by Jennifer Poindexter
Let’s be realistic. If you live in a colder climate, you probably don’t want to dig around outside, in the cold to add a little color to your yard. But by planting perennials, you can avoid the whole planting process! Plant cold-tolerant perennial flowers once, and they’ll return year after year.
If you’d like for your yard to brighten up, even while the temperatures are still cold, consider the following flowers as a nice addition for your landscape:
1. Siberian Iris
This plant is actually native to Turkey and Russia. This should let you know upfront, it was bred to survive cold weather.
If you live where the temperatures dip into the negatives, this could be a good choice for you. The plant will bloom in the spring and produce vibrant purple, white, yellow, or blue flowers. What a welcome change after a long dreary winter!
2. Yarrow
I love bright yellow flowers in the spring. After seeing many dull colors over the winter, it’s nice to see perky yellow blooms shining in the spring weather.
If you feel the same, yarrow could be a great pick. This plant needs full sun and well-draining soil. It’s drought-tolerant and can even grow in poor soil. What do you get from this fuss-free flower? Gorgeous yellow blooms, of course.
3. New England Aster
These gorgeous flowers are a wonderful pick-me-up in cold climates. This plant produces purple and pink blooms, but it produces in the fall.
As other plants are starting to die off, the New England aster gives a gorgeous display of color. They also attract monarch butterflies to the area. What a great way to head into winter.
4. Lily of the Valley
Lily of the valley is an amazing flower. It produces a delicious scent, grows well in shade, and produces stunning pink and white blooms.
This plant will spread out and is commonly used as a ground cover. It will even grow in heavily wooded areas. If you have a tough spot where nothing will seem to grow, give this plant a try.
5. Sedum
There are a few different varieties of sedum. They can either spread out or grow taller making them a great choice as a centerpiece or backdrop in your landscape.
Either way, these flowers can handle both cold and heat. They’re also drought tolerant. If you’re looking for a low-maintenance plant, this could be what you need.
6. Coral Bells
Coral bells are a gorgeous flower variety. They grow best in the shade, will return with each passing year, and can handle cooler weather.
This plant will begin blooming in late spring and early summer. It produces white bell-shaped blooms. The foliage of this plant is what is most interesting because it comes in purple, orange, red, or yellow.
7. Peony
Do you live where the winters become really cold? Is it difficult to keep perennials alive in such a climate? You should check into peonies.
They’re known for surviving harsh winters, and when they bloom, they produce a variety of bright colors. All they need is full to partial sun and well-draining, consistently moist soil.
8. Heliopsis
This flower is also known as the false sunflower because of the close resemblance. As you’d expect, this plant produces yellow blooms during the summer months.
Like sunflowers, heliopsis needs full sun. Without it, the vibrant yellow blooms will flop over, and this detracts from their gorgeous display.
9. Hosta
The Hosta plant is one of the most forgiving, easy-to-grow plants I’ve ever come across. Cold and shade doesn’t bother them. Plus, they offer such variety.
You can grow a Hosta plant in any number of colors and sizes. They even come with different shaped foliage. The only need a Hosta has is well-draining soil. If you have an area that has a hard time producing anything, give this cold-hardy perennial a try.
10. Bee Balm
You might have guessed by the name that pollinators love this plant. Bee balm produces a beautiful fragrance and has a unique bloom. The spikey flowers resemble an underwater plant.
The only thing to keep in mind is this plant is related to the mint family. For this reason, it can and will spread easily. Keep this in mind to avoid bee balm from taking over a grow area.
11. Coneflower
Coneflowers say it all in the name. They have a cone-shaped flower with a prominent center. The pedals are droopy and cause the center to stick out even more.
This plant will bloom in the summer and fall. They come in a variety of colors and are drought tolerant. The important thing is to make sure you buy actual coneflowers and not a hybrid. The hybrids aren’t cold-tolerant.
12. Baptisia
This plant is a perennial, but it’s especially noted for the longevity of its life span. It can handle extremely high temperatures and sub-zero temperatures, too.
The only drawback to this plant is that it grows slowly. Otherwise, it will produce long green stems that are filled with vibrant blooms. The flowers come in yellow, purple, white, and blue. What a gorgeous display of colors this plant could bring to your garden.
13. Wild Columbine
Wild columbine flowers almost resemble a wildflower, in my opinion. The plant produces limp, skinny stems that aren’t much thicker than grass.
At the end of the stem, a floppy flower is produced with uniquely shaped pedals. The flowers are pink and yellow. Wild columbine needs partial shade and will reseed easily to form clumps of the flowers in your grow space.
14. Lady’s Mantle
Out of all the cold-hardy perennial flowers we’ve discussed here, this one is probably the least exhilarating. Lady’s mantle makes a great ground cover or filler for flower baskets.
However, the colors probably aren’t going to knock your socks off. It will spread slowly and if you provide adequate grow conditions, it will re-seed on its own. If you need something to fill gaps between some other flowers mentioned on this list, lady’s mantle might be able to help.
15. Bugleweed
Are you looking for a cold-hardy perennial ground cover that will knock your socks off? You may have just found it in the magnificent display of colors of bugleweed.
Bugleweed is an evergreen plant that produces best in shaded grow spaces. When it blooms, it produces vivid purple flowers to light up a darker garden area.
16. Catmint
Do you grow lavender in your garden? Do you love the way it looks and only wished it would last longer throughout the year? Check out catmint. This flower looks remarkably similar to lavender. However, it’s known for being more durable.
It needs full to partial sun and well-draining soil. The plant will bloom in both spring and summer. It will probably be one of the first things to blossom on your property because it begins blooming as soon as it wakes from dormancy.
17. Hollyhock
Do you have a fence line that needs to be fancied up a bit? Hollyhock could be a great choice for a cold-hardy perennial flower.
Hollyhock grows to be taller than other average flowers, making it a great backdrop in your garden. Due to its long stems, you may need to stake it up. If you provide adequate care, the vibrant pink blooms of hollyhock will certainly brighten your garden with ease.
Hopefully, these suggestions will help you find a way to brighten your landscape even when the temperatures are cold.
No matter your location, with a proper blooming schedule, you can have vibrant colors bursting from your garden all year long. These perennial flowers can make the job even easier.
More About Cold Tolerant Perennial Flowers
https://web.extension.illinois.edu/perennials/directory.cfm
https://extension.psu.edu/care-and-maintenance-of-perennials
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/yard-and-garden-different-types-perennials
Thank you, so much, for sharing these lovely perennials as examples of cold tolerant flowers! I feel inspired and will look forward to seeing many of them, in my yard, in the future!