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.
A perennial with an open clump-forming erect habit. It has light-green foliage and stems. In summer in bears a succession of deep-yellow flowers with a greenish tinge to the throat and reflexed petals.
Bushy herbaceous perennial with long narrow mid green leaves. In June and July the Hemerocallis Citrina blooms stunning trumpet shaped yellow flowers which are often lightly scented creating a wonderful lemony aroma, blooming in the evenings held tall above the foliage on stiff, erect stems.
Very good cultivar coming from the Netherlands. It has a low growth (clump size is only 35-40cm) and it blooms richly. Rebloomer. This plant was designed to be the star of your garden in the pot or at the edge of the rock garden.
Daylily. A clump-forming perennial with handsome, sword-shaped, arching leaves. Large, gorgeous ribbed and ruffled, creamy blooms with pink edges and yellow-green throat. Height 75cm. Spread 60cm. Herbaceous. Harmful if eaten.
Daylily. A clump-forming perennial with handsome sword-shaped arching leaves. Creamy yellow flowers with dark purple halos and a green throat. Height 75cm. Spread 60cm. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Daylily. Clump-forming, semi-evergreen perennial. Narrow, strap-like, dark green leaves. In summer double, coral-pink flowers with ruffled, recurved petals and yellow-green throats. Herbaceous. Harmful if eaten.
Daylily. Large 6-in, lavender-purple, ruffled flowers with dark purple centres and green-yellow eye zones. Blooms in midsummer and again from late summer to early fall. Grows 18-24 in. tall with a 24 in. Herbaceous. Harmful if eaten.
Daylily. Bright, bold blooms with a golden rim. Flowers early summer. Grows 18-24 in. tall with a 24 in. Herbaceous. Harmful if eaten.
A Daylily with medium stature profuse flowers of soft salmon pink. Increases rapidly July/August. Very floriferous.
A profusion of vibrant tangerine blossoms with slightly ruffled, recurved petals and soft green throats. Wow! Each flower, up to 7.5 in. Blooming in mid-late summer, this clump-forming deciduous perennial grows up to 34 in.
Amazing dwarf daylily, blooms continually from early summer until the first frosts of autumn.
Wonderful deep bright red flowers with yellow highlights to shine in the dullest coldest conditions Jul-Aug, 95cm. Nice old-fashioned narrowish petals and the flowers self-clean.
Daylily. Large orange-gold trumpets with bright yellow throats. Height 45-60cm. Spread 60cm. Herbaceous. Deadhead for long lasting performance. Harmful if eaten.
Daylily. Light orange persimmon with great dark red purple eye and edge. Tetraploid (Heemskerk, 2012). 6 in.(15 cm) Bloom diameter. 27 in. Herbaceous. Harmful if eaten.
Sweet Rocket. A short-lived perennial with dark green leaves. Clusters of white flowers from early spring to mid-summer. Height 90cm. Spread 45cm. Good for bees and other pollinators.
A bright red leaved form that flares up to scarlet flashes from Autumn through to Spring, stunning contrast. Cherry red in Summer.
An amazing new variety with rich pink leaves with red veins and loose panicles of cream flowers in May and throughout summer. Looks amazing in containers or planted en masse in a border.
Perennial forming a dense evergreen mound of heavily ruffled purple-black leaves with a maroon reverse, over-topped in late spring into summer by slender dark purple stems bearing clusters of tiny cream-white flowers, loved by bees and butterflies. Mature height and spread in 2-5 years, 40cm x 40cm.
A fancy version of Green Spice. Beautifully blended reds and greens are accented by super ruffly margins. Grows best with just a little dappled sunlight.
Coral young leaves mature to a lovely apricot colour and provide colour almost all year round. Grow in full sun in neutral, moist but well-drained soil.
Coral Flower. Caramel coloured undulating leaves small white flowers in cylindrical heads late July-Sept. Height 25cm. Spread 50cm. Hardy.
Showy red to burgundy foliage and bears small green and yellow flowers on slender stems during summer.
Soft copper coloured foliage and bears small green and yellow flowers on slender stems during summer.
The heuchera 'Cinnabar Silver' has interesting, silvery foliage with dark veins. Heuchera are versatile. Besides the flowers themselves, heuchera leaves impress with an intense shape and colour. They are a valuable source of nectar. Violet, loose clusters of inflorescences stand above a silvery foliage.
Semi-evergreen, herbaceous perennial grown for its ruffled, rounded leaves in shades of orange-red. In spring, it bears open panicles of small, bell-shaped flowers on dainty stems.
Blood Red veins electrify the bright golden leaves of this stunning plant. Foliage changes from shades of yellow in spring to chartreuse in summer and autumn. Ideal in a container, when finished they can be planted into a bed or border with well drained soil (Heuchera dislike wet roots).
Large lime green leaves in spring, maturing to golden yellow, striking red veins later in the season.
A mound-forming, semi-evergreen, herbaceous perennial with lime-green to mid-green, mottled foliage and tall, arching stems of tiny, bell-shaped, white flowers in spring until summer.
A charming variety, a selection in the Cutie Series, forming a low neat mound of pale mint green foliage with a distinctive shimmer. Sprays of coral pink flowers in late Spring are an added bonus.
Evergreen, clump-forming perennial with attractive rounded leaves and racemes or panicles of small, tubular flowers with colourful calyxes. Ideal as ground cover in a herbaceous, mixed or shrub border. The flowers are good for cutting and are attractive to bees.
Lovely amber-orange foliage and bears small green and yellow flowers on slender stems during summer.
Black, round leaves on a medium large mound.
Lovely lime green foliage and bears small green and yellow flowers on slender stems during summer.
Shiny, broad,. smooth, round leaves that are almost glassy in texture. The black leaves are so smooth they almost appear to have been polished. A knock-out effect with any golden-foliaged plant!
Coral Flower. An attractive mound of glossy metallic bronze-red foliage. Airy panicles of greenish cream flowers in early summer. Height 45-60cm. Spread 45-60cm. Flowers from April to July. Semi-evergreen. Hardy.
Pretty pale pink flowers all spring summer and autumn. Leaves are a pink-caramel in spring and early summer, deepening into late summer and autumn.
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