Care & Guidance
Whilst you enjoy your perennials for their fantastic foliage or beautiful blooms, it's really the roots you're buying - because the roots allow the plants to come back every year. Use these tips to make sure your perennials get off to the right start.
Container grown perennials are easy to plant and commonly available. Start digging a hole that's a little wider but no deeper than the pot your new perennial came in. Loosen the roots, and spread them out if the plant has become rootbound* (*when roots start to grow in circles around the edge of the pot). Then firm the soil in around the roots and water well.
Planting Tips: water your perennials well after you plant them. Then lay a 2-3 inch deep layer of mulch over the soil around your new plants. The mulch will help the soil hold moisture and prevent weeds from growing. Give taller perennials such as delphiniums, holihocks and peonies support by staking them. Anchor single stems by inserting a rod or sturdy stick into the ground and tying the stem to it. Keep clump forming plants with multiple stems standing, by growing through a hoop. Regularly deadhead and divide your perennials to keep them healthy and looking beautiful.
Deadheading: simply means cutting the faded flowers off your plants. It makes your plants look better and it prevents them from setting seed so you don't have a mass of seedlings popping up in your garden.
Dividing: One of the best things about perennials is that they grow bigger and better each year. But many start to crowd themselves out if they get too big. Keep them performing well by digging them out of the ground and splitting them into smaller chunks every 3 or 4 years. Early spring and autumn are the best times to divide most perennials. A couple of exceptions include bearded iris and hosta: split these perennials in summer.
Watering: There's no one-size fits all rule for watering perennials. Some varieties stand up to drought and others need to be kept moist all the time. Keep your plants healthier and make watering a breeze by grouping plants in acccordance with their watering needs. No matter what perennials you're growing, be sure to keep them all well watered in the first year - that allows them to become well established.
Feeding: If you have rich soil or improve it with garden compost or other forms of organic matter on a regular basis, you probably won't need to feed your plants, But if you're burdened with poor soil, fertilising can be helpful. Take care not to over fertilise - this may make your plants flower less, suffer root injury, or even kill your perennials.
Winter Care: Perennials that are reliably cold hardy in your region shouldn't need any special winter care. But spreading a layer of mulch over them after the soil freezes can help prevent winter damage during an especially cold season. Many gardeners like to leave the dead stems of their perennials standing all winter, providing food for birds. Perennials can help to catch snow, which is one of the best winter mulches.
Bear's breeches. A clump-forming hardy perennial with dark green leaves. Spikes of white flowers with purple bracts produced in summer. Height 1.4m. Spread 80cm. Flowers from July to September.
Bear's breeches. A clump-forming perennial with deeply cut, dark green leaves. Spikes of white flowers with purple bracts produced in summer. Height 1.2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from July to September. Hardy.
A low growing Achillea with silver foliage with sulphur-yellow flowers that appear in spring. Prefers full sun, or partial shade with moist soil or compost. Ideal for bed edges, rock gardens, banks, walls and containers.
Compact bushy variety of Achillea ideally suited to pots and containers has a myriad of bi-coloured deep red flowers with striking yellow button centres make an eye-catching display.
Compact bushy variety of Achillea ideally suited to pots and containers has a myriad of bi coloured rose flowers with striking yellow button centres make an eye-catching display.
Compact bushy variety of Achillea ideally suited to pots and containers has a myriad of bicoloured terracotta yellow flowers.
Yarrow. A compact clump forming perennial with evergreen silvery grey leaves. Dusky Orange fading to yellow flower heads. Height 80cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to September.
An unusual Yarrow with fabulous double, white pompom like flowers from June to September. Very good for cutting and drying.
Yarrow. Sneezewort. A perennial with dark green finely cut leaves. Bears double white flowerheads. Height 1m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from June to September. Hardy.
Monkshood. An upright perennial with dark green leaves. Dense spikes of indigo-blue flowers. Height 1.4m. Spread 40cm. Flowers from July to September. Hardy. CAUTION toxic if eaten.
Member of the Ranunculaceae family. A clump-forming perennial with black pinnate leaves and pink spike forming flowers Jul-Sep. Height 60cm. Spread 40cm. Herbaceous.
