Perennials are easy to grow and bring beauty and life to your garden year after year. They are highly beneficial plants. Along with trees and shrubs, they contribute to soil health, prevent erosion, and provide habitat and food for pollinators, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

Below are 17 native or introduced perennials selected not only for their suitability to Indiana’s climate, but also for their ease of care, hardiness, and high performance. Perennials truly are the backbone of a garden, and they are easy to love!

Our 10,000 square foot Garden Center is filled with everything you will need to cultivate your garden from flowers, plants, grasses and shrubs, not too mention the free expert advice! We also have a great selection of yard accents from windmills, to gorgeous pots, lawn ornaments and MORE!

Come over to your Hometown Garden Center! We’re here to help you with all the advice and materials that you need.
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Long spells of endless sunshine might seem like your garden’s idea of a good time, but, like most things in life, moderation is key—even for plants. With all that sun can come high temps and a lack of humidity that leaves your flowers, veggies, and herbs wilted or dried up, as well as defenseless against disease and pests. That’s no party at all! Don’t worry: You can help prevent heat-stressed plants and keep your own cool, too. So, put on a wide-brimmed hat, grab your water bottle, and help your greenery stay, well, green!

Here’s how to handle it when Mother Nature shows up with high temps and just won’t leave.

Intense UV rays can break down the chlorophyll that makes plants green, so if they’re overexposed to the sun their foliage may end up faded, scorched, or dry and brittle. In other words, sunburns can happen to plants, too.

How to protect them:

• Throw them some shade (the nice kind). Move container plants that typically bask in direct sunlight to cooler, shaded locales in the afternoon hours, and use lightweight covers to help protect your raised beds or in-ground gardens from hot, drying winds. Improvise with umbrellas, bedsheets, or any DIY solution that will still let air circulate around your plants. Pro tip: Materials that are light in color won’t absorb as much heat like Ace Polypropylene Shade Cloth.

• Lower their stress levels. Deadhead spent blooms and remove damaged fruit from vegetable plants so they have more energy for staying healthy. Hold off on removing burned leaves (with the exception of roses) unless you see signs of pests or disease, as they can help shade your plant. And of course, avoid planting anything new in unusually hot, dry weather.

The soil your plants are settled into holds the nutrients, moisture, and air they need to grow up strong. If that earthy goodness becomes dry and depleted, there’s nothing for roots to absorb and deliver to the rest of your plant. Yikes!

How to give them a boost:

• Start with the good stuff. Make sure you use a great quality soil from the start for the best defense against extreme heat. Fill raised bed gardens with Miracle-Gro® Raised Bed Soil, work Miracle-Gro® All-Purpose Garden Soil into the top 6 inches of in-ground gardens, or use Miracle-Gro® Moisture Control® Potting Mix in containers—each will help maintain just the right amount of nutrients and moisture no matter the weather.

• Establish nutrient-rich soil early on. You should take a break from feeding your plants during a heat wave or drought. However, to prepare them for conditions that could cause heat stress, regularly give them Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food (following all label directions) so they’re nice and strong before the unfortunate weather arrives.

Your garden will dry out more quickly in hot conditions, especially in high winds, so keep them hydrated. H20 gives plants the strength to draw nutrition from the soil and turn sunlight into energy. As thirsty as your plants may be, though, always follow any local water restrictions if there’s a drought. Pro tip: Harvest rainwater in the wetter months so you’ll have water available for your plants no matter what.

How to quench their thirst:

• Give ‘em a long drink. Your plants will be thirstier than usual, so as long as there isn’t a shortage, give them extra water if they need it. You can usually tell when your plants want more to drink by their wilted appearance, but don’t be fooled: Wilting can be caused by heat alone. Always test your soil before watering by sticking your finger down straight down into it, a few inches away from plant stems. If the top inch of soil feels dry, you need to water. The soil in containers dries out more quickly than in-ground or raised bed plantings, so pay special attention to those.

• Be smart about water. Drip hoses and timers make it easy to efficiently moisten and cool the soil, providing a slow and steady water source for heat-stressed plants. If you water by hand, concentrate the water around the base of your plants. Keep going until you see puddles begin to form on the soil surface, then stop, wait an hour, and repeat to get soil thoroughly moist. You can also lightly mist plants with a garden hose fitted with a sprinkler attachment to cool them off in the early evening. Don’t overdo it—a short shower will do.

• Retain moisture with mulch. When spread 3 to 4 inches deep, and kept about 3 inches away from plant stems and foliage, a layer of mulch, such as Scotts® Nature Scapes® Color Enhanced Mulch, helps keep the soil a steady, cooler temp, as well as retain moisture. Mulch also helps block sunlight, reducing the chance that water- and nutrient-draining weeds will pop up.

Heat-stressed plants have a harder time competing with weeds and fighting off non-beneficial bugs. They’re already putting so much energy into protecting themselves from heat and sun that they’re too tired to fight off the bad guys.

