The "Richter Scale" of perennial plants

I feel the earth move under my feet

I feel the sky come tumbling down, tumbling down

I feel my heart start to trembling.......

Who can sit still to Carole King's 1971 classic

I Feel the Earth Move?

We're gonna rock your world today 

with our Richter Scale of favorite perennial plants.

(Patty Richter, that is)

  Brunnera.  Fabulous to brighten up shady areas of your yard.  The white veining shines in the shade, and Brunnera will send up delicate flower stalks in summer.

Astilbe.  Color for shady areas and a reliable performer year after year.

Hostas:  Shade gardens aren't complete without hostas.  This is Paul's Glory:

Jack-in-the-Pulpit.  A native woodland plant, as are Trillium, Hepatica, and Ginger.

  

Dicentra - Bleeding Heart

Reliable spring bloomer in northern gardens, 

and there's really nothing quite as lovely as the dangling heart shaped flowers.

For sunny areas, choose

Daylily/Hemerocallis.  Low maintenance, high impact color and texture.  

 

This is Primal Scream.  Great name, it makes me want to scream, too!

Delphiniums.  Just wow.

 Iris.  Gorgeous. 

  Sedums.  Fall blooms, nice color all summer, deer resistant, and come back every spring.

        Peonies - 

Deer resistant, show-stopping blossom size, hardy hardy hardy plants.

What's not to love?

We've added hundreds of perennials this year, so

let's get some earth moving (with a shovel) and plant a few perennials this summer!