Michigan’s vibrant growing season offers a world of possibilities for gardeners, but we know that busy lives often call for plants that deliver stunning results with minimal fuss. At Everett’s Gardens, we believe that every plant lover should be able to create a beautiful landscape without constant upkeep. That’s why we’re focusing on low-maintenance perennials – the workhorses of the garden that return year after year, providing continuous beauty with minimal fuss.
Why Choose Low-Maintenance Perennials?
Choosing perennials that require less hands-on care means more time to enjoy your garden and less time toiling in it . These plants are often described as “easy to grow and care for”, “drought-tolerant”, and “long-blooming”, making them perfect for those seeking beauty without the burden . Many also provide crucial support for local ecosystems, such as attracting pollinators.
Here are some low-maintenance perennials you can confidently grow in your Michigan garden:
Catmint (Nepeta hybrid / Nepeta faassenii)
- Cat’s Pajamas’ Catmint was the 2021 Proven Winners Perennial of the Year. It is a long-blooming perennial perfect for small areas, producing intense indigo blue flowers from soil to tips. Rosy purple calyxes extend its color past peak bloom. This very showy catmint blooms from late spring to mid-summer, and shearing after flowering can promote re-blooming.
- ‘Cat’s Meow’ Catmint (Nepeta faassenii) is noted as a beautiful, uniform grower with dense, colorful flowers and a refined habit that stands strong without flopping, growing into a broad mound as the season progresses.
- Purrsian Blue Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii ‘Purrsian Blue’) offers lovely periwinkle-blue flowers blooming from early summer until fall, just above its nicely mounded aromatic foliage. It is excellent for containers, beds, and borders. Catmint is also a recommended companion plant for roses, adding fragrant foliage and a soft, billowy texture.
Pinks (‘Paint the Town Magenta’ Pinks)
- ‘Paint the Town Magenta’ Pinks was the 2022 Proven Winners Perennial of the Year. This long-blooming perennial is suitable for small landscape areas. It produces indigo blue flowers from soil to tips, creating an intense splash of color, with rosy purple calyxes extending the color after peak bloom.
- ‘Paint The Town Fuchsia’ Pinks (Dianthus ‘Paint The Town Fuchsia’), which features fuchsia flowers with lavender centers over glaucous blue foliage. These are great for flower arrangements and benefit from deadheading to encourage rebloom.
Coral Bells (Heuchera hybrid)
- Dolce® ‘Wildberry’ Coral Bells (Heuchera hybrid) was the 2023 Proven Winners Perennial of the Year. It brings a splash of bold purple to the garden with large, scalloped, glossy leaves accented by charcoal veins. Dark stems hold rosy pink calyxes and white flowers.
- There is a coral bell for everyone, coming in a wide range of colors and shapes, including chartreuse, green, red, pink, or purple. They typically grow to about 1.5 feet tall and produce flower spikes with small pink or white bell-shaped flowers.
Heartleaf Brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla)
- ‘Jack of Diamonds’ Heartleaf Brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla) is the 2025 Proven Winners Perennial of the Year. It features huge 9-10 inch leaves with heavy silver overlay and vivid, wide, dark green veining. It also produces baby blue, forget-me-not type blossoms.
- Jack Frost Bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’) is a shade-loving variety with dark green, heart-shaped leaves resembling lace due to a silver overlay, and baby blue flowers in spring. It has a fast-growing mounded habit and is great for containers, borders, or as groundcover. Brunnera is described as a wonderful perennial with velvety, gray heart-shaped leaves and small blue flowers on a stem above the leaves.
Hosta (Hosta hybrid)
- Shadowland® ‘Diamond Lake’ Hosta (Hosta hybrid) was the 2022 Proven Winners Hosta of the Year. It’s a durable native plant that thrives in sun or shade, is drought-tolerant, and deer-resistant. It can even grow in dry shade.
- Shadowland® ‘Empress Wu’ Hosta (Hosta hybrid) was the 2023 Hosta of the Year, noted as the largest known hosta available, forming a gigantic upright mound of huge, thick, dark green leaves with pale reddish violet flowers. It makes a fantastic statement in a shade garden.
- Shadowland® ‘Miss America’ Hosta (Hosta hybrid) is the 2025 Proven Winners Hosta of the Year, a majestic hosta with medium green, heart-shaped leaves, white centers, and light green streaking, producing near white flowers with a lavender pattern.
- Hostas are known as the “friendship plant” and come in a variety of sizes and shapes, from 2 inches to 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide. They are excellent for shady areas and add beautiful foliage texture.
Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
- Coneflowers are drought-tolerant and pollinator-friendly. They provide a burst of color with their daisy-like blooms in shades of pink, orange, and purple.
- Sombrero® Adobe Orange Coneflower (Echinacea ‘Balsomador’) features glowing, orange flowers with copper cones on strong, well-branched stems, attracting pollinators and providing food for birds in winter.
- Goldsturm Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’) has beautiful gold daisy flowers with dark brown eyes from mid-summer to early fall, excellent for cutting and effective when planted in groupings.
Salvia (Salvia nemorosa)
- ‘Pink Profusion’ Perennial Salvia (Salvia nemorosa) is the 2024 Proven Winners Perennial of the Year. It reblooms throughout the summer, producing dark pink flowers on darker pink calyxes with a perfectly rounded, dense habit.
- Salvia is long-blooming and deer-resistant. It attracts pollinators and adds vertical interest to garden beds with spiky blooms in shades of blue, purple, or red.
Daylilies (Hemerocallis)
- Daylilies are tough, colorful, and easy to grow. They provide a burst of color with their trumpet-shaped flowers in various hues, blooming throughout the summer and extending the season of interest in the garden. Stella d’Oro Daylily is a plant rarely damaged by deer.
Tips for Low-Maintenance Perennial Success
Beyond choosing the right plants, a few simple practices can further enhance their ability to thrive with minimal intervention:
- Utilize AquaPots: For container plantings, consider AquaPots, the self-watering containers that can continuously supply the plants in them with the water they need for multiple days in a row, with some varieties watering for up to two weeks. They also use 75% less water than drip irrigation and require 50% less potting soil. Learn more about Aquapot Benefits.
- Mulch: Applying 3 inches of mulch around the base of your plants helps protect roots from extreme temperatures and retain moisture. Ensure mulch does not come in contact with the base of the plant.
- Consider Deer Resistance: If you live in an area with a high deer population, choosing deer resistant plants can significantly reduce maintenance needs. While there is no such thing as a fully deer proof plant, plants with fragrant properties like Lavender, Nepeta (Catmint), and Allium can deter deer. Our blog post on Deer Resistant Plants provides a comprehensive list of varieties “rarely damaged” or “seldom severely damaged” by deer.
- Consult Our Experts: Our knowledgeable staff are available to help you select the best plants based on your specific site and soil conditions, amount of light, moisture and even wildlife interactions.
By choosing the right low-maintenance perennials and following these simple tips, you can create a vibrant, thriving garden that brings joy for years to come.
Visit Everett’s Gardens Today! Ready to find your perfect low-maintenance perennials? Stop by Everett’s Gardens at 240 84th Street SE, Byron Center, MI 49315. We have a wide selection of plants and our team is ready to help you find the right plant for the right area. You can also browse our selection using our Plant Finder tool or Contact Us directly with any questions.