden. Northeastern locations in the garden also get some morning sun, but by afternoon tend to be fairly shaded. Gardens that have trees with smaller leaves that provide filtered or dappled shade are also considered part-sun gardens.
Most landscape settings have areas of part sun, which makes the Part Sun Perennial Garden a popular choice. What’s even better about this perennial garden is the four perennials bloom at different times of the year. Black Barlow Columbine blooms in late spring and thrives in part-sun settings.
Astilbe is one of the best flowers for shaded settings, which include part sun to part shade locations. The Sprite Pink and Visions Astible both begin their blooms in early summer. Visions Astilbe will continue blooming into mid-summer. The last to bloom is the Honorine Jobert Anemone, with cheery white blooms in late summer.
Best Perennial Garden for Pollinators and Cut Flowers
Attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to the summer garden is one of the best reasons to plant flowers. Bringing flowers from your garden into bouquets and vases is the second-best reason to plant flowers. Often there is an overlap, and many flowers that attract pollinators are also excellent as cut flowers.
6.) Perennial Butterfly Garden Collection
Perennial Butterfly Garden Collection
This perennial garden includes perennials that bloom from spring through summer, and all of them attract butterflies. The mixed columbine, butterfly weed, and white swirl Siberian iris bloom early in the season. Typically, these three perennials will bloom in late May to mid-June. The Butterfly Weed is a superstar as it is a host plant for the monarch butterfly and continues to bloom all summer.
Through mid-summer and even into late summer, the rest of the perennials in this garden will bloom. These are some of the best perennial flowers for attracting butterflies. The Magnus Purple Coneflower, Fireball Bee Balm, Liatris, and Goldquell Rudbeckia all bloom from July through August.
7.) Perennial Cut Flower Garden
Perennial Cutflower Garden
More than half of the perennials in this garden collection attract butterflies. All of the perennials in this garden are great for use as cut flowers in vases and bouquets. This dual-purpose garden includes peonies, Siberian Iris, Stargazer Lilies, Liatris, Bee Balm, Coneflower, Globethistle, Phlox, and Black Eyed Susan. When growing the Perennial Cut Flower Flower Garden, expect long bloom times, pollinators, and vases filled with flowers.
8.) Pollinator Pleaser Perennial Garden
Pollinator Pleaser Perennial Garden
I love the smaller size of this garden and using it to introduce perennials that attract pollinators to your garden. If the Perennial Butterfly Garden Collection is a bit overwhelming for your garden, this one is sure to please. It includes four of the BEST perennials for attracting pollinators. All four perennials in the garden bloom in summer and thrive in full sun. Included in the Pollinator Pleaser Perennial Garden are Cupid’s Culver’s Root, Butterfly Weed, Liatris, and Breeder’s Mix Hardy Geranium.
Perennial Gardens for Collectors
You really can collect anything. From baseball cards to stuffed animals to yes, even plants. The world of collecting plants is huge! Maybe you find a perennial you love, and you just need to add more and more and more to the garden. This is common among perennials like hosta, lilies, and daylilies. If you are just beginning to collect perennials, these two gardens are a good place to start.
9.) Hosta Collectors Garden
Hosta Collector Garden
With over 3,000 different cultivars and varieties of hosta, where does someone even begin with their collection? Here, start with this Hosta Collectors Garden. It contains six different hostas, all with varying foliage and characteristics. Even seasoned hosta collectors will love to add any of the six hostas to their garden. These aren’t your standard green hosta; many have shades of blue, yellow, and even white. Even if you have no intention of collecting hostas, this collection is perfect for adding color and texture to the shade garden.
10.) Jumbo Fragrant Lily Collection
Jumbo Fragrant Lily Collection
Everyone seems to just adore Oriental lilies. How can you not? They have large, showy flowers that are intoxicatingly fragrant. Over 50 Oriental Lily bulbs are included in this perennial garden. They all bloom in mid-summer and grow about 3-4′ tall. Shades of pink, white, and red blooms are included for a colorful and sweet display of these showy and popular fragrant perennials.
Perennial Garden Ideas
Planning a perennial garden takes time and effort. There are so many choices of what to plant, it can be overwhelming. These ten perennial garden options above provide solutions for sun, shade, deterring deer, attracting pollinators, and even blooms in vases. Hopefully at least one of the gardens above can inspire ideas of what perennials to plant for a summer full of blooms!
