Top 10 Low Growing Perennial Border Plants for Stunning Gardens

These short and sweet plants deserve a spot in the front row along beds and walkways and in containers

When I spoke for the first time at a big, yearly conference many years ago, the person who introduced me asked if anyone had a box because I’m…” It seems like jokes are always made fun of short people, and the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield said it best: “Get no respect.” ” Not long after that conference, I recognized that short perennials were in the same boat. Large plants seem to get all the accolades. People often call them “big, bodacious focal points,” and architects and designers love them for their great architectural effects and textural features. For plants in the front of the garden, most gardeners can only say that they are short, small, short-stemmed, or, heaven forbid, dwarf—a word that means misshapen, which most edging perennials are not.

Low-growing plants are an important part of any garden because they draw attention to bed lines, define path and bed boundaries, soften sharp edges, and balance out large plants for visual interest. To be worthy of being planted in my garden, perennial edgers have to work hard. They need to flower for a long time, have interesting color and texture on their leaves from spring to fall, and have few problems with disease and pests.

How close you are to the beds when you look at the plants will determine how tall they should be. For beds that are viewed from a distance, 2-foot-tall plants work well. You can go taller than 2 feet if the plant is see-through, which means it lets you see the plants behind it. Plants that are no more than 18 inches tall work well in beds that are looked at up close. From anywhere you look, there seem to be a huge number of plants that would do well in both sun and shade.

Pint-size plants for sun

One of the simplest ways to tie a garden together is to use repetition. This can be done in a number of ways, such as by picking plants that are the same color and shape. I like to use repetition by echoing traditional perennials with their shorter counterparts. Classic purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea and cvs. , USDA Hardiness Zones 3–9) typically grow to 3 feet or taller and work well for this approach. While the compact cultivars are not lilliputian, they average 18 inches tall. “Kim’s Knee High” has small, typical purple-rose flowers, “Kim’s Mop Head” has white flowers, and “Little Giant” has bigger, purple flowers with horizontal petals that are held up by 16-inch stems.

All of these cultivars flower in summer and continue until frost with deadheading. They grow in full sun and average soil, and can handle summer heat without looking bedraggled. Their coarse, hairy leaves are rarely bothered by deer, but our four-legged foes often find the flowers palatable. Besides being excellent edgers, short purple coneflowers also attract butterflies and make superb cut flowers.

Another beloved plant with miniaturized sidekicks is the summer-blooming Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum × superbum cvs. , Zones 5–8). “Snowcap,” a Blooms of Bressingham variety, and “Little Miss Muffet,” an older variety, are my two favorite small cultivars. ‘Little Miss Muffet’ is 12 inches tall, while ‘Snowcap’ reaches 15 inches tall. It seems like “Snowcap” blooms a few weeks longer, especially after deadheading, and can handle bad weather better. Both of these single white cultivars require full sun and well-drained garden loam. With smart flower repetition, the beautiful 3-foot-tall “Becky” Shasta daisy is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from “Snowcap” or “Little Miss Muffet.”

Blanket flowers (Gaillardia × grandiflora cvs. , Zones 3–8) and I used to mix like oil and water. They always seemed to develop urban sprawl by the time they reached full bloom, creating an ugly mess. Ever since the newer, shorter cultivars came out, however, blanket flowers are again welcome in my garden. The new plants stand 10 inches tall and don’t fall over. From summer until frost, their red and yellow flowers are a riot of color. The selection ‘Arizona Sun’ has hypnotic flat red flowers edged in yellow. ‘Fanfare’ has a more unusual look with its fused, trumpet-like red petals with yellow tips. Like their relatives, these plants can handle drought and bloom for a long time. You can get more flowers by cutting off the spent flowers. If you want something a little less flashy, “Summer’s Kiss” is a beautiful choice with blooms that are different shades of yellow and apricot.

There are two wise Salvia nemorosa plants, called “Marcus” and “Caradonna,” that can be the stars of the late spring border in Zones 5 to 9. ‘Marcus’ is a compact, 10-inch-tall plant that is covered with violet-blue flower spikes when in bloom. This plant is called “Caradonna,” and it has beautiful dark violet spikes that rise above dramatic deep purple stems that look black when lit from behind. “Caradonna” is only about 2 feet tall, but its long, see-through flowers make it a strong candidate for the front of the border. Both ‘Marcus’ and ‘Caradonna’ require full sun, average garden soil, and good drainage. They’re blooming fools well into late summer, especially with deadheading.

