Alphabetical Plant Listing

Great Perennials for Gardeners in the Northern and Central Midwest Region

Regional Gardening, Best Perennials, Midwest Gardening


Perennial flowers are fabulous additions to our gardens. When carefully selected, waves after waves of colorful blooms will be enjoyed in your midwestern garden from spring to fall. Reliable plants, they come back stronger and bigger when winter turns to spring, ready to start another spectacular show.

Selecting the right perennial plant might be challenging for Midwestern gardeners. If you are looking for beautiful, low-maintenance, and hardy perennial plants that will sail through the challenges of the seasons in the Midwest region, you may want to consider these top-performing perennial varieties which all won the GreatPlants award, which is a joint effort between the Nebraska Nursery, Landscape Association, and the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. The GreatPlants award's goal is to identify superior ornamental landscape plants that meet the challenging growing conditions of the region. Each year, this program selects new plant winners in 4 categories: perennials, shrubs, ornamental grasses, and trees.

Below is the list of the prestigious perennial winners. As you will note, some of them have also received the prestigious Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society!

Guide Information

Hardiness 3 - 6
Heat Zones 1 - 8
Plant Type Perennials
Exposure Full Sun, Partial Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Mid,Late)
Summer (Early,Mid,Late)
Fall
Winter
Water Needs Low, Average
Maintenance Low, Average
Soil Type Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Characteristics Cut Flowers, Fragrant, Plant of Merit, Showy
Tolerance Clay Soil, Deer, Drought, Rabbit, Dry Soil, Salt, Wet Soil
Attracts Birds, Butterflies, Hummingbirds
Landscaping Ideas Banks and Slopes, Beds and Borders, Edging, Ponds and Streams
Midwest Plant Combination Ideas Midwest Guides

copit / 123RF Stock Photo

While every effort has been made to describe these plants accurately, please keep in mind that height, bloom time, and color may differ in various climates. The description of these plants has been written based on numerous outside resources.

Guide Information

Hardiness 3 - 6
Heat Zones 1 - 8
Plant Type Perennials
Exposure Full Sun, Partial Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Mid,Late)
Summer (Early,Mid,Late)
Fall
Winter
Water Needs Low, Average
Maintenance Low, Average
Soil Type Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Characteristics Cut Flowers, Fragrant, Plant of Merit, Showy
Tolerance Clay Soil, Deer, Drought, Rabbit, Dry Soil, Salt, Wet Soil
Attracts Birds, Butterflies, Hummingbirds
Landscaping Ideas Banks and Slopes, Beds and Borders, Edging, Ponds and Streams
Midwest Plant Combination Ideas Midwest Guides

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