8 Easy Perennial Plants for Pots and Hanging Baskets That Return Again and Again for Years of Beautiful Blooms

Most container plantings are built around annuals. They’re bright, fast, and gone by the first frost. And sure, that works fine if replanting every spring isn’t a bother. But for gardeners who would rather not dig everything out come fall and start fresh each spring, growing perennial plants in pots is the ideal solution.

However, not every perennial is cut out for container gardening. With the heat, cold, extra water needs, and confined roots, it can be a challenge to choose the right perennials for containers.

The following perennial plants for pots span a range of light, climate, and landscape uses, so there’s something here for every container garden.

Easy Perennials for Containers

Successful container gardening comes down to plant selection, growing in a good potting mix, and using a container that drains well. Most of the time when container gardens go wrong, one of those issues is why. But the key place to start is choosing the right perennials. Here are some of the best perennials for containers.

1. Creeping Jenny

The trailing stems of creeping Jenny can grow as long as 2 feet (60 cm) or more and the chartreuse foliage holds its color through the season without much care from you. It does fine in partial shade, though more sun is usually okay as long as you keep up with watering.

Come spring creeping Jenny tends to fill back in thicker than it left off, which is a good quality in a container plant. It overwinters down to USDA growing zone 3, though it may die back in cold climates. It won’t look like much in early spring, but it rebounds quickly once temperatures rise. It’s a good spiller for a mixed basket.

It’s best to keep this plant in containers only because creeping Jenny is invasive in many parts of the US, like the Midwest and East Coast. To prevent unwanted spread, do not grow the more invasive green variety. The yellow cultivars like ‘Aurea’ and ‘Goldilocks’, which you can buy as plants from Burpee, are not as aggressive and the better choice.

2. Hellebore

Hellebores might actually do better in containers than in garden beds in certain climates. Drainage is easier to get right in a pot, which matters because crown rot is the main problem that takes out hellebores. These long-lasting perennials can be slow to grow the first season, but they tend to settle in and stick around a long time once they get established.

Bloom time is late winter to early spring, sometimes while frost is still happening. The nodding flowers come in plum, white, pink, and near-black. They want part to full shade and afternoon sun scorches the leaves.

Shop a wide selection of stunning hellebores from Wayside Gardens.

3. Coral Bells

The fabulous foliage in shades of burgundy, caramel, silver, and near-black is the whole point of growing coral bells. The colorful leaves put on a show all season, whether anything’s blooming or not. Small, lovely flowers do come in early summer on thin wiry stems, but the leaves are what most people are after.

Partial shade works best for coral bells and a 12-14 inch (30-36 cm) container suits most varieties fine. The issue that may trip you up is drainage. Wet soil during a cool stretch tends to rot the crown of these plants quickly. Trim back foliage when it starts looking ragged at the end of the season.

Explore an amazing array of coral bells available from Wayside Gardens.

4. Ajuga

Ajuga stays low and fills in around taller plants or trails over basket edges without being coaxed. The foliage color – often dark bronze, burgundy, or variegated depending on the cultivar – holds through most of the season without much upkeep. That's why it earns a spot on the list of best perennial plants for pots. Blue flower spikes show up in spring, too, which is a bonus.

Ajuga handles shade better than most container fillers, so it works well in north-facing garden situations or spots under eaves where other plants tend to struggle by midsummer.

Hardy to zone 3, ajuga comes back easily after rough winters. It looks best when divided periodically, as it can get patchy over time. Be aware that ajuga can become invasive, so that's another reason why it's best to grow this plant in a container.

Get luscious 'Chocolate Chip' ajuga plants online from Burpee.

5. Sedum

For a container in full sun that isn’t going to get watered on a reliable schedule, sedum is going to be the right perennial for the job. Low-growing varieties trail over pot and basket edges and push out small starry flowers late in the summer. Taller types of sedum work better growing upright in a bigger container.

Hardiness varies widely by species, though many common varieties of stonecrop are hardy down to zones 3 or 4. Checking the label is best before buying, if you want plants that return year after year.

Sedum want to dry out between waterings. Wet feet tend to be what finishes them off. A slow-release organic granular fertilizer from Amazon worked into the potting mix at planting handles feeding for the whole season. Other than that, these perennials are low-maintenance and lovely.

Hardy 'Blue Elf' stonecrop from Jackson & Perkins looks gorgeous spilling over the edges of a terracotta pot.

6. Catmint

Some perennial plants are better suited to larger containers than hanging baskets and catmint is one of them. This plant's habit is mounding and a bit sprawling, so it needs room to grow or it looks cramped.

Lavender-blue flower spikes show up in late spring. Cut back plants about halfway after that and a second round of blooms will follow later in the summer. Give your catmint full sun and well-draining soil and it is pretty much sorted.

Heat doesn’t bother this plant much once it’s settled, plus it’s drought-tolerant and the fragrant foliage attracts pollinators, too. Most varieties of catmint stay in the 18-24 inch (45-60 cm) tall range.

Get high-quality catmint plants from Proven Winners at the Home Depot.

7. Astilbe

If you have a shaded container that needs some height, astilbe is worth considering. The feathery plumes arrive in summer in shades of white, pink, red, or lavender. They hold their shape as they dry out, which stretches the display further than you’d get from many other flowering perennials for pots.

Water is the element this plant can’t live without, though. Containers dry out faster than beds and astilbe leaves crisp at the edges if watering is inconsistent, which sometimes happens faster than you’d expect.

A moisture-retaining potting mix, like this organic one from Burpee, helps buffer drying out between waterings. A pot that's at least 12 inches (30 cm) deep also makes a big difference. Divide astilbe plants every few years when flowering starts to diminish.

Shop a wide selection of shade-loving astilbe plants from Wayside Gardens.

8. Hardy Geranium

The plants sold as "geraniums" at most garden centers are actually the tender perennial called Pelargonium. Hardy geraniums are perennials that can withstand much colder temperatures and are totally different plants than the more common "geraniums" that are typically grown as annuals.

Hardy geraniums bloom from late spring into summer with saucer-shaped flowers in pink, blue-purple, magenta, or white depending on the variety and cultivar.

Most hardy geraniums stay compact enough for a 10-12 inch (25-30 cm) pot. Cut them back by about a third after the main flush of blooms and flowering will often pick back up. These plants need regular water and afternoon shade helps them thrive in hotter spots. Otherwise, these low-maintenance perennials ask for little else.

'Rozanne' is an extremely popular type of hardy geranium that looks gorgeous in containers. You can get this hardy geranium online from Garden Goods Direct.