No-Fuss Plants

Succulents

• Succulents are evergreen plants with especially thick leaves and stems. The thickness of a succulent's leaves and stems allows the plant to retain water. As a result, succulents are extremely low-maintenance since gardeners only water these plants once or twice per week. Succulents are also able to grow in hot and dry climates. Also, they only require fertilizer in their surrounding soil once or twice annually. No-fuss succulents grow in a variety of sizes, including small aloe standing 2 to 3 feet tall and medium-sized cacti growing between 5 to 10 feet.

Perennials

• Perennials are plants that live longer than one year. Some perennials are herbaceous, meaning they wilt to the ground during the winter to conserve energy, while others have woody stems. No-fuss perennials usually only require a minimal amount of water, two to three times per week, and adapt well to moist soils. According to the Iowa State University Extension, some no-fuss perennials are Russian sages, hardy geraniums, daffodils, daylilies and coneflowers. These plants grow best when in full sunlight. Among the no-fuss perennials with a high tolerance for shade are mayapples, bleeding hearts and jack-in-the-pulpits.

Annuals

• While perennials live longer than one year, annual plants only live for one year, and flowering annuals have one blooming cycle. According to the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, some characteristics of no-fuss annuals are thorough adaptation to multiple soil types, insect- and disease-resistant, minimal pruning for flowering, and consistent flower color or size throughout their blooming cycles. Begonias, impatiens, blue salvias and ornamental basils are some no-fuss annuals. One of the tallest no-fuss annuals is Blue Bedder blue salvia cultivar, which grows up to 3 feet tall.

Vines

• Also known as climbing plants, vines are plants that rely on an outside source of support rather than a stem. Vines are usually perennial plants. However, some gardeners grow vines as groundcovers to cover up bald patches of earth. Many vine species produce flowers such as Japanese honeysuckles and bougainvilleas. Purple allamanda, beach bean, lingaro and night blooming cereus are some low-maintenance vines in terms of sunlight, salt tolerance and soil preferences. The only maintenance some vines require is pruning to prevent the plants from overtaking shrubs and other plants.