Spring has arrived in my little corner of the world, and it’s my absolute favorite season. The air is still fresh and cool, the birds are singing their little hearts out, and the rejuvenating rains are waking up much life in the garden.
Every stroll I take around my yard brings with it new tidings of joy – hosta spears poking up through the mulch, rhododendron and serviceberry just days away from full bloom, and the always delightful surprise of discovering forgotten plantings.
Our perennials are usually the first to arise after their winter slumber. Like the true stalwarts of the garden, they bring a sense of permanence and repetition. We can depend on them to return year after year, and they become an indelible part of our seasonal rhythms.
Perennials are reliable returners, growing their ranks each year by producing offsets and seedlings.
Though individual plants won’t live forever, the perennial habit is to always have several generations of new plants scattered about. So when the time comes for the parent plant to disappear, there is rarely a barren patch left behind in your garden.
Compared to annuals, herbaceous perennials have an extended lifespan. But for how long can we count on them to reappear?
‘Lasting the Year Through’
From the Latin perennis – which means ‘lasting the year through’ – perennials are broadly defined as plants with a lifespan that extends past their first growing season.
Annuals complete their life cycle within one year, from seed to flower to seed, before dying back completely.
To be a perennial, on the other hand, a plant must have at least one meristem, an indeterminate type of plant tissue that gives rise to new organs and tissues beyond the one-year mark.
Some herbaceous perennials return for only three years before they fade away, while others can endure for a hundred years or more.
Short-Lived Perennials Live Just 3 to 5 Years
Returning for a few years, short-lived perennials have a fast and intense life strategy. These kinds of perennials prioritize rapid growth and seed production, but it comes at the cost of longevity.
Some common short-lived perennials:
- Columbine (Aquilegia)
- Delphinium (Delphinium)
- Dianthus (Dianthus)
- Blanket Flower (Gaillardia)
- Coral Bells (Heuchera)
- Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum)
- Perennial Flax (Linum perenne)
- Lupine (Lupinus)
- Iceland Poppy (Papaver nudicaule)
Growing and colonizing areas quickly, short-lived perennials are excellent for filling in the bare spots of your garden posthaste.
They thrive for anywhere between 3 to 5 (and sometimes up to 10) years, but will eventually decline, flowering and pushing out new growth less and less, then fading away. As they allocate their resources toward reproduction, little is left for defensive mechanisms. This trade-off makes them more prone to drought and disease, further shortening their lifespans.
Even though their time here is limited, short-lived perennials make the best of it by re-seeding themselves every growing season. So although the parent plant will die back one day, its progeny will sprout up around them as a natural form of succession planning. Once a short-lived perennial is established, many descendants will be brought to bear in the years ahead.
Long-Lived Perennials Return for 10 to 100+ Years
Long-lived perennials have the exact opposite life strategy: slow and steady. Rather than allocating resources toward quick growth and seeds, these perennials invest in long-term survival and maintenance and have an extended juvenile-to-maturity transition.
The mechanisms behind their remarkably long lifespan allow them to survive drought, diseases, extreme temperatures, and other unfavorable growing conditions. Instead of pre-determined growth, they respond to environmental cues which greatly influence their growth patterns.
Some long-lived perennials conserve energy with periods of dormancy. Many have underground organs, like rhizomes or tubers, to store water, nutrients, and carbohydrates to draw from the following season.
They expend energy more efficiently and keep some in reserve so they can survive when harsh conditions arise.
Long-lived perennials grow at a slower pace than annuals or short-lived perennials but they more than make up for it with staying power. Though these types of perennials reproduce through self-seeding, they are most reliable as vegetative spreaders. Year after year, new shoots arise from the underground storage organs around the parent plant. Slowly but surely, long-lived perennials will fill out and expand more and more as the years go on.
Why You Should Add More Long-Lived Perennials to Your Garden:
Low Maintenance. Once established, long-lived perennials are very hardy plants. Due to their robust internal defense systems, they are more resistant to drought, disease, and pests. Since they are uniquely adapted to survive in the face of adversity, these perennials require less watering, fertilizing, and pest management from us—and that’s always a good thing.
Cost-Effective. Although the cost of long-lived perennials is often more than annuals up front, you won’t need to purchase new plants every season. Planting these enduring perennials is a wise long-term investment in your garden design.
Soil Health. Since they reside in the same spot for decades, long-lived perennials improve soil health over time. They develop deep root systems that anchor the soil in place, reducing erosion and improving soil structure and moisture retention. Over the years, organic matter in the form of leaves, branches, and spent flowers accumulate in the soil around plants. This builds fertility and provides a food source for beneficial microbes to grow and reproduce.
Long-Term Beauty. Long-lived perennials only get better with age, and planting them will establish the character of your garden for years to come. With good planning, your perennials will provide a steady and predictable succession of blooms from spring to fall.
Stable Habitat for Wildlife. Since they are so long for this world, these plants are a stable and consistent habitat for wildlife. Long-lived perennials serve as food and shelter for birds, butterflies, bees, and gads of beneficial insects. The lasting presence in the ornamental landscape supports a healthy and diverse ecosystem, season after season.
9 Long-Lived Perennials to Grow for Decades
Long-lived perennials are the very definition of the old saying, ‘Sleep, creep, then leap!’
In the first year of planting, they seem to sleep with very little growth aboveground. But below the surface, they are busy at work developing a strong root system.
In their second season, they creep out by placing more energy into height and width. You’ll see more branching and foliage and, if you’re lucky, a few flowers.
By the third time around, long-lived perennials are ready to leap an
