Skip to content

Top Navigation

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Home
  • Garden
  • Holidays
  • Videos
  • current issue
  • Sweepstakes
  • Road Rally
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Midwest Living

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 7 Fresh Places to Eat, Drink, Play and Stay This Winter

      7 Fresh Places to Eat, Drink, Play and Stay This Winter

      Hot off the minds of Midwest travel writers: a fresh look at where to eat, drink, play and stay around the region. Read More
    • Meet Five Midwest Cake Creators (and Try Their Recipes)

      Meet Five Midwest Cake Creators (and Try Their Recipes)

      One has conquered the world of plant-based baking. Another runs a microbakery from her home. Two own businesses with their spouses. And the fifth is a James Beard finalist chef. The common thread? Absolutely delicious cakes. Read More
    • The No-Fail Relish Tray Recipe is Here

      The No-Fail Relish Tray Recipe is Here

      For many Midwesterners, holiday feasting kicks off with a relish tray. We dare not mess with an icon—at least, not too much. Read More
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel
    Why Wisconsin Supper Clubs Just Keep Getting Better With Age

    Why Wisconsin Supper Clubs Just Keep Getting Better With Age

    At Wisconsin supper clubs, the steak is served rare and the traditions are well done. Like the brandy in an Old-Fashioned, these timeless institutions only get better with age.
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Family Travel
    • Around the Region
    • Beyond the Region
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Missouri
    • Nebraska
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • South Dakota
    • Wisconsin
    • Free Travel Info
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food
    Tomatoey Parmesan Beans

    Tomatoey Parmesan Beans

    This sleeper hit of a weeknight dinner comes from Food Network star Molly Yeh's cookbook Home is Where the Eggs Are—and is basically a vehicle for Parmesan and garlic toast. No complaints! (The alternate version, with ham and cream, is excellent too.)
    • Comfort Foods
    • Desserts & Baking
    • Breakfast
    • Quick & Easy
    • Chicken
    • Soups & Stews
    • Midwest Favorites
    • Fruits & Vegetables
    • Fish
    • Grilling
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    Avid DIYers Transform a 1929 Chicago Home One Project at a Time

    Avid DIYers Transform a 1929 Chicago Home One Project at a Time

    With visions of dinner parties and game nights dancing in their heads, a Chicago couple renovated their historic (and first) home, one DIY project at a time.
    • Quick Decorating
    • Featured Homes
    • Organizing & Storage
    • Outdoor Living
    • Seasonal Decorating
    • Room Decorating
  • Garden

    Garden

    See All Garden
    How to Care for Flowering Houseplants

    How to Care for Flowering Houseplants

    Author Lisa Eldred Steinkopf shares how to make blooms last longer—and repeat.
    • Container Gardens
    • Flowers
    • Featured Gardens
    • Midwest Gardening Calendar
    • Garden Ideas & Inspiration
  • Holidays

    Holidays

    See All Holidays
    Unique Midwest Light Displays to See This Winter

    Unique Midwest Light Displays to See This Winter

    Buses, trains and very few automobiles—check out these out-of-the-ordinary holiday lights displays.
    • Easter
    • July 4th
    • Thanksgiving
    • Halloween
    • Christmas
    • Valentine's Day
  • Videos

    Videos

    See All Videos
    Chef Jorge Guzmán's Step-by-Step Guide to Making Tamales

    Chef Jorge Guzmán's Step-by-Step Guide to Making Tamales

    Tamales are a project, but many hands—even tiny ones—make lighter work.
    • Brighten Your Front Door with This Colorful Easter Egg Wreath
    • These DIY Orange Beeswax Candles Will Make Your Home Smell Amazing
    • Ring in the New Year with This Glam Star Garland
    • How to Make a Modern Fruit Cake Box
    • An Eye-Catching Oval Treat Box You Can Make
    • Make a Colorful Paper Raffia Wreath to Welcome Fall
    • How to Make a Dried Floral Arrangement
    • How to Make an Easy Pina Colada
    • How to Make an Amazing Pavlova
    • How to Make Pumpkin-Spice Icebox Cake
    • How to Make an All-Butter Pie Crust
    • DIY Pistachio Wheat Stalks for Fall Decorating
  • current issue

    current issue

    See All current issue
    About Us

    About Us

    • March/April 2022 Issue
    • January/February 2022 Issue
    • November/December 2021 Issue
    • September/October 2021 Issue
    • July/August 2021 Issue
    • May/June 2021 Issue
    • Summer 2022 Issue
    • Fall 2022 Issue
    • Winter 2022 Issue
  • Sweepstakes
  • Road Rally
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Midwest Living
  2. Garden
  3. Garden Ideas & Inspiration
  4. Low-Maintenance Plant Picks for Midwest Gardens

