The usual way to use perennials in the landscape is to plant them in beds or borders. Perennial beds are designed to be viewed from all directions and are usually planted in a circle,square, rectangle or some other geometric shape. Perennial borders are planted against a backdrop such as a wall, fence, or hedge.

Perennial garden design can be extremely easy or extremely challenging. An easy way to use perennials is to choose one or two species of widely grown perennials such as daylilies and plant different cultivars that bloom at different times. By doing this, all of the plants will not be in bloom at the same time. You could use irises in the same way for spring to summer color, chrysanthemums for late summer to fall color, or all-Hostas in a shady area with different foliage patterns.

You could also design a perennial garden bed or border that blooms in a specific season. A spring planting using perennials that bloom from early to late spring, a summer planting, or a fall planting can be placed in the landscape where you spend time outdoors during those seasons. Another easy idea for perennial garden design is to use only one or two colors. Choose perennials with flower colors that are differnt shades of the selected color(s). For example, a white garden using flowers colored white to cream and including gray or silver foliage.

The most challenging perennial garden design is a bed or border planted with only perennials. You must choose a wide variety of perennial species in order to have a something blooming from spring through fall. To be successful, the designer of this kind of perennial garden must know the bloom time, period of bloom, flower color, plant size, and foliage characteristics of the chosen perennials. A garden using perennials with color through the whole growing season requires careful planning. I am still trying to perfect this type of perennial garden design.