Creating a beautiful ornamental garden is truly a labor of love. Whether you're designing sweeping flower beds or tucking plants into small corners, the process often requires an investment of time, money, and vision. If you want lasting beauty with less replanting, long-lived perennial plants are an ideal choice. It's no surprise that home gardeners and landscape professionals alike seek out these plants when planning out new beds.
While there may not be a single, definitive list of the longest-living perennials, several tried-and-true varieties have earned their place in garden history by thriving for decades. Choosing widely from these reliable perennials gives you years of blooms and saves you the trouble of replacing plants every season.
So, which perennial plants last the longest? Let's explore some ideas that can bring life to your garden for a generation or more.
Longest-Living Perennials
Before diving into the longest living options, it's important to narrow down your search by function and location. Some perennials thrive in shade, while others demand a full sun location. Some plants spread aggressively, while others grow slowly in tidy clumps. Consider the plant size at maturity, too.
Long-lived perennials aren't limited to flowers. Ornamental grasses, shrubs, and even some groundcovers can be counted among plants that return reliably year after year.
In general, a "long-lived perennial" is a plant that can survive and thrive for 20 years or more, sometimes even half a century, with minimal care. The key to success is to grow plants well suited to your growing conditions and USDA hardiness zone.
1. Peonies
Peonies are among the most loved of all the longest-lived perennials, and for good reason. With their ruffled, romantic flowers and lush foliage, peony plants are a sight to behold in late spring and early summer. On average, most peonies can easily survive at least 50 years in the garden and are often passed down through the generations. They require minimal care beyond meeting their growing requirements for full sun, well-drained soil, and a shallow planting hole.
Sarah Bernhardt and Karl Rosenfield are two widely loved peony varieties that are very long-lived. They're included in this Cotton Candy Mix collection from Walmart.
2. Daylilies
Though the individual blooms of daylilies only last a day (hence the name), collectively these hardy, low-maintenance perennials provide a sea of color for weeks or months, sending up bloom after bloom throughout the summer. Once settled into the garden, daylilies can last for decades, often outliving the gardener who planted them. Ranging greatly in color, daylilies are an exceptionally quick-growing selection for flower borders. For this reason, plants may need to be dug and divided after several years.
The National Plant Network Multicolor Daylily Masterpiece Collection from Lowe's contains 8 stunning varieties for long-lasting color.
3. Daffodils
Often overlooked for their perennial value, cheery daffodils are the essence of spring. As bulb flowers, daffodils return year after year, multiplying into drifts of golden blooms. In the right conditions, they naturalize easily and can live indefinitely. Unlike tulips, which may decline after a few years, daffodils often get better with age.
Eden Brothers' All Star Mix contains the brand's best-selling daffodil varieties for a dazzling display come springtime.
4. Hostas
Though they do flower, hostas are primarily grown for their glossy foliage. They are an exceptionally popular choice for use in shade gardens. Their bold foliage – ranging from blue-green to variegated white and lime – is a standout in low-light areas. With proper care, a mature hosta can live for 20-30 years or longer, and their ability to spread slowly over time makes them an excellent ground cover as well.
This Mixed Color Hosta Plant Roots collection from Walmart contains 10 different plants to brighten up any shady area.
5. Roses
Though rose bushes are often considered difficult to grow – and therefore short-lived – that depends on the variety. While hybrid teas may need extra attention, many shrub roses and heirloom roses are incredibly long-lived and disease-resistant. With proper care, including regular watering and fertilizing, mature rose bushes can thrive for decades, offering season after season of stunning blooms and fragrance.
Cecile Brunner, available from Walmart, is a much-cherished heirloom rose variety with a potential lifespan of over a century.
6. Baptisia
Also known as false indigo, baptisia is a prairie native with lupine-like flowers in spring and attractive seed pods in the fall. These plants develop deep taproots, making them drought-tolerant and extremely long-lived. However, they are slow-growing, so you may want to buy a more established plant at the outset. Some plants live in the same spot for 20 or 30 years, and they thrive in full sun to part shade.
Baptisia comes in several colors, but Blue False Indigo from Nature Hills is a standout variety.
7. Hellebores
Not only shade garden heroes, these graceful plants are also a great investment as they can live for 30-40 years. Once established, hellebores require minimal attention and bring color at a time of year when there is little life in the garden, blooming in late winter and early spring.
Burpee sells a stunning selection of hellebores in a variety of colors, perfect for adding early-season interest.
8. Iris
Irises, especially bearded and Siberian varieties, are prized for their striking blooms and can be very long-lived with proper care. These plants have heirloom appeal, and their rhizomes and divisions are often passed down through families. Bearded iris typically lives 20-25 years or more, but only if divided every 3-5 years. Without this maintenance, they can become overcrowded and stop blooming well. Siberian iris can live for 30 years or longer with minimal division.
Eden Brothers offers a beautiful purple mix and pink mix of bearded irises, depending on your preferred palette.
