Perennials that don't get out of hand.

Now I am getting older I am thinking about making my flower garden a bit easier to manage. Some perennials spread quickly and have to be divided regularly. For instance Schizostylis (Anemothele) don't flower so well when they get crowded and some others seed everywhere. So I am thinking of replacing them with slower growing varieties. For instance paeonies just last for ages and spread slowly. Any suggestions folks?

 

Maybe calla Hercules for a shadier spot. Love mine. And it diesn't spead that quickly.

 

I am trying to do the same as you.
There's a type of Japanese Anemone called 'Little Princess' which I've got and it is a dwarf variety. It forms a small compact plant and doesn't spread like the larger varieties. It flowers from late summer into the autumn.

 

Geranium 'Rozanne' is well-behaved and has a long flowering season.

 

Looking around the fronts of my own borders here for small non-sprawlers:

Geranium Orkney Cherry - dwarf form, bronze leaves and pink flowers

'Popsicle' kniphofias - these are smaller than other varieties, have leaves which remain upright rather than flopping over, and come in a range of colours.

Two liriopes form neat clumps of grassy leaves all year round, I have one plain and one variegated, both at this time of year have also striking spikes of purple flowers

Alpine pinks (dianthus) - tidy mats of foliage year round, and a good long flowering season

Houseleeks - loads of different varieties, forming mounds of rosettes, easy both to keep tidy and to propagate

dwarf ivy 'Spetchley' - slow growing, seems to prefer to be horizontal

dwarf achillea 'King Edward' - a recent arrival but looks promising!

 

Two that have really impressed me in the last couple of years in terms of drought tolerance, floriferousness and general low maintenance are Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' and (for some good late autumnal colour) Aster 'Professor Anton Kippenberg'. My aster has started to flower so I'll post a photo soon when it's in full flower. Echinacea 'White Swan' is another one that has done very well requiring little maintenance in the last couple of years.

Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' | BBC Gardeners World Magazine

Aster novi-belgii 'Professor Anton Kippenberg' (New York Aster)

Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan' | BBC Gardeners World Magazine

Nick

 

I remembered dahlias too

 

Thanks everyone, some interesting ideas here, I'll definitely try some of these. Unfortunately Dahlias and Echinaceas are a no as the slugs and snails here eat them as soon as they try poking out of the ground. I have anemone 'Crispy Curly' given to me by my sister which is pretty well behaved but I would like a white one however I am wary as I have just finally got rid of 'Honorine Jobert' after years of digging out little bits of root which have sprouted. So pretty but such a thug!