The garden has an ebb and flow. May comes on like a beautiful tsunami of color. But then it doesn’t rain quite enough. Or it rains too much, and there’s a fungal problem over in this corner of the garden. Wait a minute—this is not what I signed on for!
I will never have a garden without ‘Festiva Maxima’ peonies. Their heady fragrance is something that brings me such joy. But doesn’t it always pour when they reach their most glorious? Then they’re not so glorious. Ephemeral blooms build anticipation and punctuate the seasons, but then they’re gone.
This is all to say that we need sturdy, stalwart plants that keep us coming back to linger in the garden, and that hold their own while we’re fussing with things like delphiniums. Here are some of my favorite, faithful perennials for extended interest:
HOARY SKULLCAP
For a lesser-known bluish, or hoary skullcap, a member of the mint family. It is a low-maintenance, generous bloomer, with lavender-blue infloresences lasting from mid- to late summer and sometimes later. These flowers make it very attractive to bees. It’s not so appealing to deer. It grows in sun to part shade; in fact it can take the place of a salvia in less than full sun.
