There are many different types of perennials that do well in a variety of planting sites. Perennials are plants that live three or more years, which die in the ground each fall and return in the spring. Some of the perennial plants that do well in dry soils include butterfly weed, purple coneflowers and goldenrod.
Horticulturists with Iowa State Extension and Outreach advise that all perennials require maintenance, commonly including watering, fertilizing, pinching, staking, deadheading, dividing and providing winter protection. Some low maintenance perennials in sunny locations include false blue indigo, daffodils, and ornamental grasses. Low maintenance perennials that do well in partial to heavy shade include: bleeding heart, Canadian wild ginger, and hostas.
Perennials that tolerate dry soils include: yarrow (Achillea spp.), wormwood (Artemisia spp.), butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), false blue indigo (Baptisia australis), threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora), showy stonecrop (Hylotelephium spectabile), blazing star (Liatris spicata), catmint (Nepeta racemosa), Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), moss phlox (Phlox subulata), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida), goldenrod (Solidago hybrids), lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina), aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) and ornamental grasses.
Low maintenance perennials for sunny locations include: butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), false blue indigo (Baptisia australis), hardy geranium (Geranium spp.), hardy zinnia (Heliopsis helianthoides), daylily (Hemerocallis spp.), Siberian iris (Iris sibirica), blazing star (Liatris spp.), daffodil (Narcissus spp.), peony (Paeonia hybrids), Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), moss phlox (Phlox subulata), balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus), coneflower (Rudbeckia spp.), perennial salvia (Salvia x superba), stonecrop (Sedum spp.), speedwell (Veronica spp.) and ornamental grasses.
Low maintenance perennials for partial to heavy shade include: lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense), heartleaf brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla), turtlehead (Chelone spp.), bleeding heart (Dicentra spp.), barrenwort (Epimedium spp.), hosta (Hosta spp.), creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera), lungwort (Pulmonaria spp.), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), foam flower (Tiarella spp.) and ferns.