With the arrival of spring, herbaceous perennials have popped up throughout the landscape! However, as you tour the garden in early spring you may notice that certain perennials are noticeably absent. Don’t worry. Several perennials are tardy every year. These perennials require several weeks of warm soils and air temperatures before they begin to grow in spring. Sometimes they do not emerge from the soil until June!
This means the gardener must be patient and wait until mid-June on these late emerging perennials. Don’t remove them or plant other perennials in the same site until you are sure they are not coming back. Mark their locations in the garden so you know where they are located and wait. Your patience will most likely be rewarded with an attractive flower display in late summer.
Common Name Scientific Name
Balloon flower Platycodon grandiflorus
Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia fulgida
Blue spirea Caryopteris x clandonensis
Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa
Culver’s root Veronicastrum virginicum
Hardy hibiscus Hibiscus hybrids
Indian pink Spigelia marilandica
Joe-pye weed Eutrochium purpureum
Leadwort Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Maiden grass Miscanthus sinensis
Monbretia Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora
Red-hot poker Kniphofia uvaria
Russian sage Perovskia atriplicifolia
Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata
Whirling butterflies Gaura lindheimeri
Links to this article are strongly encouraged, and this article may be republished without further permission if published as written and if credit is given to the author, Horticulture and Home Pest News, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. If this article is to be used in any other manner, permission from the author is required. This article was originally published on May 23, 2018. The information contained within may not be the most current and accurate depending on when it is accessed.