Perennial Substitutes for Your Favorite Annual Flowers

Gardeners love annual flowers! You know, the ones that you plant every year and they look great all summer long? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with annual flowers. Believe me, I have a ton of favorites and I plant a ton every year. However, if you are done with spending lots of money for flowers that you are going to ditch at the end of the season, this is the article for you: 10 Perennial Substitutes for Your Favorite Annual Flowers!

Once perennials become established, they just get bigger and better every year. Will perennial flowers bloom as long as annual flowers? Well, no, probably not. However, if you plant a combination of perennial plants, you can get continuous color throughout the season. Plus, after the initial purchase and planting, perennials are lower maintenance and more budget friendly!

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What is the Difference Between Annuals, Perennials and Biennials?

For those of you that need it, first of all, here’s a refresher.

• A perennial is a plant that lives longer than 2 years.
• An annual is a plant that only lives one season. Some annual flowers can reseed themselves and you might get surprises the next year. What is considered an annual in colder gardening zones, may be considered an perennial in warmer gardening zones.
• A Biennial is a plant that only lives 2 years. Generally with a biennial, you have  just a plant the first year and the second year the plant will grow flowers.

 Perennial Flowers vs. Annual Flowers

• You plant perennials once and they just get bigger and better every year. Annuals have to be replanted every year.
• At the end of every gardening season, annual plants have to be pulled up. If you planted lots of annual flowers, this can be quite the task. Perennials stay put, but will need to be cut back at some point.
• Over the long haul, it’s more expensive to buy new annual flowers for your garden every year.
• Once perennial plants are well established, for the most part they require less maintenance than annual flowers.

I realize we are talking about perennial substitutes for your favorite annual flowers, but let’s discuss the benefits of annuals over perennials. I want you to be well informed before you make the switch to perennials.

• Annual flowers bloom longer than perennials.
• Annuals grow faster than perennial flowers.
• Annual flowers are better for container gardening than perennials.

Grow These Perennials Instead of These Annual Flowers and Never Plant Again

Marigold Substitution

Plant Coreopsis instead of Marigolds. There are MANY types of coreopsis and all of them are native to the Americas. Not all coreopsis varieties look like marigolds, but many do. See the similarities of the pictures below. Golden sphere coreopsis, for example, is often mistaken for marigolds.  And the best part about coreopsis is that once it starts blooming, it blooms the entire summer. Coreopsis is a very long blooming perennial and once established requires little maintenance. (zones 4-9)

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Stock or Snapdragon Substitution

Do you love spike-type flowers like Stock or Snapdragons? Two perennial substitutes for these annuals are penstemon and liatris.

Penstemons

Penstemons, whose common name is “beardtongue,” are native to North America, south through Central America. Because of this, there many kinds of of penstemon: there is a penstemon for just about every zone! Generally, they are hardy in zones 4-9, but there are species that can be grown in zones 3 and 10, as well. They have tubular flowers on tall spikes (sounds just like a description of snapdragons, right?) There are many different varieties of penstemon and I’ll bet you can find one that will thrive in your gardens. Many varieties of penstemon will bloom for several weeks in the summer, and will likely rebloom if deadheaded.

Liatris

Liatris is also a spike-type flower, or more like a bottle brush. It is native to North America and the Bahamas and is hardy in zones 3-9. They are very popular as cut flowers. Unlike many spike-type flowers, they start blooming at the top of the spike first!

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Sunflower Substitution

Who doesn’t love Sunflowers? They are a classic, cheery annual flower loved by birds, squirrels and humans alike! I love seeing birds harvesting the seeds when they mature! However, squirrels climbing the sunflowers and breaking the stems can be a problem. A good substitute for the look of sunflower is the perennial Heliopsis (r. False Sunflower). There are many varieties of the perennial Heliopsis to choose from and it’s hardiness ranges from zones 4b-9a. And while there aren’t any varieties that have huge annual sunflower heads, there are many varieties that look just like smaller or miniature sunflowers. Heliopsis is another long-blooming perennial.

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Gazania Substitution

Perennial Blanket Flower (a.k.a. Gaillardia) looks very similar to the annual flower, Gazania. They have the same color varieties and flower shape. There are many varieties of blanket flowers and they are native to the Americas, so their hardiness ranges from zones 3-10! When Blanket Flowers start blooming, they bloom the entire summer and well into Fall. Bees (and I)) adore Blanket Flower!

