Looking for year-round color in your garden? Read one Kentucky gardener's favorite picks and some growing tips, too.
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Favorite Perennials
Just in time for planting season horticulturalist Jamie Dockery shares his favorite perennial picks for the central Kentucky area--that's zone 4.
 Be sure to keep your zone in mind when it comes to choosing and growing annuals. Here are 12 to consider:
- Purple Cone Flower
- Daylily: Don't buy online; stick to those in the shop
- Butterfly weed or bush: food for monarch butterflies
- Rose Mallow: Colors and styles galore!
- Iris: Consider an heirloom for scent, sturdiness
- Showy Sedum: Grow in large groups; prune when needed
- Plumbago or Leadwort: Great groundcover; foiliage turns red in fall
- Hosta: Pick your foliage; watch for slugs!
- Alliums like Garlic Chives: Don't forget edible plants
- Yellow Yarrow: Cut blooms back in May for another bloom in the fall
- Japenese Anemone: Plant in spring, won't bloom till fall
- Summer Sun Heliopsis: Easy seeder, long bloomer
... and dozens more! Happy planting!
About Dockery
Jamie Dockery is the Fayette County Extension Agent for Horticulture in Lexington, Ky.
 His experience ranges from retail horticultural sales and work for a well-established nursery. He speaks extensively on gardening to community groups and has provided gardening segments for a local television station. He earned Bachelor’s degrees in agriculture and biology from Berea College in Berea, Ky.
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By Karri SandinoYes! The brilliant, blooming perennials and annuals at the local nursery might catch your eye this spring as you begin your gardening.
But don't overlook the ones sporting pretty green foilage--and, more importantly, later blooming times. You'll be craving their colors come summer and fall.
That's one tip gardening expert Jamie Dockery offers a group of gardeners--from beginners to experienced--during a class at the Arboretum in Lexington, Ky.
"Perennials bloom at different times during the season," he says. "Consider the textures of the plants you choose for when the blooms are gone."
Things to Keep in Mind, Perennially
To enjoy your perennials more fully, keep these additional tips in mind. Dockery advises:
- Your plants will only be as good as your soil. Prepare it well and don't shy away from beneficial mulch and soil amendments ...
- ... unless your flowers need to breathe! Some perennials, like German Iris, need good air circulation especially around the roots.
- Just because you like the look of a plant doesn't mean you can grow it anywhere. "It's easier (and more satisfying) to grow plants that already like your soil," says Dockery.
- Don't over-prune. Pruning can often wait till fall or winter. Birds can eat seeds and the plant can reseed itself. Exception: Remove dead or diseased parts of the plant.
- But ... pruning can encourage some plants (like Silver Mount Artemisia and Yarrow) to bloom twice in one season ... if done properly and at the correct time.
- Befriend native plants. Native perennials can survive just about any type of weather; they're more deeply rooted and have adapted to Mother Nature's whims.
- Think mums are only for fall? That's when they tend to bloom, but if you plant them in spring--much earlier than is popular--the hardy mums will come back next season.
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Know Your Zone
If you're not sure what plants grow well where you live, here are some great online resources:
Karri Sandino is associate web editor for Hobby Farms, Hobby Farm Home and Popular Farming Series.