Perennial Plant of the Year® 2026 – Perennial Plant Association
Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii ‘Blackhawks’)
Foliage emerges green, then in the summer leaf tips turn red-bronze, darkening to deep purple almost black in the fall. USDA Zone 3-9, 5’ tall and 2’ wide, full sun,
Boxwood (Buxus spp.)
Insects: leafminers (Monarthropalpusi flavus), boxwood mite (Eurytetranychus buxi), boxwood psyllid (Cacoppsylla busi), box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis)
Diseases: boxwood blight
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis xintermedia)
An often forgotten early spring blooming tree.
Amaryllis
That flower you got for Christmas! In the spring plant it outside and feed well (20-20-20). If you can achieve nine leaves by fall you will have three inflorescences next year. That is according to Hamilton P. Traub’s Amaryllis Manual (Macmillan, 1958)
Orb Weaver – Visible in late summer and early fall. Builds large intricate webs, often nightly.
Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia)
European Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
Chrysalis – Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
Stacking
Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)
Thistledown® by Monterey
Surprise combinations
Mayapple (Podophyllum ‘Spotty Dotty’), Epimedium (Epimedium xversicolor ‘Sulphureum’), Astilbe (Astilbe ‘Chocolate Shogun’), Yellow lady’s slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum), Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica), Helleborus
Amsonia (Amsonia hubrichtii), Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum), Siberian iris (Iris sibirica), Spirea (Spiraea japonica ‘Double Play®’ Candy Corn™), Bearded iris (Iris x germanica)
Pineapple Lily (Eucomis)
Full sun, 8”-6’ tall depending on variety. A summer bulb, USDA Zone 7-10.
African Lily (Agapanthus)
Full sun, 24-36” tall. A summer bulb, USDA Zone 6-10.
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia ‘American Gold Rush’)
Sun or shade, 22”-26” tall, 3’4”-3’8” wide. USDA Zone 4-9. Resistant to Septoria leaf spot. Attracts bees and butterflies and is long blooming.
Book – Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and other Marvels of the Dark
By Leigh Ann Henion