Beautiful, easy and reliable, the following 24 plants will come back faithfully year after year.

Our top picks for this summer are insect- and disease-resistant, non-invasive and don’t require any fussy maintenance. It’s exactly what you need for an attractive, all-season-long flower garden that practically takes care of itself.

1. 'Moonshine' Yarrow

Photography: Ball Horticultural Company

Achillea ‘Moonshine’

Flat-headed clusters of enchanting lemon-yellow flowers grace the tops of deeply toothed, silver foliage. This yarrow keeps blooming all summer long, and butterflies love it. Growing to 60 centimetres high by 60 centimetres wide and preferring full sun in average to dry soil, this perennial is highly resistant to heat and drought.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

2. 'Arendsii' Monk's Hood

Photography: Perennial Resource

Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Arendsii’

Finish summer off right with this late bloomer. Enjoy spikes of large azure-blue blooms set above dark green foliage from September to November. This perennial prefers sun or partial shade in well-drained, rich soil and grows to 1.8 metres in height and a width of 90 centimetres.

HARDINESS ZONES: 2 TO 8

3. Lady's Mantle

Photography: Jardinierparrasseux.com

Alchemilla mollis

A beautiful, classical perennial with sprays of small yellow-green flowers from late spring to early summer over velvety leaves with scalloped and toothed edges. Grow- ing 45 centimetres high by 60 centimetres wide, this versatile plant tolerates full sun as well as partial and full shade, and prefers well-drained soil. An excellent cut flower!

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 8

4. Eastern Bluestar

Photography: Jardinierparrasseux.com

Amsonia tabernaemontana

This clump-forming perennial has clusters of pale blue star-shaped flowers in early summer that give way to an attractive rounded dome of shiny, pointed leaves. It prefers sun, but tolerates partial shade. Comfortable in average soils, this plant will grow to a height of 90 centimetres and a diameter of 60 centimetres.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

5. 'Sun King' Japanese Spikenard

Photography: Perennial Resource

Aralia cordata

A large perennial with brilliant chartreuse foliage that brightens up shady spots like a sunbeam. Tiny white spring flowers yield handsome (but inedible) deep purple berries in the fall. This lush perennial grows to a height of 2 metres tall by 1 metre wide and prefers rich soil.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

6. Swamp Milkweed

Photography: Perennial Resource

Asclepias incarnata

The perfect perennial for attracting monarch butterflies! Dense stems of long, lanceolate leaves are topped with pink or white domed clusters of flowers through July and August. Growing to a height of 1.5 metres and a diameter of 60 centimetres, this plant tolerates almost all soils, from dry to soggy, but likes full sun.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 8

7. 'Jack Frost' Siberian Bugloss

Photography: Perennial Resource

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’

One plant, two effects! In spring, superb sky-blue flowers; in summer, large, heart-shaped silver leaves with contrasting green veins. This perennial will grow 50 centimetres high by 40 centimetres wide. It prefers full sun or partial shade and well-drained, somewhat moist soil.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 8

8. 'Karl Foerster' Feather Reedgrass

Photography: Jardinierparrasseux.com

Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’

This ornamental grass stands out from the crowd with its upright stems and tufted tops of linear leaves. The narrow arching leaves are crowned with thin spikes of beige flowers that persist throughout winter. It grows to 1.7 metres in height and 75 centimetres in diameter. This perennial prefers full sun or partial shade and well-drained soil.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

9. Five-Fingered Maidenhair Fern

Photography: Wikimedia Commons 

Adiantum pedatum

This native Canadian fern has attractive arching fronds and black petioles as thin as a strand of hair. Tough and hardy, it belies the reputation of ferns being frag- ile beauties. Growing 45 centimetres tall and 45 centimetres wide, this plant prefers full to partial shade and slightly moist soil.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 8

10. Cohosh Bugbane

Photography: Jardinierparrasseux.com

Actaea racemosa

Another perennial native to Canada, this plant has large, deeply cut leaves and narrow spikes of fragrant feathery white flowers, creating a candelabra effect. It prefers partial shade and average soil and will grow to a height of 2.5 metres and 1.2 metres in diameter. This delicate beauty will also bring the butterflies to your yard.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 8

11. 'Moonbeam' Tickseed

Photography: Perennial Resource

Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’

With its ultra-thin pillowy foliage, the pale lemon-yellow flowers seem to float over a green haze. This plant blooms nonstop from June to September and provides excellent ground cover if densely planted. Slow to awaken in spring, it will grow 45 centimetres high by 45 centimetres wide.

