Question
Hello James,

We have an area  that has poor drainage when it rains or in the early spring, then come late spring- fall, it is very dry with clay soil. My husband doesn't want to get into the work for a french drain, so I am wondering if there are flowering plants that I could place into that area that would do well through the summer and not mind the wet root in the early spring. It is very dry in the summer, but I water annuals in that area and they do well through the summer. But I would like to get periannuals to place in there and forget them .We live in PA. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Carol, Here are some perennials that tolerate wet areas:
Astilbe, Bugbane, many Campanulas, Cardinal Flower, Threadleaf Coreopsis. Lizards Tail. Meadowsweet, Monkshood, Obedient Plant, Turtlehead, Daylilies, Hardy Hibiscus, Japanese Iris, Farfugium and Ligularia, Bee Balm, Spiderwort, Goatsbeard and Swamp Milkweed.
I'd plant them in slightly elevated beds, but these should do quite well for you.  Jim