Bookworm Cottage Style

I’ve never particularly cared for gardening and I tend to favor low-maintenance home improvement solutions. Much to my surprise, one of my favorite parts of home ownership has been cultivating a flower garden with beautiful blooms. It also doesn’t hurt that the Winchester Mahoney’s is one of the most enchanting nurseries I’ve ever been to.

Since the day we moved in, I’ve loved cutting off a few hydrangeas or lilacs from the yard to display in a vase. Now that we’ve had a little bit of time to see what does well and what we’d like more of, we’ve spent the past several months adding a number of new flowering plants. To keep things low-maintenance, we are focusing on perennials, or plants that are planted once and then live for many years, rather than annuals, which need to be replanted every year. We are also trying to cultivate a mix of both spring bloomers and summer bloomers.

Although it’s a bit of an investment up front, the hope is that a few years from now our garden will be thriving with a variety of lovely flowers for the entirety of the warmer months. As the plants expand and fill in more of the negative space in our yard, we hope that also means less weeding to deal with and less mulch needed for touchups.  

Without further ado, here are some of my favorite perennial flowers from our current garden, ordered from the earliest spring bloomers down to the latest summer bloomers.

Creeping Phlox (springtime)

When we first moved in, I had visions of a tulip border along our stone wall, until I realized that tulips are generally annuals in our zone and would require re-planting each fall. Boo! Then I considered daffodils, which are very low maintenance, except that I don’t care for the yellow/brown look of the leaves when the plant dies. A stroll through the neighborhood pointed me to a plant I had not considered… creeping phlox. There are lots of stone walls in our neighborhood with lush piles of creeping phlox spilling over the edges in springtime. When they’re not in bloom, they look mostly green and inoffensive enough (much better than dead daffodils, in my opinion). We planted a few along our own stone wall this spring and look forward to seeing them spread and mature. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos this spring, and I don’t quite remember peak bloom, but it seemed to be sometime in May. I already have a few other areas of the yard in mind where I want to plant more creeping phlox this spring.

Lilacs (mid-late May)

I love our lilac trees! Although the bloom window is short, they have the most incredible fragrance! We prune occasionally but have never bothered to water them. They’re very low maintenance in this area! 

Peonies (late-May to mid-June)

Before you get too impressed, this photo is from a neighbor’s yard — not ours! We planted one Jacorma peony (which will hopefully look similar to what you see above) and one Coral Charm peony this spring and hope to plant two more this fall (I’m eyeing a Jan van Leeuwen). Although it will take about 6 years or so to reach a mature size like our neighbor’s, we’re invested for the long-haul.

Creeping Thyme (mid-June to early-July)

We were trying to find an attractive ground cover to plant in a neglected patch near our garage. A neighbor suggested creeping thyme and we’re really happy with it so far. Like creeping phlox, it is supposed to expand and spread over the next couple of years. This photo was taken probably about 8 weeks after planting, so it’s still a young plant that has yet to really “creep” or spread.

Hydrangeas (mid-June to mid-August)

Our house already had a few established hydrangea plants, such as the one pictured on the left, when we moved in. This spring we added two Endless Summer Bloomstruck Hydrangeas (picture on the right) and hope to add one or two more this fall. They’re still young, but they seem to be doing pretty well so far! I also really like the white ones.

Black Eyed Susans (late-July to fall)

We planted a Black-Eyed Susan last fall and this summer around late-July it really sprung to life with dozens of blooms. Just look! We’re hoping to add another elsewhere in the yard since this plant was such a success. I’m not sure exactly how long the bloom window is (some sources say up until first frost) but here in September it’s still in peak bloom with new flower buds continuing to appear.

New-to-me plants that I’m hoping to introduce in the coming year:

• Coneflowers: I think these look so nice next to Black-Eyed Susans. We’ll probably wait until spring to introduce this one. I’m leaning towards the purple ones.
• Roses: My husband is daunted by the idea of roses as they seem like fussy plants, but I want to give it a try! We will also probably hold off until spring. The varieties I’m eyeing are the Rose David Austin Emily Bronte (soft peachy pink blooms), Rose David Austin Lady of Shalott (orange blooms), and Rose David Austin Princess Alexandria of Kent (large bright pink blooms). 

What other perennial flowers should we consider?