HARDINESS ZONES: 4 TO 9

12. 'Magnus' Purple Coneflower

Photography: Perennial Resource

Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’

This classic purple coneflower is sturdier and more reliable than many of the modern hybrids. These long-stemmed pink daisies with conical orange centres bloom from July to September. Leave the heads on over winter to feed the birds. Growing 90 centimetres high by 60 centimetres wide, this plant prefers full sun and average soil.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 8

13. Pink Turtlehead

Photography: Jardinierparrasseux.com

Chelone obliqua

This perennial forms a tuft of rigidly upright stems bearing broad, dark green leaves. Dense, short spikes of stunning pink flowers top the stems in the fall and are often still in bloom when snow hits. It prefers full sun or partial shade and rich soil, even soggy conditions. Grows to a height of 90 centimetres and a width of 60 centimetres.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

14. Geranium Rozanne

Photography: Perennial Resource

Geranium ‘Gerwat’

This stunning perennial makes an excellent edging plant or ground cover. From late spring to late fall, it forms a carpet of blue-mauve flowers with white centres marked with magenta veins and deeply lobed maple-like leaves. Growing to a height of 45 centimetres and a diameter of 1.2 metres, this geranium prefers full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 8

15. Golden Hakonechloa

Photography: Jardinierparrasseux.com

Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’

A small plant that forms a neat dome of yellow arching leaves with narrow green stripes, this plant is beautiful from spring to fall, often turning reddish-tinged in late autumn and early winter. This grass prefers sun or partial shade and rich soil that is always somewhat moist; avoid dry locations. It grows 30 centimetres high by 50 centimetres wide.

HARDINESS ZONES: 4 TO 9

16. Earlybird Oriole Reblooming Daylily

Photography: Perennial Resource

Hemerocallis ‘Centerton One’

Daylilies are simply gorgeous, and this variety blooms three times longer than most, so you can enjoy its deep orange-coloured flowers from July through October. Growing 50 centimetres high by 60 centimetres wide, this stunner of a perennial prefers full sun or partial shade and well-drained soil.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

17. 'Sum and Substance' Hosta

Photography: Perennial Resource

Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’

A classic variety of the popular perennial is favoured for its enormous size, striking chartreuse leaves and superior slug resistance. While it will tolerate both sun and shade, it is at its most colourful in partial shade. It flowers in dense racemes of almost-white, pale lilac bell-shaped flowers and will grow 90 centimetres high (1.8 metres in bloom) by 1.5 metres wide.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 8

18. Yellow Wax-Bells

Photography: Jardinierparrasseux.com

Kirengeshoma palmata

An enormous perennial that looks almost like a shrub with decorative, maple-like leaves and light-yellow waxy bell-shaped blossoms in late summer and fall. This large plant prefers partial to full shade and thrives in average soil. It grows to a height of 1.5 metres and a width of 1.2 metres.

HARDINESS ZONES: 4 TO 8

19. 'Becky' Shasta Daisy

Photography: Perennial Resource

Leucanthemum × superbum ‘Becky’

A quintessential shasta daisy with single white flowers and yellow centres. This one is a bountiful bloomer...the show just doesn’t stop from June to September. It also makes an excellent cut flower. Growing 1 metre high by 90 centimetres wide, this perennial prefers full sun or partial shade.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

20. 'Golden Dream' Peony

Photography: Perennial Resource

Paeonia ‘Bartzella’

Certainly not your grandmother’s floppy peony, this intersectional hybrid between a tree peony and herbaceous peony has a sturdy stem that needs no staking. You can expect an abundance of giant, scented semi-double to double yellow flowers for about three or four weeks at the end of spring. Plant in full sun and in well-drained, rich soil. It grows 1.2 metres high by 1.2 metres wide.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

21. 'American Gold Rush' Blackeyed Susan

Photography: Perennial Resource

Rudbeckia ‘American Gold Rush’

A new, more spectacular black-eyed Susan with narrow, fuzzy leaves and a profusion of black-centred yellow daisies from July to September. This variety is highly disease resistant. Growing 60 centimetres high and 60 centimetres wide, this plant requires full sun and well-drained soil.

HARDINESS ZONES: 4 TO 9

22. Russian Sage

Photography: Perennial Resource

Salvia yangii, formerly Perovskia atriplicifolia

This upright, woody-stemmed perennial has feathery, aromatic grey-green leaves and is covered in a cloud of small tubular light blue flowers from July to September. Stunning silvery-white stems last through the winter. This plant prefers full sun and well-drained soil and will grow to a height of 1.2 metres and a diameter of 90 centimetres.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

23. 'Autumn Fire' Stonecrop

Photography: Perennial Resource

Hylotelephium spectabile ‘Autumn Fire’

A Canadian hybrid with thick blue-green stems and leaves. This tough plant’s fall-blooming domes of pink flowers turn brick red and attract butterflies. Growing to a height of 40 centimetres and a width of 60 centimetres, this perennial prefers full sun or par- tial shade and average to dry soil.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 9

24. 'Lavendelturm' Culver's Root

Photography: Jardinierparrasseux.com

Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Lavendelturm’

Charming whorled lance-shaped leaves grace the tall stalks of this perennial. This plant flowers from July to August in abundant spikes of small, pale lavender blooms. Preferring full sun or partial shade and rich, well-drained but somewhat moist soil, this stunner reaches a height of 1.8 metres and a width of 1.2 metres.

HARDINESS ZONES: 3 TO 8