Blazing Star

A North American prairie native that attracts butterflies, blazing star (Liatris spicata) produces spikes of white, rose, or purple flowers in summer. This sturdy, drought-tolerant perennial adds a vertical accent to a garden, and the cut blooms even dry well.

Growing Conditions: Full sun in well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Zones: 3-9

Coreopsis

Also known as tickseed, coreopsis produces daisy-like, 2-inch blooms in shades of yellow, orange, and rusty red throughout the summer. This easy-to-grow native perennial isn't picky about soil. It grows in poor, shallow, chalky, or dry conditions. Plus, it draws pollinators and resists deer.

Growing Conditions: Full sun in well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 5 feet tall and to 3 feet wide

Zones: 3-9

Perennial Salvia

This salvia is a wonderfully long bloomer: It starts flowering in early summer and continues through early autumn if you keep cutting off the faded flowers. Its long, slender clusters of blooms are great for filling in bare spots in flower arrangements.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Zones: 4-9

Yarrow

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is one of the best perennials for cut flowers. Its stiff blooms also work well for long-lasting, dried arrangements. In the garden, yarrow is one of the most maintenance-free plants you can grow: It resists drought, heat, deer, and rabbits, and is also a blooming machine, producing flat-topped clusters of yellow, orange, red, pink, or white flowers (depending on variety) throughout the summer.

Growing Conditions: Full sun in well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 3 feet tall and wide

Zones: 3-9

Garden Phlox

Garden phlox is a perennial garden favorite. It produces large clusters of fragrant flowers from summer to early fall. It has few rivals for its colorful floral display and light, sweet fragrance, and it attracts all kinds of butterflies and other pollinators. It's well-suited for the back of borders and in cottage gardens.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide

Zones: 3-8

Japanese Anemone

Fill your late-summer and fall garden with cheery anemone blooms. This vigorous perennial produces clusters of silky, shallow-cupped, white, rose, or pink flowers with yellow buttonlike centers, surrounded by a halo of yellow stamens.

Growing Conditions: Part shade to full sun in moist, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 3 feet tall and wide

Zones: 4-8

Lily

Popular in florist shops, lilies such as 'Stargazer' are some of the most stunning flowers for a cutting garden. Their star-shaped blooms appear in several shades, from pink and red to orange, yellow, and bi-colors. Many varieties also add a sweet fragrance to your garden (and your bouquet!). Just beware if you have cats: all parts of lilies are lethally poisonous to them.

Test Garden Tip: Extend the show by growing different varieties. Asiatic lilies, for example, bloom in early to mid-summer; orienpet hybrids bloom in mid to late summer.

Growing Conditions: Part shade to full sun in well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 3-8 feet tall and 12 inches wide

Zones: 3-9

Clustered Bellflower

Much like the name suggests, clustered bellflower produces showy, bell-shaped flowers that come in shades of blue, purple, and pink. These perennials usually bloom for several weeks in summer, and the cut flowers can last for a week or more in the vase.

Growing Conditions: Part shade to full sun in well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 3 feet tall and wide

Zones: 3-8

Purple Coneflower

Purple coneflower is easy to grow and provides a steady stream of summer's prettiest blooms. This native perennial has an abundance of daisy-like flowers from midsummer to the first fall frost, which often attract butterflies and other pollinators.

Growing Conditions: Full sun in well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Zones: 3-9

Bearded Iris

The stiff, sword-shaped leaves of bearded iris provide a striking vertical accent in the garden, but the flowers are easily the showiest part of this plant. Their colors run the rainbow from deep burgundy red to pastel pinks and yellows to every shade of blue and violet and begin appearing in late spring. Some varieties even have multicolored blooms.

Test Garden Tip: Look for reblooming iris varieties. They put on a spring show and often flower again in fall.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Zones: 3-9

Peony

Often sweetly fragrant, peony is a very long-living plant that forms 2- to 4-foot-tall clumps of leaves. Numerous varieties offer a wide range of flower colors and blooming periods from late spring to early summer.

Growing Conditions: Part shade to full sun in moist, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide

Zones: 3-8

Lady's Mantle

They may not be the showiest flowers around, but lady's mantle's frothy, chartreuse blooms work very well for rounding out a perennial cut flower homegrown bouquet. This easy-care plant blooms in early summer and goes with seemingly everything.

Growing Conditions: Part shade to full sun in moist, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Zones: 4-7

New England Aster

Sprays of beautiful New England asters are a must for fall bouquets. These perennials have daisy-like flowers in shades of pink, purple, blue, and white. Smaller selections make great fillers in a flower arrangement.

Growing Conditions: Part shade to full sun in moist, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide

Zones: 3-9

Bee Balm

With dramatic, colorful blooms atop tall stems, bee balm is the perfect perennial for filling your vases in summer. You can find cultivars in red, pink, lavender, violet, or white. Plus, these flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds and butterflies.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 5 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Zones: 3-9

Obedient Plant

Use obedient plant's tall, pink or white flower spikes to bulk up your bouquets. This easy-growing wildflower earned its name because you can bend the individual flowers to face different directions.

Growing Conditions: Part shade to full sun in moist, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 4 feet tall and indefinitely wide

Zones: 2-8

Coral Bells

Beginning in late spring, airy wands of small, bell-shaped blooms appear over the colorful foliage of coral bells. Depending on the variety, the flowers can be bright red, pink, or white, making perfect fillers between bigger blooms.

Growing Conditions: Full shade to full sun in well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 3 feet tall and 30 inches wide

Zones: 3-9

Crocosmia

Add a unique touch to your favorite flower arrangements with crocosmia. This gladiolus relative bears clusters of bold red, orange, or yellow flowers on the ends of long, gracefully arching stems.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide

Zones: 6-9

Blanket Flower

This heat- and drought-tolerant native perennial can provide long-lasting color in a sunny cutting garden. Blanket flower doesn't mind poor soil, either. Its daisy-like, 3-inch wide, single or double flowers bloom throughout the summer and fall. Pollinators love it, too.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in well-drained soil

Size: Grows to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide

Zones: 3-8

Veronica

This easy-to-grow plant comes in various sizes, from low-growing groundcovers to taller types that are ideal for cutting. Deadhead it diligently, and veronica may be one of the longest-blooming perennials in your garden.

Growing Conditions: Full sun in well-drained soil

Size: Grows 2 feet tall and wide

Zones: 3-8