Beautiful, colorful garden is something many gardeners and plant owners want to have. This isn't always easy to achieve, though.

Plants don't live forever, and many perennials live only 3-4 years in the landscape. Many perennials demand a lot of care and dedication.

On the other hand, there are those perennial plants that don't require much care so they are ideal for beginner gardeners and those who like to have beautiful gardens without too much effort. These plants are beautiful and make a great addition to your garden.

1. Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus)

These beautiful flowers make a great addition to your garden. They have bluish-purple flowers, though there are varieties with pink and white flowers. They start blooming in early summer and they keep flowering for a long time. To encourage even more buds, you can cut back the whole flowering stem.

These glowers are long lived, though they are a bit temperamental about establishing. They are very resistant: they have a tap root, which allows them to withstand drought and bad soil. In fact, they tend to live longer id you don't disturb them. At the same time, they self-sow and will give you new plants without an effort.

2. Bugbane (Snakeroot), Cohash (Actaea racemosa, formerly Cimicifuga spp.)

These plants can grow up to 5-6 feet. They have tap root that makes them very resistant. It takes them a while to get established but after that, they will thrive without much care. They don't even need staking. These plants can also repel insects by its scent. Most of the Most Bugbane varieties can handle shade. They don't like hot, direct sun so it's best to plant them in the shade.

3. Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

This plant doesn't like to have its roots disturbed, so you have to pay attention to that. This is another plant with tap root, which makes it resistant to drought as well as bad soil. It's a great plant for all the gardens because it can grow almost anywhere. It's particularly suitable for hot areas with dry summers.

Butterfly Weed attracts butterflies . It has bright orange flowers, though there are varieties with yellow and red flowers. Mature plants can reach a height to about 2-3 feet and they can spread about 2 feet. They are a bit slow to emerge in spring, but when they do, they make the garden beautiful. Butterfly Weed is a long-living plant and a great bloomer.

4. False Indigo (Baptisia australis)

This is yet another tap rooted plant and it takes a few years to get established in the garden. However, once it's established it doesn't require much care and it will stay in the garden for a long time. This is a legume (it resembles pea plants when it comes to leaves, flowers and seed pods). This plant is native to North America and is sometimes considered a wildflower.

There are many available varieties of this plant and the most popular ones are those with bluish flowers. It blooms early in the summer, about the same time as peonies. Baptisia prefers dry climate and thrives in the strong sun. It can get lanky without enough direct light, so pay attention to this when choosing where to plant it in your garden.

5. Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus)

This is a tall, wide plant with beautiful panicles of white blooms. The plant has long tap roots, which makes it difficult to move mature plants. It's best to plant them in a space with plenty of room for them to fill out. The plant blooms early to mid summer. It prefers full sun but it can also grow in partial shade.

6. Monkshood (Aconitum fischeri)

This is a beautiful, late season bloomer. It has gorgeous bluish-purple flowers on long, bending stalks. The flowers hang on through colder weather and can last for over a month. This plant doesn't like to be disturbed once it's established, so pay attention to this. Word of caution: all parts of this plant are poisonous if ingested. However, this also makes them very resistant to pests and diseases. This plant prefers full sun but it can grow and bloom even when it's in partial shade.

7. Peony (Paeonia)

These are well-known plants and they can live for decades. They don't have tap roots and they don't like to be disturbed once they're established. These plants bloom in late spring or early summer. They have beautiful, fluffy double and single flowers. Most flowers are fragrant. The flowers are very beautiful but they may flop if it rains. It's recommended to stake Peony plants. They bloom in full sun, but they can grow and bloom even in partial shade.

They don't like to be divided but it's not impossible to do it, especially if you do it in the fall, after the plants have had a whole season to feed their roots. It's best to divide them in pieces with at least 3 eyes each. Plant them just below the soil level. Once divided, they need a chilling period to set next year's flower buds, so it's important not to mulch or plant them too deeply.

8. Sea Holly (Eryngium planum)

These plants are extremely resistant to drought, which makes them excellent candidates for many gardens. These plants can be a bit prickly, but they give wonderful, rich flowers in steel blue-violet colors. Sea Holly blooms from summer through fall. The flowers resemble metallic pine cones and each is collared by bracts that can be white, silver, violet or green in color.

Mature plants are about 18-26 inches in height and they can spread about 1 feet. They attract butterflies. These plants can grow almost anywhere, even on dry or bad soil. They can even tolerate salt.

Photo credit: clare_and_ben