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I'm lost in a sea of articles with none of them actually answering my question so I turn here.

Currently I plant mums every year in my front yard (Midwest region: Kansas, Lots of sunlight on the area) and I'd like to stop the costly act especially since you can only really enjoy them in the fall.

So, can someone tell me of a similar or as equivalent as possible plant type as the mum that offers the same large compact rounded ball flowering look of a mum. That could be enjoyed at least through spring/summer/fall that will grow back after winter and flower again?

Preferably in a white color to keep my curbside appeal but allow me to forego the purchasing/planting of new plants every darn year?

VividD
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Chris W.
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  • Do you have access to a greenhouse? Or have a room to propagate any plants? –  Mar 04 '16 at 21:39
  • @Rosie I don't have a greenhouse but I'm sure I could facilitate something. What do you have in mind? – Chris W. Mar 04 '16 at 21:59
  • I haven't got a list yet, but it does open up the type of plant available....... Will get back to you –  Mar 04 '16 at 22:04
  • @Rosie thank you very much, I don't have much of an inventory in my head of such things so any recommendations are appreciated. :) – Chris W. Mar 04 '16 at 22:07
  • Do you want perennial plants or annual plants like your chrysanth's? Hence the question of greenhouse access. –  Mar 04 '16 at 22:07
  • I'm shooting for something with minimal maintenance but still offering a colorful flowering stage. Currently I have about a dozen of them lined roughly 3ft apart from center-to-center in a lined and mulched flowerbed. I'd like to just have to clean out the leaves/debris each spring and add more mulch while relying on these plants to survive winter and flower in the better season. Hope that helps. Currently every year I'm buying a dozen large mums (sorry, I'm not familiar with the class, they just come from home depot) which don't seem to ever make it through winter. – Chris W. Mar 04 '16 at 22:13
  • Ok so tough, low maintenance, flowering and white or white ish and up to about 12" high? –  Mar 04 '16 at 22:15
  • @Rosie Yes ma'am (I assume it's miss?) though white isn't an absolute requirement, the home is a light blue with red-brick base. So something that would make a reasonable accent color. In the past I've primarily used white, yellow, and orange('ish). – Chris W. Mar 04 '16 at 22:18

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Convolvulus cneorum as a possible starter? Up to 60cm in height. A shrubby bindweed, silvery leaves, with the buds slightly pink, planting something pink as well as a contrast. Lavenders? I'll keep thinking..... Pelargoniums will flower for a long time if dead headed. They can be over wintered in an unheated but frost free space. Can provide cuttings for the following years. Short stemmed dahlias that may need to be lifted and their tubers stored frost free overwinter. The colour and variety depending on your colour preference. As they grow they can be used to produce further plants that can be used to replace some lost over winter. Some have dark red leaves others green, with a broad range of colours.

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You could try some Aubrieta - I will try these out myself next season, they have dense flowering, are available in white but mostly purple, you can grow them by seeds so relatively cheap to do a large area. They are also reasonably sun & drought tolerant. I was planning on trying some on my vertical wall to give a seasonal patch of colour.

Damo Frankcom
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If you do have access to a poly tunnel or greenhouse, you may want to consider buying annuals as plug plants and growing them on. That will reduce the costs considerably, just a thought