The table calls it a tie: Russian Sage and Catmint share the crown at 100 and 100 of 100, a gap smaller than the data can honestly split.
Low maintenance here is a documented rating, not a vibe: nothing rated demanding gets in, shrubs and annuals are a different page. The ranking rewards the perennials that come back, shrug off neglect at the edges, survive deer and still pay months of bloom.
The picks
The flowers that won
The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
Documented maintenance load: low · Handles neglect at the edges: both: air pollution, clay soil, drought, poor soil, salt, sandy dry soil, urban · Stands up to deer: A
Flaws, not dealbreakers:no vase data in the postharvest literature
Deer: rarely damaged (Rutgers A)
100/ 100tap for the breakdown
Documented maintenance load40 / 40low
Handles neglect at the edges25 / 25both: air pollution, clay soil, drought, poor soil, salt, sandy dry soil, urban
Documented maintenance load: low · Handles neglect at the edges: both: drought, heavy shade, poor soil, urban · Stands up to deer: A
Flaws, not dealbreakers:toxic to cats
Deer: rarely damaged (Rutgers A)Not for cat households
93/ 100tap for the breakdown
Documented maintenance load40 / 40low
Handles neglect at the edges25 / 25both: drought, heavy shade, poor soil, urban
Stands up to deer15 / 15A
Payoff window13 / 203 months
The protocol
How the score is built
4 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Documented maintenance load40 pointslow upkeep 40; middling 22; demanding 6; sources disagree, we average the range; no rating 20 Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.
Handles neglect at the edges25 pointsshrugs off both drought and poor soil 25; drought only 19; poor soil only 12; neither documented 6; no data 10 Read from: stress tolerances.
Stands up to deer15 pointsRutgers A, rarely damaged 15; B 11; C 5; D, deer candy 0; not rated 7 Read from: the Rutgers deer rating.
Payoff window20 pointsfour or more months of bloom 20; two to three 13; one 5 Read from: the months it is in bloom.
Not ranked here: annual or woody shrub: this list is herbaceous perennials and bulbs.
The full method ↗
The leaderboard
The top ten
The 10 highest of 57 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
Handles neglect at the edges25 / 25both: clay soil, drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, salt, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky
Stands up to deer11 / 15B
Payoff window13 / 203 months
Considered, not chosen
Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this question is not theirs.
annual or woody shrub: this list is herbaceous perennials and bulbsRoses, Sunflower, Hydrangea macrophylla and 25 more
The winner's badge
Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Russian Sage
The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the
table changes, it re-scores itself.
How we rank
We keep one table of 85 flowers,
with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is
a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made
it. A flower that does not fit the question is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is
shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself.
The full method ↗
