13 Spring Perennials to Plant in Your Garden

Perennials are flowers that will come back, blooming season after season. (This is in contrast to annuals that offer only one season of blooms.) As a result, you typically will not need to replant perennial plants after the growing season ends. Many herbs and flowers—from tulips to sage—are perennials.

The longer lifespan of perennials makes these plants easier on the home gardener. As long as you adhere to your perennials’ needs in regard to hardiness zones, watering, and sunlight exposure, you can have a successful garden of perennial flowers year after year with varied bloom times.

Certain perennials grow best under spring conditions. With the right climate and environment, spring perennials will keep your garden lush and blooming every year. Here are some of the best perennials to grow in the spring.

1. 1. Peonies: Peonies (Paeonia) are large, fluffy flowers with many petals. These voluminous and highly fragrant blooms appear as red, pink, coral, white, or yellow flowers. Like other perennials, peonies grow back in spring year after year, and some peony plants can live up to 50 years. You can grow peonies as bushes, trees, or a hybrid of the two.
2. 2. Geraniums: Geranium is a genus consisting of over 400 species of flowering plants known as geraniums or cranesbills. Geraniums are low-maintenance, spring-blooming perennials that sprout symmetrical pink, red, or white flowers. You can plant geraniums as bedding plants in your garden or flower bed, or will do well planted inside.
3. 3. Tulips: Tulips are perennial flowers in the lily family that you can grow from bulbs. The bulbs produce large, dazzling, cup-shaped flowers in a range of vibrant colors. Although tulips are technically perennials, many varieties struggle to produce flowers after their first spring. As a result, gardeners typically grow them as annuals and plant new bulbs the following year.
4. 4. Daffodils: Vibrant and hardy daffodils are a great option for spring gardens or as cut flowers. These colorful flowers are perennial in USDA hardiness zones three through eight. This wonderful spring bulb blooms early in the season, making them a wonderful choice to add some early color to your flower bed.
5. 5. Pansies: Pansies include about 500 different flower species in the family Violaceae of the genus Viola, with species such as garden pansies and field pansies. These early spring flowers do best in cooler weather, and are most hardy in USDA zones six through ten.
   
6. 6. Hyacinths: Like tulips and daffodils, hyacinths are a spring-flowering bulb that you can plant before the first fall frost in your region. Most hyacinths are early blooming perennials that arrive first in the spring, but will come back year after year with the right care.
7. 7. Hydrangeas: Also commonly called hortensia, hydrangeas make up a genus of more than seventy-five species of flowering shrubs. They grow widely in the American Southeast, but these plants are native to both Asia and North America. They can be either deciduous or evergreen and grow as climbing vines, trees, or shrubs. Some hydrangeas will bloom in the late summer or fall, but many species of hydrangea (such as bigleaf or oakleaf) are spring bloomers.
8. 8. Creeping phlox: Also known as moss phlox or moss pink phlox, Phlox subulata is a low-growing phlox with thick colorful blooms often used as ground cover. Creeping phlox prefers full sun exposure and well-drained soil, and often blooms in the late spring or early summer.
9. 9. Hostas: Hostas, sometimes called plantain lilies, are deer-resistant plants that thrive in full shade (especially green, blue, and variegated types)—though some yellow types need dappled or partial shade. Most hosta plants sprout purple flowers of one variety or another—pink, lilac, and lavender flowers are all common. These fragrant flowers complement the waxy leaves and vibrant leaf colors typical of hosta cultivars.
10. 10. Bleeding heart: Bleeding hearts are herbaceous perennial plants (Dicentra spectabilis or Lamprocapnos spectabilis) featuring arching stems, blue-green foliage, and heart-shaped flowers. Bleeding hearts have a short bloom time and a resilient dormancy period.
11. 11. Oregano: This spring perennial is a fragrant culinary and medicinal herb used for thousands of years. Oregano is part of the mint family (Lamiaceae) and has an earthy flavor that makes it a great addition to a wide variety of dishes, from light salads to hefty Italian sauces.
12. 12. Virginia bluebells: Mertensia virginica, also known as Virginia bluebells, are wildflowers that love the shade and provide a fragrant pollination hub for bees. Virginia bluebells are early spring bloomers native to eastern North America. They sprout pink flower buds that give way to bell-shaped, sky blue flowers.
13. 13. Sage: Sage is a low-maintenance, hardy perennial herb known for its fuzzy leaves and intense herbal aroma. There are many varieties of sage, but common sage—aka garden sage, broadleaf sage, or culinary sage (botanical name: Salvia officinalis)—is the variety you’ll likely want to plant in your herb garden. Sage will bloom just in time to catch the end of late spring and stretch into early summer.

When you provide spring perennials with the right environment, they continue to bloom in your garden year after year. Follow these basic care tips for your perennial garden to see your flowers and herbs thrive.

1. 1. Cut back your perennials. You will typically cut perennials back about once a year to about one to three inches from the ground. When you cut the plant back depends on the type of perennials you’re growing. For instance, you should prune peonies and hostas in the fall or early winter, whereas mums, coneflowers (also known as echinacea), and Russian sage prefer spring pruning.
2. 2. Deadhead your plants. Deadheading involves removing spent flowers from your mature plants to encourage hardy new growth. In most cases, you can deadhead flowers with a pair of garden pruners. You’ll promote the development of new flower buds if you trim away dead flower heads all throughout the blooming season.
3. 3. Divide your roots. You can dig up and divide many different perennial plants after they flower. Plant division is a method of producing new plants by removing a portion of a parent plant that has its own roots, and replanting the new section to grow elsewhere. Dividing plants can reduce overcrowding and prevent your plants from competing for resources in your garden.
4. 4. Remove mulch. If you’ve mulched your frost-tender perennials during the winter, make sure to remove that layer from the soil at the start of spring to avoid suffocating your plant roots. Mulch can make the soil too warm as the weather warms up outside, which may lead to premature root rot or other soil problems.
5. 5. Fertilize. Some perennials will need fertilization once or twice a year. The most common time to add an organic, slow-release fertilizer to your soil is when new growth emerges or around the early fall.

Grow your own garden with Ron Finley, the self-described "Gangster Gardener." Get the MasterClass Annual Membership and learn how to cultivate fresh herbs and vegetables, keep your house plants alive, and use compost to make your community—and the world—a better place.