Choosing long-blooming perennials not only makes your gardens colorful, it’s also great for pollinators and other wildlife. With a little research, you can have color in your landscape by planting a succession of plants to last from spring through fall.

Take time now to inventory your garden. What is blooming? Are there periods where you have no blooms? Then, select plants to fill those voids — or choose plants with longer bloom times. Some tried and true favorites of consumers for summer gardens include:

• Echinacea (coneflower) — Large daisy-like pink, red, purple or white flowers. It attracts butterflies and make excellent seeds for birds in the fall;

• Rudbeckia (blackeyed susan) — Self-seeding and another plant that attracts butterflies and is a food source for birds. It also makes a good cut flower for containers;

• Perovskia (Russian sage) — Grown for their silvery-gray foliage and small tubular blue flowers borne on a 4-foot stem. It attracts pollinating bees, butterflies and hummingbirds;

• Achillea millefolium (yarrow) — This plant comes in a variety of colors. It is a beneficial plant to native bees and other pollinators and makes an excellent cut flower that dries well;

• Agastache (anise hyssop) — A showy, fragrant plant that attracts pollinators and hummingbirds;

• Monarda (bee balm Oswego tea) — Leaves have a minty scent and bees and hummingbirds will flock to the tubular flowers. The colors range from white to red. Deadhead flowers and watch for runners to prevent rapid spread;

• Geranium (cranesbill or hardy geranium not pelargonium type) — These have white to purple blossoms that, if deadheaded, will keep blooming;

• Gaillardia (common blanket flower G. aristata) — Large daisy like blooms that bloom in singles and doubles with yellow flowers with red base;

• Heliopsis helianthoides (false sunflower) — Attractive to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Perfect for cutting gardens for containers. Deadhead spent flowers to promote new blooms;

• Japanese anemones — Plant with room for their rhizome-spreading habit. They appear delicate but require minimal maintenance. They attract butterflies and make a lovely cut flower for arrangements;

• Scabiosa (pincushion flower) — Excellent cut-and-come-again plant, as the more you pinch back spent blooms, the more flowers it produces. It’s a pollinator and a good cut flower. Make sure to purchase the perennial variety;

• Penstemon (Beardtongues) — Offer a rainbow of colors to choose from. They are a good cut flower that also attracts birds. Remove individual stalks that have flowered during growing season unless you want them to self-seed;

• Leucanthemum (shasta daisy) — Today’s cultivars off a variety of flower types. They attract butterflies and deadheading will lead to a longer bloom time. They are excellent cut flower for bouquets.

These are just a few choices. Others to research might be Autumn Joy Stonecrop, Catmint, Tickseed, False Indigo, May Night Salvia and Karl Foerster Reed Grass. It’s important to research each plant to learn how to plant them to enhance the color and foliage.

To learn more about the most common perennials, go to https://go.osu.edu/bloomtimes.