Medium Height Perennial Plants

Landscaping with perennials provides a permanent solution to the blank spots in the garden. Ornamental perennials reappear every year with increased size, foliage and flowers as the plant adjusts to the planting area. Medium-sized perennials feature sizes ranging from 12 to 36 inches. Landscape designers use these plants as transitional elements to create height grades within a garden. Use medium height perennials to fill in garden space between shrubs. Choose this type of ornamental plant for foliage color and texture as well since perennials have limited blooming periods.

Hosta

The family of hosta perennials offers a huge variety of plants for the shade garden. Hosta feature large leaves to provide stunning contrast to other items in your garden. Hostas grow well in zones 3 to 9 and can reach heights over 2 feet in the best planting circumstances. Hostas form clumping mounds of foliage with arching wide leaves extending from the center of the plant. No partial or full shade garden is complete without this low-maintenance medium height perennial. The versatility of this medium-sized plant also allows for the option of using hosta as a border plant. Hosta produce long-stemmed, light purple flowers in late summer.

Daylily

Fllower image by Luke Haverkamp from Fotolia.com

The most common hardy daylilies feature pleasing yellow or orange flowers in mounding clumps of attractive foliage. Daylily perennials reach a height of 36 inches and produce cup-shaped flowers. The thick, grass-like leaves provide interesting foliage in the garden before and after blooms appear. Plant daylilies in zones 7 to 10 and with protective mulch coverings in zones 3 to 6. Daylily tolerates most soil types and will propagate readily to increase clump sizes each year. Plant daylilies in full to partial sun for best growing results. This plant provides an excellent option to increase perennial plants throughout the garden over time without great expense. Clipping back spent blooms will extend the blooming period.

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum leaves image by Ana Dudnic from Fotolia.com

Chrysanthemums grace many gardens as one of the hardiest fall flowers in the landscape. These plants feature flowers ranging from small pompoms to larger, multi-petal blooms in a wide array of colors. Mums perform best in full sun with well-drained soil. For best results, amend the soil before the optimum mid-May planting time. Plant in zones 5 to 9 and provide a mulch cover to help protect tender sucker roots if you don't clip back the plant at regular intervals during the growing season. Leaves have multiple lobes that allow this plant to decorate the garden with interesting foliage through the summer growing season. Prune back leggy or early blooming stems to encourage bushy growth of the plant.