I like coleus. I live in a semi-tropical climate, so no frost, and my yard is in partial shade, so no over-exposure to sunlight. Coleus need regular trimming to prevent spindliness and the cuttings can be propagated and turned into new plants, to replace the ones that get messed up by gardeners trimming my bushes with power tools and heavy boots. My goal is to have a yard filled entirely by coleus (and bushes and trees, which my HOA takes care of.) I’m getting pretty close.
Okay - if we are talking coleus, do you pinch the flowers or not? Me - I’m a hardcore pincher. Encourages much bushier growth. But I’ve encountered others who think the flowers are an attractive part of the plant.
My first was also given to me and freshly cut from a local patch. After it got established in my yard, I’ve since cut another division and planted that clump at my parents’ in the suburbs, also doing great. So lots of bangs for div/0 bucks.
A friend of mine has some neat white ones with purplish centers and has said I could harvest a bit. I think that’s a spring thing.
I got lucky with a lovely patch of peonies the size of a bathtub that came with my house. The must have already been be decades old when I got them and my ‘care’ consists of mowing around them and trashing the old stalks in December.
Actually, as pretty as they are, I think they are basically wildflowers - and darned tough.
Now peonies, IMO, are up there with magnolias as almost the OPPOSITE of big bang for your buck. One good rainstorm, and they are a mess. Decent foliage the rest of the year, and darned impressive when blooming, but you really hope for no spring thunderstorms during the blooming window!
Creeping Vinca vine is very tolerate. I think it will grow anywhere. You often see it on roadside from folks planting at their mail box posts.
I have a ring around a tree with Vinca. It is a bit of an escape artist. My Son just weed eats back.
It has a small but prolific blue (they can be other colors)flower. I like the smell. Kinda spicy.
We used to send for zinnia seeds and plant tallest in the center, shorter all around, in half barrels out in front. Spectacular! Cars used to come up the street, slow down, or stop and look at our bounty. We also did the same with coleus…..I love nasturtiums! But to my horror they attracted millions of aphids, so many they were black. Ick.
I’m in Scotland, coastal-ish.
My number 1 bang-for-quid plant is hardy geranium ‘Rozanne’. Unlike other hardy geraniums, it’s sterile (but I believe still produces nectar- bees do visit it), it just keeps on churning out flowers, with no need to deadhead.
Mine started flowering in about May, and are still covered in flowers now, which will continue until the first proper frost. It’s not the cheapest plant, but it’s perennial and easy to split, so you can just get more and more from the one you started with.
If by “magnolias” you refer to frequently grown saucer magnolias, their beauty can be short-lived, depending on where you live and the varieties grown. Bloom may be cut short by early spring freezes, or you can be fortunate and flowering lasts for weeks.
Southern magnolias (M. grandiflora) can be grown up into USDA zone 6 (some cultivars like ‘Edith Bogue’ and ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty’ are especially hardy) and while there’s generally heaviest flowering in mid to late spring, southern magnolias blossom on and off through the growing season - and the fragrance is tremendous. Not typically productive of one big “bang” - but more like a steady procession of lesser fireworks.
As far as petunias go, I really like the heirloom “climbing” types with flowers in shades of purple, pink and white that become heavily fragrant starting at dusk. You won’t typically find them at garden centers so they need to be started from seed. Very long-blooming and cold-resistant once established, they’re often the last annuals to be still be flowering after successive light frosts.
Pinch like mad.
Marigolds
I started with a package of seed. They immediately came up. They drop seeds after blooming and sometimes come back in late summer.
They always come back in Spring from the previous years seeds.
I like the low maintenance.
In Wisconsin here also. Yup. Lavender smells nice, looks nice, provides some privacy and once they get going are almost impossible to kill even way up here in the Cold North.
We’ve had hit-or-miss success with/ lavender, but recently have succeeded growing it in pots. But what variety of lavender are you growing that provides privacy? I thought it topped out at 2 - maybe 3 - feet.
Perhaps I was confusing them with Lavender Rhododendron Shrubs ( Rhododendron catawbiense) which grow fast and get about the size of a small shed with thick woody coverage. I guess I don’t know how close they are related to the small guys, but they look and smell great. And as mentioned are hardy.
Ah yes. Ever so slightly different! 