Perennial FlowersWhen looking for perennial flowers for your garden, you might be just looking for those that you find colorful and exciting. However, you might also be looking for specific colors, heights, textures, sizes, low maintenance perennials and so on.Here I have listed some that are wonderful plants. I often use these in my designs due to their flower colors, the fact that they are low maintenance, and they are also long blooming. Years ago I worked in a large garden center and managed the perennial department. Throughout the seasons, I was able to see which plants were the better ones. Who wants perennial flowers that look good for a week or two followed by a sick looking plant?
Types of PerennialsList of Perennial FlowersHere are pictures and some information for my favorites. The descriptions are loose, based on my own experiences with these plants. Catmint I stumbled on the variety 'Walker's Low' a few years ago. It gets to be Because of the delicate foliage, Catmint plant looks nice with perennials or shrubs nearby that have wider leaves. Fountain Grass, a lovely ornamental grass or Daylilies are good choices. I am a stickler for placing plants next to each other that have different textures. Perennials with pink, white or dark purple flowers look great next to this plant.
Coneflower comes in many shades of pinks. They have some newer interesting varieties that are a honey color, and of course they come in white. It's one of the more hardy perennial flowers and does not need a lot of water. The flowers are rather large and showy and it is a mid-summer bloomer in the flower garden. Although they are not fussy, a good drink of water during hot spells will make it even happier. They are available in many different heights, from fairly short to quite tall.
I personally like the variety 'Hidcote'. It gets to be larger than 'Munstead'. It's very low maintenance, has a fairly long bloom period and it is also drought resistant. And I love the lavender fragrance. Cut the stems to bring in the house or make some potpourrie with it! The grayish foliage is interesting near many other types of perennials. Lavender also looks particularly well with roses in a garden design. You can add it as a lower layer, letting it form a nice color contrast. Or just place tons of Lavender in a field as shown at the photo on the top of this page!
The variety 'Autumn Joy' is a reliable standby. If you ignore it, it hardly suffers. Just do not over water it. It's a great perennial for late season blooms and the colors are a soft pink. Sedums typically have thick leaves, which create a nice contrasting texture to other perennials. as mentioned above, paying attention to foliage textures is important to make each individual plant, or group of plants, stand out. Butterfly Bush You can get a Butterfly Bush that grows quite large or one that is more contained…about four feet tall and wide. Butterfly Bush is another drought resistant perennial shrub and blooms for a long period. Pinch back the spent perennial flowers to extend the bloom. Cut this plant down in the early spring...don't be afraid. This flowering plant prefers to be cut down in the spring rather than the fall. Butterflies flock to this plant! Most Daylilys bloom once for about 3 weeks and there are tons of colors to choose from. Stella D'Oro is one variety that is a repeat bloomer. It will flower, then rest, flower, rest, etc., throughout the season. The flower color is yellow. If you don't care that much about having repeat blooms, you can choose from Daylilys in a huge variety of colors. These perennial flowers are quite showy when in bloom! The Lily is different than the Daylily. Each of its large, showy flowers lasts awhile (more than a day). It is more upright, while the Daylily is bushier. Sometimes these pretty flowers are beautiful in a flower garden design, but they are not one of my favorites. When the flowers finish, the plant is not very attractive in flower gardens. I included it due to the loveliness of the flowers.
Salvia is available in purples, pinks and whites. Different varieties have different leaves, but the perennial flowers of all of them are beautiful. As with the Butterfly Bush, pinch the spent flowers off to produce additional blooms. 'East Friesland' and 'May Night' are nice purple varieties. 'May Night' has wider leaves. If you are considering a white Salvia, take a look at Snowhill. This perennial is very similar to Salvia…in fact on quick glance it is easy to get them confused. They have the same spiky flowers. Veronica also comes in purples, pinks and white colors. Sometimes white is needed to break up all the pink and purple perennial flowers(if that is your color scheme). Veronica 'Icicles" is a nice white perennial to use. When talking about types of perennials, Gaura is a less common one used in flower garden design. But it's a lovely one. It's about two feet tall and has an open pattern that is delicate. The flowers are delicate also…a very pretty plant. Butterflies are attracted to this plant...and added feature. Baby's Breath This is the same flower that you might have seen in rose flower arrangements. The plant is open and provides a nice, contrasting texture to many other perennial plants in the garden. I am not a yellow lover, but I do like Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'. The small daisy-like flowers are a soft yellow, and this plant is a repeat bloomer throughout the season.  DelphiniumAhhh, the old-fashioned Delphinium. It's gorgeous! Its downfall is that it is a little temperamental when it comes to hardiness, so you may find that it doesn't return. If you love this perennial plant, just know that you might wind up treating it as an annual and re-plant each season.
This is another less common type of perennial. Its perennial flowers are a "puff" of soft, greenish-yellow blooms. Its outstanding feature is its leaves. They are a very pretty shape, rather large, and collect droplets of water when they get wet. Lady's Mantle is a nice addition to a perennial garden design to add just some pretty greenery and delicate flowers.
Aster is a late summer/fall blooming perennial. It comes in many colors and mixes well with Sedums and ornamental grasses. For example place a few Asters near Fountain Grass 'Hamlin' for an outstanding change in leaf textures. In addition they will both be at there best around the same time.
This perennial has daisy like blooms in a gold color. It flowers late in the season, and therefore is a nice addition in flower garden designs so that you will have color when many other plants have finished flowering. This picture is of the most well-known Black Eyed Susan. However, there are many other kinds. Some have orange centers and others grow to three feet tall! Consider using this late blooming perennial with others that also flower later, such as Russian Sage and Fountain Grass.
The perennial Hibiscus has huge, gorgeous flowers that are very eye-catching. I wouldn't use it if you only have a few perennials, since after it flowers it doesn't look that great. However, if you can mix it in with numerous other plants, it's worth considering. There is also an annual Hibiscus and a shrub Hibiscus, known as Rose of Sharon. Here is another drought resistant that I have to add to this list of perennial flowers. It comes in many colors and has interesting gray/green foliage. Pale yellow, bright yellow, pale pink (photo), deep pink, white, and red are Yarrow's flower colors. This is a medium height plant and looks nice in a mass. There are many types of Campanula perennials. Some are tall and some are low, so they can be used in many areas of the perennial garden design. Many come in beautiful shades of blue, which is a flower color that is harder to find. Typically, Campanulas like some shade. You can have many different varieties of this flowering perennialand create a "blue" garden. This is a nice midsummer blooming plant with spikes of sharp deep pink flowers. It's quite showy when in flower.
Please also visit perennial garden plants. This site has an interesting video on perennial flowers.
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about 30 inches in diameter and blooms almost all summer with soft purple flowers. One of the great features is that it is extremely drought resistant.
Coneflower
Lavender
Sedum
This is more manageable in most perennial gardens, although sometimes the larger ones are more appropriate. I currently grow one of the larger varieties, 'Pink Delight'.
Each flower lasts for one day, but there are so may that you hardly notice this. 
Salvia
Veronica
Coreopsis
Lady's Mantle
Aster
Black Eyed Susan
Hibiscus
Yarrow
Campanula