Perennials are plants that can live for many years. Every garden should have at least some perennials in them. Many gardens almost exclusively contain perennials with little to no annuals. There are perennials that bloom at almost any time of year from Hellebores that bloom in the dead of winter to long blooming summer perennials like lavender.

There are many great perennials to choose from. Every year the Perennial Plant Association chooses one plant as their Perennial of the Year. For 2010 the Perennial of the Year is Baptisia australis or “Blue False Indigo”.

Past winners include (Click on the name for more information):

• 2009 Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’
• 2008 Geranium ‘Rozanne’
• 2007 Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ – Click Here for an article about this plant
• 2006 Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Feuerhexe’
• 2005 Helleborus xhybridus
• 2004 Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’
• 2003 Leucanthemum ‘Becky’
• 2002 Phlox ‘David’
• 2001 Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’
• 2000 Scabiosa columbaria ‘Butterfly Blue’
• 1999 Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’
• 1998 Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’
• 1997 Salvia ‘Mainacht’ (May Night)
• 1996 Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’
• 1995 Perovskia atriplicifolia
• 1994 Astilbe ‘Sprite’
• 1993 Veronica ‘Sunny Border Blue’
• 1992 Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’
• 1991 Heuchera micrantha ‘Palace Purple’
• 1990 Phlox stolonifera