There ar sooo many choices. Are you looking for a particular color, texture or bloom time?

Nothing is guaranteed :) There are, however, nurseries that will give a 1 or 2 year warranty on the plants they sell.

I am sure there are folks who could give a long list of plants suitable in Wisconsin, but Wisconsin isn't homogeneous so an idea of where in Wisconsin would help. Wisconsin has land in zones 3-5 and what works in zone 5 won't necessarily work in zone 3. Much of the soil is clay, but there is also silt and sand. pH ranges from mid 5s to mid 7s. These will all be important factors in what thrives, what survives and what dies.

Check out this site...
http://www.northscaping.com/Tools/LPS-Engine.asp?10000000

its probably the best searchable plant database out there. They do lack some of the new varieties released in the last 3 years or so, but you can search on so many criteria.

For example, select perennial, flower color, zone hardiness, size and BOOM...list of perrenials to research.

I'm sorry. I should have asked a more thorough question for zone 5b. I should have asked about some perennials with which gardeners in the Milwaukee area have had some relative success. And any kind of perennial would be fine. The longer bloom period the better in my book, but some good plant choices for the area and any perennials anyone might suggest would be great. Thank you.

I live about 75 miles north of Milwaukee and have a yard full of perennials. The hosta is great for shady places. Lilacs, rhodendrons, ajuga, lily of the valley, bleeding heart, tulips, Oriental poppies, daffodils and hyacinths and my personal favorite, the primrose, which is the earliest to flower most years for me, are all good plants for spring flowers here. For more toward summer there is the Coral Bells, Ladies Mantle, Clematis, Bridal Wreath, the lilies-Oriental and Asiatic, day lilies (the Stella D'Oro has a long bloom time), roses (with some winter protection), Astillbe, coneflowers, Goat's Beard also known as Aruncus, perennial bachelor button, I have the deep royal blue one and the purple one, delphinium, achillea, Monarda,which is bright red, pink or purple, and Iris which come in every color of the rainbow and more. For later summer there's the hedge of pink spirea, the blanket flower (Guillardia), Shasta Daisy, phlox, Lichnis, Rose Campion and hydrangea. For fall I have different sedum, lots of black-eyed susans, the Rose of Sharon, and plenty of volunteer annuals from previous years, especially the Amaranthus Love Lies Bleeding, and Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate. I'm trying to picture my own gardens from season to season. I'm sure there are lots more, but these are what I have and there's no shortage of colorful blooms all Spring, summer, and fall. I can't wait to see what comes up this year after the winter we've had. With all the snow, I'll be the displays will be more luxurious than ever.

I'm in Madison and some of my favorites are hardy hibiscus, salvia (Blue Queen), sedum (dragon's blood for groundcover and Autumn Joy), volcano phlox, Russian sage, Cranesbill geranium, yucca (ColorGuard), Rudbeckia Cappucino, Casablanca lily.

I grow a tropicalesque garden so I lift a lot of my plants in the fall. That's canna, dahlia, elephant ears, jasmine, dragonwing begonia (makes a great houseplant, blooms all winter), hardy banana (musa basjoo, which is supposed to be hardy to zone 5, although I've never had luck). All of those plants love the humidity here and the clay soil holds moisture well. They're not perennials here obviously, but you can lift them or treat them like annuals.