FIVE FABULOUS PERENNIALS YOU CAN’T KILL

I am a very beginner gardener which for most of my life means that I enjoyed picking the fruits and vegetables from my Grandmas garden and eating them.  I always appreciated the end results but thought it took too much time as I watched everyone slave over these plants.  The weeding, dead heading, pruning, and just hauling all the left over dried stuff was a lot of energy.

Cue years later, we have the whole 3 kids and house in the suburbs.  While we wanted a yard for the kids to play in, it also came with a 4′ deep retaining wall the entire width of the yard.  We inherited tons and tons of waist high weeds.  After living in the house for 5 years I can testify that planting ANYTHING will remove one section of garden that you do not have to weed.

I see spending hours walking the rows of the garden center as something I choose to avoid, so buying plants that need to be replaced every year was a waste of time and money.  I went straight for the perenials and asked specificially for the hardy, drought resistant kind.

Full Sun or Shade – does it matter?

My weird and wonderful “garden” aka weed factory is strange because the yard gets full sun, but because of the extra tall fence on the back most of the “garden” is in the shade.  Yet, plants that like full sun do well there.  SO, these Five Fabulous Perennials You Can’t Kill are tried and true.  You cannot kill them.  Sun or shade, ignore them for a few weeks then let your toddlers drown them in their excitement for watering.  They will be just fine.

The Five Fabulous Perennials You Can’t Kill:

Hosta – These are tough plants that can survive almost anything.  You can plant them in most types of soil and can survive in partial shade, shade or sun.

Lambs Ear – also known as Stachys byzantina.  This is a plant that I split from my moms house.  She had it planted in the shade and it looked like soft green leaves – they didn’t grow all that tall but they did spread.  In my backyard they grow like weeds and bloom tall flowers easily.  Either way, its a great hardy plant.  Just know that it can look different depending on where its planted.

Hens and Chicks – a great succulent that starts with one main plant – the hen, then branches off into smaller plants – the chicks.  They look stunning and grow well.  Will provide a ground cover and likes full sun.

Bearded Iris – Easy to grow and to maintain. They come in a variety of colors from white, purple, and pink. Plant them somewhere sunny and you can divide them every 3-4 years.

Sedum – These plants are the easiest to grow.  They like full to partial sun and dry round.  They can handle foot traffic and are not at all finicky.  If one flower breaks off simply stick it back in the ground and it will continue growing.

I am definitely not a gardener, just a flower admirer that hates weeding.

-Brooke

Note: I live Canada.  Calgary is a zone 3 so we have a very short growing season.  You may have a different experience with these plants if you have a different climate.  If you have other plants that you think I could manage to not kill, feel free to share what works for you!

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