Hardy Perennials for Zone 5B

[jfinner1]

Hello everyone! I'm looking for some flower advice. I'm a bit clueless in the gardening department, and my family always jokes that I have a black thumb. But I have two beds in my front yard, and I really like them to look at least half decent. I live in Akron, Ohio, which I think is Zone 5B, though I'm not really sure what that means or how zones work. One of the beds I think would be considered full sun, the other gets shaded from a tree, so partial sun? The only plants I've had real success with are tiger lilies, which I love. So I'm looking for some ideas on flowers that are perennials, don't require a whole lot of attention, and will bloom at different times so I have something blooming for most of the summer. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks in advance!

[mtmickey]

Iris, mums, other types of lilies. Although not perennials, will self seed and continue growing year after year, are columbine, lupine, snapdragons

[jfinner1]

Wow, I just looked, and I never knew there were so many different kinds of lilies! Would it be possible to do a completely lily flower bed, with all different kinds of lilies that bloom at different times of the year? That would be awesome!

[mtmickey]

in one of my beds I have tiger lilies, asiatic lilies and day lilies. They all bloom at different times and it looks beautiful. That same bed has iris, lupine, and lavendar (which I forgot to mention), tulips, hyacinth, glacier lilies (wild flower here), mums, hostas...you get the idea...there is always something in bloom, starting very early in the season, through the fall.