Gardening

Perennials that come back every year

Most of the vegetable garden is replanted every spring, but perennials are a different bargain: you plant them once and they return, bigger, for years. A few take a season or two to establish before they pay off, so the best time to plant them was last year and the second best is now.

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Plants in this guide

AsparagusAsparagus officinalisA patience-testing perennial that takes a few years to establish, then delivers tender spears every spring for 15–20 years. The ultimate plant-it-once crop.RhubarbRheum rhabarbarumA long-lived perennial grown for its tart red stalks, the leaves of which are poisonous. Plant it once in a permanent spot and harvest for a decade or more.LavenderLavandula angustifoliaA woody Mediterranean perennial prized for fragrant flower spikes and silvery foliage. Thrives on neglect, lean soil, and sharp drainage, and dies fast in wet feet.ConeflowerEchinacea purpureaA tough native perennial that blooms for weeks in summer and feeds bees, then finches on its seed heads. Comes back bigger each year.Black-eyed SusanRudbeckia hirtaA cheerful native perennial with golden daisies and dark centers from midsummer to fall. Reliable, drought-tough, and beloved by pollinators.MintMentha spicataA vigorous perennial herb that smells like summer and spreads like wildfire. Grow it in a pot unless you want it to colonize the whole bed.

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