A lovely garden is a joy, but getting it to look lovely can be a lot of work. Some plants take more TLC than others.

Patch asked Peter Brindle from Chanticleer in Wayne for the best low maintenance plants for the growing zone that includes southeastern Pennsylvania.

Carex Pennsylvanica: This sedge plant forms short clusters and spreads to form a lush carpet-like look. This thick mat of growth provides excellent seasonal cover in a dry shaded area.  Reddish-brown, thimble-like flowers top the narrow, fine textured leaves in spring. It also grows easily in full sun, part shade and shade.

Heuchera Villos: This plant is noted for its large, hairy, triangularly-lobed, sharply-toothed, green leaves that have a velvety texture. Tiny, whitish to pinkish flowers appear in late summer. Best used as a ground cover in or near rock gardens, borders, or rocky slopes, it also performs well along paths or walkways. It tolerates heat and humidity.

Alliums or Ornamental Onion: There are hundreds of alliums, including the onions and garlic we eat. The Latin word for garlic is allium.The ornamental varieties often have leaves similar to onions, as well as the onion’s round ball shaped flower heads. However, there are many varieties with star-like clusters of flowers and others, like A. Cernuum, the ‘Nodding Onion’, with hanging pendants of blossoms.

Alliums grow from bulbs. They have strappy, undistinguished leaves and straight tubular flower stalks. The flowers form in clusters and are best known in the round pom-pom form, but they can be start shaped, cup-shaped, semi-circular or pendulous. They thrive in a rich soil with good sunlight.

Solomon’s Seal or Polygonatum odoratum variegatum: Solomon’s Seal is an elegant plant with slender, arching stems and lance-shaped leaves that are either green or tipped with white. The small, tubular white flowers dangle underneath the leaves.

They are easy to grow and once established, they slowly spread to create a lovely ground cover that turns a golden yellow in autumn. Solomon’s Seal thrives in shade to partial shade. It can tolerate sun if the climate is cool and soil is moist.

Which plants have you found to be the most low maintenence? Tell us in the comments.