How to give ‘em a helping hand:

• Keep an eye on weeds. If given the chance, weeds will steal water and nutrients from your soil. Don’t make your plants compete, especially in hot, dry weather! Remove weeds frequently, including any roots, so they don’t take over.

• Watch out for insects. Your plants are too feeble to fight off bad guys like mites, aphids, caterpillars, and other harmful insects. And of course, garden pests aren’t bothered at all by hot, dry weather. Hmph! Keep them at bay by plucking bigger pests off with your hands, hitting smaller ones with a blast of water, or spraying them with insecticidal soap.

Once the weather’s back to normal, pick up where you left off with your usual gardening routine. You may not get a bumper crop of big, juicy tomatoes or as many beautiful flowers as you would in other growing seasons, but you can still enjoy the pleasure of nurturing a garden.

Our 10,000 square foot Garden Center is filled with everything you will need to cultivate your garden from flowers, plants, grasses and shrubs, not too mention the free expert advice! We also have a great selection of yard accents from windmills, to gorgeous pots, lawn ornaments and MORE!

Come over to your Hometown Garden Center! We’re here to help you with all the advice and materials that you need.
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“A balcony or small patio garden can be your cozy retreat for morning coffees, starlit dinners, or simply a serene spot to unwind in after a long day.

As a canvas for personal expression, a balcony garden can merge beauty with functionality. It may offer a practical touch — fresh herbs within arm’s reach for a culinary treat — or simply a burst of color to brighten your day.

Make your balcony your mini sanctuary — however you define it.” – Elizabeth Howe, Design and Trends Expert for White’s Ace Hardware

“Buzzing bees, fluttering butterflies and zipping hummingbirds are a joy to watch as they flit from flower to flower, but they do more than entertain. They actually help fuel life on this planet.

The tomatoes in your salad, the herbs in your soup, the apples in your pie — none of these would exist without the work of pollinators. These vital creatures will make your yard their home when you roll out the welcome mat with a pollinator garden.” – Elizabeth Howe, Design, trends, and lifestyles expert for White’s Ace Hardware

In planning a garden, successful gardeners aim for a long-blooming season. They want to see a variety of flowers in continuous bloom — one starting when another is fading —to enjoy an all-season multi-hued flower show! And in pollinator gardens, a primary goal is to provide food(pollen and nectar) to nourish pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, from early spring to late fall.

How do gardeners — and you — do that? Start with a Seasonal Flowering Times Planning Tool!

In her blog, A Wild Garden, Alicia Houk presented this spreadsheet, or compilation, of Midwest seasonal blooming times for several species of plants. You can use this tool to create a continuous color pollinator garden.

Select the flowers you wish to plant according to their peak blooming periods, as listed in the spreadsheet, taking care to choose flowers that bloom at different times from spring to fall. The blooming periods listed are specific to the Midwest region of the US, so they are appropriate forIndiana gardeners.

[NOTE: With a little additional research you can also select plants that fall into Indiana’s USDA hardiness zones, 5b to6a. Your local garden center can be of great assistance in your planning.]

Use the tool to make a list of your desired plants, and then organize them by bloom time. Now you can create a picture of how you want your garden to look over time, which plants will peak when, and as Alicia notes, understand “how biodiverse the flowers are at any given moment, from spring through fall.” This is especially helpful in keeping pollinators continuously nourished and happy to assist in your plants’ healthy growth.

For more tips in attracting pollinators, check out our Pollinator Garden flip book above. And happy planting! 🌻

Click on photo above to download spreadsheet.

Click on photo above to learn more about planting a long-blooming pollinator garden.

“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” – Alfred Austin

The joy of a garden is that you can watch it grow over many months. Here are the things to consider when you’re starting off.

Meet Phil and Jessie, your hosts of Making Our Roots, a garden to table series. In this episode you will hear how their trip to Alaska taught them the lessons they needed to learn to live off the land. If they can garden in Alaska, you can garden at home! Learn their secrets and cuisines you can make right from your backyard!

Our 10,000 square foot Garden Center is filled with everything you will need to cultivate your garden from flowers, plants, grasses and shrubs, not too mention the free expert advice! We also have a great selection of yard accents from windmills, to gorgeous pots, lawn ornaments and MORE!

Come over to your Hometown Garden Center! We’re here to help you with all the advice and materials that you need.
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“Starting to plan a garden from scratch can be a daunting task. Good design is about mastering the dimensions in any garden: space, scale, texture, harmony, color, structure, light, dark, charm, features, romance, sense of place, history, and so on. But once you get going, it’s not about strict rules, but developing instincts to guide you over time.

The joy of a garden is that you can watch it grow over many years. Here are the things to consider when you’re starting off.” – Elizabeth Howe, Design and Trends Expert for White’s Ace Hardware

Phil and Jessie are back with tips on growing herbs. Hear how their experience in Alaska provides the tips and advice for gardening in any size space. Get inspired on how herbs can make a tasty impact on your meals as Jessie shows you an easy recipe packed with flavor right form the garden.

Learn more about White’s Ace Garden Centers https://whitesacehardware.com/…/garden_centers