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Cosmos Substitution

Although the foliage isn’t similar, the flower of the Japanese Anemone (Anemone Robustissima) plant looks just like annual Cosmos flowers. Actually, in my opinion, the overall look of the Japanese Anemone is much prettier.

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Many Annual Flower Varieties Have A Perennial Cousin

There are about 300 different varieties of Dianthus (a.k.a Pinks, Carnations and Sweet William). Some varieties are annual, some some perennial and some are biennial (like Sweet William). You can get loads of front of the border perennial color with perennial dianthus (a.k.a. Pinks). Plus, perennial dianthus will pretty much bloom the entire summer season. Different varieties of perennial dianthus bloom for different time periods, so look for long-blooming varieties.

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Salvia Substitution

It’s a no-brainer to replace annual salvia like the blue Victoria variety, with a variety of perennial salvia. Perennial salvia starts blooming in late spring. After their initial bloom, you can shear off the spent blooms and they immediately start re-growing more blooms! You can get 3 or 4 bloom periods out of perennial salvia. And salvia is a hummingbird magnet!

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Larkspur

Annual larkspur can be replaced with its cousin, perennial  delphinium (Delphinium elatum), if you live in a cooler zone. These gorgeous delphiniums are hardy in zones 3-7. By looking at the hardiness zones, you can see that perennial delphinium, sadly, does not tolerate heat.if you look at a heat tolerance map, you will see the perennial delphinium cannot tolerate heat. In warmer zones, it is treated as a cool season annual. It prefers mild summers and low humidity. Delphinium is a beautiful, stately, spike-type perennial flower. They are stunning planted in mass and make beautiful additions to cut flower bouquets. Delphinium is suited best in full sun in its preferred range.

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Asters

Annual Asters can be replaced with Perennial Asters. Often times, tall annual asters get floppy and have to be staked. This is not at all the case with perennial Asters! Perennial Asters start putting on a show in the late summer into fall when many other flower are fading in the garden. I think asters are a perennial garden must have for you and the bees!

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More Perennial Substitutes for Annual Flowers

Replace those annual chrysanthemums (not the same as florist mums) with perennial mums. I realize in many gardens, annual mums will return year after year. But the hardy perennial mums, return more reliably year after year. Nothing says fall like having bright colored mums adorning your gardens!

There are lots of Daisy type annual flowers like zinnias, gerbera daisies, osteospermum or annual rudbeckia that can be replaced with perennial flowers like Shasta daisies, black-eyed Susan or coneflowers.

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Replace low-growing flowers that form clumps, like petunias, vinca (not to be confused with vinca vine) or ageratum, with balloon flowers or blue clip campanula. Both of these perennials have very long bloom times in the summer.

How to Get the Longest Bloom From Perennial Flowers

The secret to getting the longest flowering from perennials, is to go ahead and clip off the spent  blooms. You can extend the bloom time of perennials, or get a rebloom, just by deadheading!

What do you think? Do you have a favorite annual flower that you replaced with a perennial? Leave a comment to share with all of us and we can just keep growing this list of perennial substitutes for your favorite annual flowers.

Where to Order Perennials Plants Online

I prefer shopping at local nurseries, but I have had some great experiences ordering from Bluestone Perennials and Oakes Daylilies. The last couple of years, I’ve also ordered live perennial plants from growers on Etsy. Be sure to read reviews and make sure the grower is licensed. LacyCreekGrowers is a favorite of mine.

Want to learn more about getting continuous color in your perennial garden from spring through fall? Gingham Gardens has an awesome workbook/guide to help you plan and plant your dream 3-season perennial garden. To learn more about the workbook/guide, check is out here: Designing with Perennials for 3 Seasons of Bloom.

To learn more about perennials for your flower garden, check out these posts:

Classic Perennials (That Every Flower Garden Needs)
20 Perennials for Shade to Jazz Up Your Gardens
Designing with Perennials for 3 Seasons of Bloom
Underused and Uncommon Perennials
14 Plants Not to Grow in Your Garden (Even if they are Free)

Thanks for stopping by Gingham Gardens today. I hope you’re enjoying your visit and are coming up with perennial substitutes for your favorite annual flowers. Can you think of any I missed? If so, please share in the comments section below.

Happy Gardening,
Julie

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