Joe’s Market Basket shares the benefits of planting perennials 

June marks National Perennial and Pollinator Month, an ideal time to brighten your garden as warmer days arrive. Joe’s Market Basket shares how perennials and pollinators are closely connected, and why keeping perennials healthy is vital.

Perennials come back year after year and survive cold, dry winters. As the backbone of pollinator gardens, they supply nectar and pollen to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds throughout the season.

“Having a garden enriched with pollen enhances the soil structure, stores carbon, maintains the hardiness zone, prevents erosion and improves drought resistance,” Joe’s Market Basket Manager Andy Klos said. “Perennials are such low-maintenance plants with benefits that are endless to not only you and your garden, but our ecosystem as well.”

The hardiness zone dictates the best place to grow perennial plants. In western Illinois, the best zones are 5b and 6a due to a slight warming trend and mild winters, while eastern Missouri falls in zones from 6b through 7b due to average winter temperatures.

The best types of perennials that produce the most pollen are purple coneflowers, bee balms, blazing stars, milkweeds and goldenrods. Plants like purple coneflower and black-eyed susan adapt best to the Midwest environment.

“Native perennials are the most beneficial choice because they have already evolved with local pollinators and are naturally adapted to the Missouri and Illinois climates,” Klos said. “These plants offer a steady supply of nutritious foods throughout the entire growing season, and they are an abundance of colorful blossoms that help attract those animals.”

Klos suggests gardeners plant perennials in the early fall or spring when temperatures are mild, as it produces strong root development while the air is still cool. He also said perennial plants are perfect for any beginner or advanced gardener, as perennials are labor reducers and do not require much maintenance costs.

Joe’s Market Basket is a family-owned business with four Illinois locations in Edwardsville, O’Fallon, Godfrey, and Troy. Market Basket’s mission is to provide customers with an outstanding service experience and top-of-the-line products. For more information about Joe’s Market Basket, visit http://www.joesmarketbasket.com/.

Photo courtesy of Joe’s Market Basket.