Member of the Ranunculaceae family. A clump-forming perennial with black pinnate leaves Pink spike forming flowers Jul-Sep. 60cm. Spread 40cm. Herbaceous.
A 'must-have' for a woodland garden. Deeply dissected purple leaves and stems contrast wonderfully with arching spiked flowers. No staking needed.
Agapanthus (African lily) are summer-flowering perennial plants, grown for their showy flowers, blue. They thrive in any well-drained, sunny position in the garden, or grow these beauties in containers.
African Lily. A clump-forming perennial with strap-shaped green leaves. Rounded clusters of bell-shaped, white flowers. Height 100cm. Flowers from July to September Herbaceous Hardy.
A lovely, modern cultivar with large umbels of rich, violet-blue flowers during mid-late summer. The strong and sturdy stems can take on a glorious dark purple hue when the sunlight catches them. Excellent for container planting. Height to 90cm.
This is the darkest Agapanthus inapertus pendulus cultivar. Drooping inky indigo flowers in late summer. Deciduous. Height 80cm. Spread 50cm.
Clumps of large, strap-shaped leaves, from which large umbels of blue-throated, white trumpet-shaped flowers appear from summer into autumn.
Agapanthus (African lily) are summer-flowering perennial plants, grown for their showy flowers, Blue. They thrive in any well-drained, sunny position in the garden, or grow these beauties in containers.
Hardy cultivar which produces large umbels of dark blue flowers above distinct deciduous leaves having dark violet blue/black bases. Sunny well drained spot. Height 60cm-80cm.
Produces an elegant display of dark, purple-black buds that open to reveal starry, violet blooms. The domed flower heads perch neatly upon stiff, upright stems above the slender, arching foliage. Height 60cm. Spread 45cm.
A strong growing hybrid with nodding, blue-purple flowers. Height: 30". Flowers: July - August.
A compact, clump-forming perennial to 50cm tall with deciduous, strap-like, dark green foliage. In summer, it bears large, rounded umbels of flowers up to 20cm across on short, sturdy stems; the trumpet-shaped flowers are a deep blue at the base with white flaring petal tips.
African Lily. Huge heads in a purist white with elegant, long lasting seed pods too. An unusual variety with extra large and many-petalled heads. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Scented foliage with tubular flowers of smoky lilac opening from dark purple buds. Its compact bushy habit makes it ideal for containers as well as borders. Flowers from July to the first frosts. Attracts butterflies. Height 75cm.
Soft-blue flowers beginning in midsummer. Foliage is chartreuse-yellow, holding the colour well with a bit of afternoon shade. Attractive to butterflies.
A compact growing Agastache hybrid, with long-blooming flower spikes in a delightful changing colour mix of creamy coconut, pale orange and light rose-pink. Blooms early summer through September. Highly attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies.
Spikes of deep, violet-blue flowers are held over deep green, upright, branched foliage. Prefers full sun or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
An attractive ground cover plant with rich evergreen foliage and spikes of blue flowers in spring. Remove spent flowers if required. Height 20cm. Spread 35cm.
Burgundy Glow is a creeping perennial with evergreen leaves, silvery-green suffused with wine-red, and short spikes of deep blue flowers in late spring and early summer.
Bright gold leaves and beautiful blue flower spikes in the spring and summer. Excellent as a groundcover, especially in shady positions.
Compact, dense, mat-forming, evergreen to semi-evergreen perennial with narrowly ovate, pale grey-green leaves with cream to pale yellow margins, flushed pink in spring, and spike-like whorls of blue flowers in late spring and early summer.
Hollyhock. Vigorous, upright perennial with rounded light green leaves. Flowers tall and stately. Height 2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Spray with systhane to protect from rust.
Hollyhock. Vigorous. upright perennial with rounded light green leaves. Flowers tall and stately Height 2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Spray with systhane to protect from rust.
Lady's Mantle. A clump-forming perennial. Shallowly lobed, sharp-toothed, hairy pale-green leaves. Loose tiny yellow-green flowers. Height 60cm. Spread 80cm. Flowers from June to September. Useful for flower arranging.
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