Low-Maintenance Plant Picks for Midwest Gardens

By By Matt McGuire June 01, 2012
Skip gallery slides
Pin
The hearty Heuchera
Gardeners are putting a priority on plants that offer fresh looks with less maintenance. Here are some of our top choices.
Start Slideshow

1 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Echinacea: More sizes, shapes and colors

Echinacea: More sizes, shapes and colors

Echinacea coneflowers have long been a Midwestern favorite thanks to bright, long-lasting colors and low maintenance demands. The traditional drawback: Colors had been limited to basically purple and white. But rapid development of new varieties means gardeners can choose from more sizes, shapes and colors. New cultivars showcase bright hues and include 'Tomato Soup' (left) and 'Mac 'n' Cheese'.Echinacea is one of five groups of plants that Ed Lyon, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Allen Centennial Gardens, feels will be hot choices for Midwest gardeners in 2009.Allen Centennial Gardens

1 of 5

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Low-maintenance Baptisia

Low-maintenance Baptisia

The once-limited Baptisia plant is joining the rush of native (read: low-maintenance) species stretching into new colors and shapes. Exciting new cultivars include the supremely durable 'Purple Smoke' (left). And the Chicago Botanic Garden's work with the plant looks promising. "Once one organization starts developing new plant color and forms, others jump in," Ed says.Plan for a low-maintenance garden

2 of 5

3 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Easy-care succulents

Easy-care succulents

Plants such as sedum, aloe and even cacti are surging in Midwestern popularity, Ed says. That's because succulents are easy to care for, stingy with water and exotic. Now that succulents cost far less (Euphorbia 'Royal Velvet' dropped from $15-$20 a few years ago to as low as $5 today), some gardeners use them as outdoor annuals. To overwinter them, put succulents in containers in a basement.Sassy succulents and other container planting ideas

3 of 5

Advertisement

4 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Ornamental edibles

Ornamental edibles

Edible plants are functional for small spaces or containers, especially when they look great. Ornamental peppers, variegated corn, flowering kale (left) and purple okra can serve as both eye-catching elements in the yard and as kitchen ingredients. "These plants are having an explosion of interest," Ed says. "People aren't just interested in plants as decoration; they're interested in plants as food."Fresh-veggie recipes

4 of 5

5 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

The hearty Heuchera

The hearty Heuchera

Recently, Heuchera (coral bells or alumroot) dominated the new plant scene with varied colors and shapes. Heuchera x villosa (hairy alumroot) offered equally interesting foliage, but only in green. Now new shades are available in cultivars such as 'Citronelle', 'Caramel', 'Mocha' and 'Brownies'. These new plants resist insects and disease vigorously, recover better from winter and grow bigger and faster."I have 'Brownies' in my home garden that are only three years old, and you'd swear they were small shrubs," says Ed.Other no-fuss Midwest flowers

5 of 5

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By By Matt McGuire

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 5 Echinacea: More sizes, shapes and colors
    2 of 5 Low-maintenance Baptisia
    3 of 5 Easy-care succulents
    4 of 5 Ornamental edibles
    5 of 5 The hearty Heuchera

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Midwest Living

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Contact Us
    • Help
    • Free Newsletters this link opens in a new tab
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Renew this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Affiliate Program
    • Free Travel Info this link opens in a new tab
    • Special Promotions this link opens in a new tab
    • Sweepstakes this link opens in a new tab
    • Video
    • Home Advisor this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Sign Up
    MeredithMidwest Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Midwest Living. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.midwestliving.com

    Sign in

    View image

    Low-Maintenance Plant Picks for Midwest Gardens
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.