Perennial flowers may be expensive but are worth the investment. Perennial flowers come back year after year and many are low maintenance, easy care plants. Some perennials spread or you can divide the roots in late winter or early spring so you can start off with a small garden and expand over the years. Shop around. Some places, particularly local nurseries and farm stands may offer cheaper plants than large garden centers.

Purchase healthy looking plants with turgid stems and good foliage color. check for signs of disease or insects, holes in the leaves,discoloration, spots or odd marks on the tops or bottoms of the leaves. When you look at the leaves, make sure there is no yellowing or brown edges. Check the bottom of the pot. If you see roots, buy another plant.

You can plant perennials in spring, summer, or fall. If you plant in summer, just make sure to water enough to keep the soil moist.

Plant y our perennials in rich, well drained soil. Add some compost to the garden in spring and sprinkle some bone meal around or in the planting hole for full, bright colored blooms. Make sure the hole that you dig is slightly larger than the root ball and fill in with compost enriched soil.

Water your newly planted perennial every day until the plant becomes established - that is, when the plant sprouts new leaves. Water every 5 days or so thereafter if it does not rain. The 2nd year, you can probably water once a week.

Bee balm is a tough native plant with wonderfully scented leaves. The vivid scarlet, tubular petals attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Bee balm grows 4' tall on long, slender stems with light green, elongated heart shaped leaves. Bee balm is tolerant of many soils and prefers full sun and some moisture. Bee balm blooms early to late summer. Dead head flowers for later bloom, but leave some late flowers on the plant in order for it to reseed.

Bee balm is available in compact sizes and other colors. Blue stocking is a blue-violet and Grand Marshall is fuschia.

Clematis is a lovely vine that blooms in  a wide variety of shapes and colors. Jackmanii bears large violet purple blooms which fade somewhat with age. It flowers early to mid summer. Prune back in late winter. The saying goes - clematis like their feet in the shade, so plant low growing plants at the base of the vine.

Coneflower is a disease and insect resistant native plant with a wide variety of form and color. Purple coneflowers grow 3 1/2 ' tall in full sun and well drained soil. These drought tolerant plants will flower throughout the summer as long as you deadhead spent blooms. Leave the last flowers on as the dried seed heads attract goldfinch in the fall. They also look lovely in the snow.

Coneflowers also come in white, green, non-drooping petals, and new double bloom pompon varieties.

Daylilies may bloom for just one day but with the profusion of flowers, you won't feel cheated. Tolerant of drought and poor soil, daylilies come in a wide variety of colors and shapes from pale yellow to orange, peach, pink, variegated colors, and deep reds. Large flowers bloom on tough stems over flopping, sword shaped leaves that form large clumps. Divide in spring. Miniature daylilies are available as well as new double blooms.

Mexican evening primrose is a low growing native plant with fine foliage and delicate, satiny blossoms. The 6 - 12 " plant is heat and drought tolerant so is a great addition to rock gardens. Varieties of sundrops come in white, yellow, and pink. Sundrops 'travel' around the garden but are easily controlled. Some verieties open only at night or on cloudy days, while others open at any time of day.

Sedum is an attractive succulent with a wide variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. This old fashioned Ice Plant grows low and spreads. Small, vividly colored fushia flowers bloom in early summer. Ice plants do well in full sun to partial shade and are tolerant of dry conditions and poor soils. They do very well in rock gardens, where they have a tendancy to spill over edges quite prettily.

Queen Anne's Lace is a tough native often seen growing along roadsides. It looks lovely in a mixed garden and is often used in flower arrangements. Queen Anne's lace can be purchased in a few garden centers or transplanted. The plant tolerates drought conditions and poor soils and will spread around the yard, very nicely in distant spots.

Queen Anne's lace is tall, between 3 - 4', with lacy foliage and a beautiful, round, flat series of very tiny florets. Similar species do not have the little dark dot in the center of the flower.

Veronica or speedwell produce stalks of flowers on tight, compact, branched plants. They prefer moist soil and full sun to partial shade. There are low growing varieties and several color variations including deep purple, blue, violet, and pale violet. They attract butterflies. Deadhead to encourage a second bloom after early summer flowering. Veronica types can grow as tall as 5' or come in a in a low growing version (veronica prostrata).

In the old days, Irish travelers wore a sprig of veronica to protect them on trips, thus the name speedwell.

Sea holly or eryngium is an interesting, tough plant, and a great conversation piece for dry sun or well drained areas. Sea holly grows 21/2' to 3' tall and produces metalic greenish, silvery blue flowers that darken with age throughout the summer. The protruding flower is surrounded by a star of pointy spines. The spiney leaves are greenish, silvery blue. Propogate by dividing or take root cuttings in spring. Sea holly makes an excellent dried flower

Scabiosa or pincushion flower is an easy care plant with soft, 2" lavender blue fowers that bloom from early summer until fall. Make sure to deadhead spent blossoms. The 12" to 18" plant may need some support. Propagate by root division in early spring.

Shasta daisy is a lush, tall perennial daisy with dark green strap shaped leaves. The flower rises up on a sturdy stem with white petals and a yellow center. If you cut the spent flowers to encourage a second bloom, leave the second bloom go to seed. Divide plant in late winter or early spring.

Shasta daisies grow 3' or taller with 3" blooms. Grow in full sun. Shasta daisies adapt well to clay soils. They make a nice cutting flower for arrangements.

Tickseed or coreopsis is a 1 1/2' to 2' plant with lacy foliage covered with tiny daisy shaped flowers throughout the summer. Deadhead to encourage more blooms. Tickseed tolerates dry conditions. Coreposis comes in several varieties and colors. Moonbeam produces a pale violet flower while sunbeam is yellow. Some tickseed spreads while others form bushy clumps.