12 Tough Perennials That Practically Live Forever
Plant these long-lived perennials once, and they’ll reward you for decades.
Every gardener loves adding new plants to the landscape for new color and interest. But sometimes, it’s nice to be able to rely on some old favorites. While a few perennials tend to be short-lived, such as tulips and columbines, there are many perennials that last for years. You can plant them once and enjoy them for decades!
As with any plant, the key factor is planting them in the right place. Sun lovers need direct sunlight or they get leggy and don’t bloom well. Shade lovers fry in the hot sun. You also need to make sure you keep them watered as they get established, which is generally for most of the first year—and sometimes the second, if it’s a very dry season.
It also is important to remember that when planting new perennials, don’t expect them to take off immediately. It generally takes 2 to 3 years—and sometimes more—for them to take off in the garden. The old adage about perennials is that they crawl, walk, run—meaning they start slowly in the first year, gain speed in the second, then really go to town in the third.
Ahead, here are my favorite tried-and-true, long-lived perennials that have lasted 10, 15, 20 years and more in my garden:
Peony
Peonies are the queens of the late spring garden with their lush foliage and rich scent. Stands of peonies have been reported to live up to 100 years! In my garden, my grandmother’s peonies, which I transplanted more than 20 years ago, bloom reliably every spring, bringing me close to the person who taught me to love gardening.
Read more: Flowers That Feel Like Grandma’s Garden
Catmint
This underrated perennial has spicy-scented foliage and tiny purple flowers that pollinators love—but bunnies and deer leave it alone! It blooms for weeks and seemingly thrives on neglect, so it’s a great choice for mixed borders, edging, or planting in masses. I grow many different varieties of catmint, but some are at least 15 years old and still going strong despite never fertilizing or pampering them.
Read more: The Most Bunny Resistant Plants in My Garden
Daylily
The flowers of daylily last only a day (thus, the name!), but they’re prolific. The plant itself lasts for several decades or more in the right conditions. In fact, when the blooms start to slow down, you can divide the plant to make new ones to plant elsewhere in your garden—thus perpetuating this perennial for years. One caveat: This is deer candy, so don’t plant it if Bambi likes to visit your garden.
Read more: 31 Best Low-Maintenance Perennials for Your Garden
Sedum
Sedums are booming in popularity, with good reason. They come in both upright and creeping varieties, and they seem to live forever with little care. Rabbits and deer don’t bother them, and some varieties push late-season color when pollinators appreciate it most. My various cultivars range from a few years old to more than 15 years old.
Read more: Autumn Joy Sedum Care: Everything You Need to Know
Ferns
In the right spot, ferns seem to live forever. These shade lovers are reliable performers, filling dark corners of your landscape with pretty, lacy fronds and colors ranging from deep green to pale green to variegated types. I’ve never touched mine, fed them or done a thing to keep them going, and they’ve thrived year after year for more than a decade.
Lady’s Mantle
This underappreciated perennial has lovely round foliage that catches raindrops for a sparkly display after a rain shower. The tiny yellow flowers rise up in late spring and cover this plant in profusion. It doesn’t need any specific care, and it gets bigger and better every year.
Read more: 12 Perennials You’ve Never Heard of (But Should Plant)
Iris
Irises are some of the hardiest spring bloomers. They can live for many decades; simply divide when the floral display slows down, and you’ll soon have many more irises to plant or share with neighbors. I started with just a few rhizomes 20 years ago and now have them absolutely everywhere throughout my garden.
Read more: How to Care for Irises Like a Pro
Daffodil
I love tulips, but so do the chipmunks and other greedy rodents in my garden. Daffodils they leave alone, so they tend to multiply and spread. Give them plenty of sun and allow the foliage to die back naturally so they make food for next year, and you’ll have daffodils for decades.
New England Aster
This native plant, which provides late-season food for pollinators, is as sturdy as they come. Ignore it, or chop it back by 1/3 to ½ in late May or early June to produce a bushier plant with more flowers. Expect this perennial to last basically, well, forever, in your garden.
Read more: How to Grow Asters—an Important Part of Your Fall Garden
Hosta
If the bunnies and deer don’t chow down on your hostas, they can live for many decades. That’s why you’ll see so many of these plants around older homes dating to the 1950s. Many new cultivars have been introduced in recent years, so you can find hostas that are as tiny as 6 to 8 inches wide to up to 4 or 5 feet wide.
Read more: How to Care for Hostas
Hellebore
I won’t lie: These exquisite perennials are slow to take off, often plodding along for three, four, or five years before they really fill in. But they’re so worth it when they finally get going. Hellebores will bloom for decades and decades in the right setting. You just need to be patient!
Read more: How to Make Your Hellebores Last in a Vase
Cranesbill
The citrusy scent of these pretty ground-cover plants makes them unappealing to rabbits and deer. In late spring, the crane-shaped flowers appear to dance over the top of the foliage. They spread readily, and what started as one 4-inch pot 15 years ago is now a ground cover that spans between most of my other perennials in my landscape beds.
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