Burgundy-leafed smoke bushes (Cotinus coggygria) are garden staples, requiring only sun and decently draining soil while contributing dramatically dark leaves all season long. In late summer, the large shrub is topped with puffy clouds of airy flowers, and in autumn the leaves turn shades of vivid, translucent red and purple.

REMEMBER THAT OLD bromide, "It's as easy to love a rich girl as a poor one"? Turns out that hardy plants are every bit as lovable as fussy ones — and ultimately more satisfying, since the reward versus time/work ratio is so heartening.

I've come to the startling realization that there are plenty of plants I don't need to grow anymore. I've learned their habits all too well. I'll admire them in other people's gardens. As I begin planning my new, much smaller garden, I'm ruthlessly eliminating many beauties from the list, while selecting backbone plantings of easy-care, sturdy shrubs, perennials and bulbs. Of course, I won't be able to resist plenty of poppies, herbs and every kind of hydrangea I can squeeze in, but plants that seed themselves all over the place or sucker or demand coddling are just not going to cut it.

NOW IN BLOOM Camellia sasanqua is an early-blooming, sprawling yet more delicate version of the more familiar C. japonica that flowers months later. Its shiny evergreen leaves are smaller, and it looks best espaliered against a wall or trellis. C. sasanqua 'Stephanie Golden' is one of the best new cultivars, for it begins blooming in November, with white and pink semi-double flowers that smell as sweet as summer roses.

What will make the grade are rugged, foolproof plants that'll stay put, or spread so slowly it won't matter. To start, I've put together a short list of strong contenders. While these may seem somewhat arbitrary choices, it is, at least, a considered compilation born of years of observation and untold hours in the garden. Note that you won't find garden staples like daylilies or hellebores; the former needs dividing too often and the latter seed around too much. Not that I probably won't grow both, but sparingly, or in pots, or anyway very close to the house so they'll give the most pleasure possible for the work involved.

Each of these plants needs little or no pruning, deadheading, dividing, fertilizing or winter protection. And they're virtually unkillable — as ideal for the beginning gardener as for the more experienced one looking for sturdy bones in a more complex garden.

Burgundy-leafed smoke bushes (Cotinus coggygria 'Velvet Cloak' or 'Royal Purple'). These shrubs are broadly urn-shaped and topped with puffs of fluffy flowers in late summer. Their dark and handsome leaves are a major presence in the garden, and they do well in any conditions short of deep shade or water-soaked soil.

Mophead hydrangeas (H. macrophylla). In those wetter, shadier spots, plant some of these for fatly rounded flower heads in summer and autumn.

Flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum). This large native shrub with maple-shaped leaves blooms all of March and is virtually bullet-proof. Its red, pink or white flowers feed hummingbirds an early dose of nectar, and all kinds of birds snack on the blue-black berries that follow the flowers.

Crocus, tulips, narcissus, allium. If you have a reasonable amount of sunshine and well-drained soil, go ahead and saturate your garden with bulbs for months of bloom. They are the wizards of the plant world. And if your conditions aren't ideal, it's worth building raised beds and stocking up on pots to create the conditions they prefer.

Lungworts (Pulmonaria species). For earliest spring color, plant a few bright-blue, white or salmon-pink ones. Low-growing, with leaves splashed in silver or white, they bloom for many weeks, and, miraculously, slugs leave them alone at a damp time of year. They take any conditions but dry and hot.

Coral bells (Heuchera species). A little later in the season this ultimate foliage perennial takes center stage. The scallop-leafed lovelies come in shades from near-black to amber, silver-veined and every permutation of purple. Both of these sturdy perennials rarely need dividing, and their foliage lasts year-round.

Sweet box (Sarcococca ruscifolia and its shorter cousin, S. humilis). Nearly perfect plants, with glossy evergreen foliage and intensely vanilla-scented white winter flowers followed by showy fruit.

Rosemary. Of all the popular Mediterranean shrubs, I'd pick rosemary never to be without, in both its prostrate and upright forms. Its fragrant foliage clears the sinuses, flavors the soup and stays glossed with blue flowers much of the year. Another bonus: It needs virtually no care.

New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax). Rugged and vigorous with rigid bronze blades, these plants add a strong architectural element to the mix.

Hardy fuchsias. Long-flowering, humming-bird-attracting and drought-tolerant, hardy fuchsias will keep the garden blooming until frost.