For late-season interest, look to Allium thunbergii ‘Ozawa’ (Zones 4–8), which is commonly called the Japanese onion. It grows to 9 to 12 inches tall and has bristly, grass-like leaves in the summer. In the fall, it has star-shaped, violet-pink flowers. It grows in almost any garden soil and is not browsed by deer. Because ‘Ozawa’ blooms late, I put it with plants that bloom earlier in the season to make a row of different colors. Of course, there are many ornamental onions that bloom in the spring and summer that would look good at the front of the border. But beware—their foliage does yellow and disappear shortly after flowers fade.

‘Angelina’ stonecrop (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’, Zones 6-9), 6 in. ‘Blue Ice’ bluestar (Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’, Z 4-9), 14 in. ‘Blue Star’ false aster (Kalimeris incisa ‘Blue Star’, Z 5-9), 15 in. ‘Caradonna’ sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, Z 5-9), 24 in. Catmints (Nepeta × faassenii cvs. , Z 4-8), 12-24 in. Clump verbena (Verbena ‘Homestead Purple’, Z 6-9), 10 in. Dwarf cardinal flower (Lobelia × speciosa ‘Grape Knee-High’, Z 5-8), 22 in. Dwarf fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’, Z 6-9), 24 in. Dwarf willow-leaved sunflower (Helianthus salicifolius ‘Low Down’, Z 6-9), 12 in. ‘Fanfare’ blanket flower (Gaillardia × grandiflora ‘Fanfare’, Z 3-8), 10 in. ‘Fire Witch’ pink (Dianthus ‘Fire Witch’, syn. D. ‘Feuerhexe’, Z 3-10), 6 in. ‘Golden Fleece’ goldenrod (Solidago sphacelata ‘Golden Fleece’, Z 5-9), 18 in. Japanese onion (Allium thunbergii ‘Ozawa’, Z 4-8), 9-12 in. ‘Kim’s Knee High’ purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ‘Kim’s Knee High’, Z 3-9), 18 in. Lambs’ ears (Stachys byzantina and cvs. , Z 4-8), 12-18 in. ‘Lucerne’ blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium ‘Lucerne’, Z 3-8), 12 in. Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides , Z 5-9), 18 in. Prairie poppy mallow (Callirhoe involucrata , Z 4-9), 12 in. ‘Purple Dome’ aster (Aster novae-angliae ‘Purple Dome’, Z 4-8), 18 in. ‘Snowcap’ Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum × superbum ‘Snowcap’, Z 5-8), 15 in. ‘Stephanie Returns’ daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Stephanie Returns’, Z 3-8), 18 in. Stokes’ asters (Stokesia laevis and cvs. , Z 5-9), 12-24 in.

Top 10 Low Growing Perennial Plants For Garden Edges and Borders

FAQ

What are the best low maintenance border plants?

What plants are best for small borders?

What are the longest blooming perennials?

What is a low growing perennial?

In my garden, a low growing perennial is about a foot/12 inches (30.5 cm) to a foot and a half. Some of these low growing perennials I mention (like hostas and heucheras) send up flowers in the early summer that reach past that “low” benchmark, but the stems are so thin and flowers on the smaller side, you can see through them to the plant behind.

Are low growing perennials good for a garden border?

Low growing perennials are perfect plants for a garden border. If you’re creating a formal garden with symmetry, you’ll choose the shorter plants for the outside, adding taller plants as you move inward. They are also unobtrusive, and great choices to plant alongside pathways. Pay attention to your garden’s conditions when choosing your plants.

What is a low growing border plant?

Low-growing border plants can transform and shape a once flat and meek design. Short flowers can be used to fill in spaces between taller plants, creating a fuller-looking, continuous garden design without gaps. Many small flower perennials also work well when planted in mass, creating a colorful aesthetic of blooms that can take over a large area.

Are low growing perennials obstructive?

Some of these low growing perennials I mention (like hostas and heucheras) send up flowers in the early summer that reach past that “low” benchmark, but the stems are so thin and flowers on the smaller side, you can see through them to the plant behind. They are not obstructive. Low growing perennials are perfect plants for a garden border.