Add color and seasonal interest throughout the landscape with container gardens. Set them in garden beds to add vertical interest, place pots of edible plants on a patio, deck or balcony for convenient picking, and include pollinator-friendly plants in containers to attract and support pollinators.

Screen unwanted views, buffer traffic and other noise, create privacy and add year-round beauty to the landscape with evergreens. Combine them with deciduous trees and shrubs, perennials and annuals for multiple seasons of beauty. Plus, enjoy the seasonal changes as well as visiting pollinators and songbirds.

Elevated and raised bed gardens can expand your planting options and make planting and maintenance easier and more convenient. You’ll be able to plant, weed and harvest with minimal bending or even from the luxury of a chair or bench.

Plant a variety of bee-friendly shrubs and enjoy year-round beauty and loads of pollinator appeal. Include a mix of spring, summer and fall bloomers, providing nectar and pollen for visiting bees throughout the season. Selecting bee-friendly shrubs suited to the growing conditions and the available space also boosts your landscape’s beauty and reduces maintenance.

No matter your garden style, you are likely to find a place for this year’s Perennial Plant of the Year: blackhawks big bluestem. You’ll enjoy the beauty it adds to your gardens and the low maintenance it requires to thrive.