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.
Oriental Poppy. Large, black seed capsule centres surrounded by dark purple stamens which enhance the 4 to 6 inch wide, white, papery blooms. Its strong stems, covered with fine hair, support the large blooms from late spring through early summer.
Stunning flowers, which will pop up anywhere in the garden once established, but are easy to pull up if in the wrong place. Their silvery foliage makes them easy to spot, and contrasts beautifully with the lush, rich flowers.
A large-leaved bushy perennial with large, pretty tubular-shaped, wine-red flowers with a lighter red throat. Height 90cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Semi-evergreen. Protect from frost. Sheltered Site.
A large-leaved bushy perennial with large, pretty tubular-shaped, wine-red flowers with a lighter red throat. Height 90cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Semi-evergreen. Protect from frost. Sheltered Site.
Fresh, glossy leaves on a short and compact plant throughout summer. It begins to show beautiful lavender-to-violet flowers in June.
Husker Red is a bushy perennial to 75cm tall, with lance-shaped, wine-red young leaves and stems, panicles of bell-shaped, pure white flowers 2.5cm long in late spring and early summer.
A large-leaved perennial with large tubular-shaped. pretty pure white flowers becoming pink tinged. Height 60cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Semi-evergreen. Protect from frost. Sheltered Site.
Semi-evergreen perennial with green leafy stems. From mid summer to late autumn, it bears racemes of large, creamy-white, bell-shaped flowers with deep pink markings.
Flowers of glowing light pink over a white base. The throat is white with pink streaks. Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
A large-leaved perennial with large tubular-shaped. pretty greyish blue flowers. suffused purple and green. Height 60cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Semi-Evergreen.Protect from frost. Sheltered Site.
Silvery green foliage contrasts w/tiny blue flowers. Also known as Russian Sage, this is a perennial staple, and now there are seed produced varieties! Sky blue flower spikes beautifully set off slivery green foliage.
A mat-forming, evergreen perennial with large, dark green leaves turning red in autumn and spikes of pink flowers turning red when mature. Height 25cm. Spread 50cm. Flowers from July to October. Evergreen. Hardy.
Bistort. A clump-forming, semi-evergreen perennial with mid-green leaves and slender spikes of red orange flowers. Height 1.2m. Spread 1.2m. Flowers from July to September. Semi-evergreen. Hardy.
Bistort. A clump-forming, semi-evergreen perennial with mid-green leaves and slender spikes of black tipped, red flowers. Height 1.2m. Spread 1.2m. Flowers from July to September. Semi-evergreen. Hardy.
Long red bottlebrush like flowers produced from summer onwards on relatively compact plants. Sunny well drained spot. Height 60-80cm. Hardy.
A particularly lovely variety, bearing delicate spikes of orange-pink flowers above a mound of large, oval mid-green leaves. Grow in moist soil, such as in a bog garden or next to a pond. Lift and divide congested clumps in spring or autumn.
Bistort. A clump-forming, semi-evergreen perennial with handsome mid-green leaves and short dense spikes of soft pink flowers. Height 90cm. Spread 90cm. Flowers from June to October. Semi-evergreen. Hardy.
Red Dragon' is a vigorous, spreading perennial with lance-shaped, purplish-green leaves with a bold central splash of purple bordered by a silver chevron marking and rounded clusters of tiny white flowers in late summer and autumn.
'Purple Fantasy' is a perennial plant with low mounds of upright stems, creeping vigorously from stout rhizomes. Triangular leaves emerge maroon-purple in spring, turning green and developing purple markings, with leaf undersides tinged pink; these are held on short winged stalks. Tiny pink or white flowers in 1cm pompoms bloom in profusion and are borne on stem tips of slender stems to 60cm high from midsummer to autumn.
'Purple Fantasy' is a perennial plant with low mounds of upright stems, creeping vigorously from stout rhizomes. Triangular leaves emerge maroon-purple in spring, turning green and developing purple markings, with leaf undersides tinged pink; these are held on short winged stalks. Tiny pink or white flowers in 1cm pompoms bloom in profusion and are borne on stem tips of slender stems to 60cm high from midsummer to autumn.
Jerusalem Sage. A mound-forming, shrub with grey-green leaves, woolly beneath and dark golden yellow flowers in early and mid-summer. Height 1m. Spread 1.5m. Flowers from June to July. Evergreen. Hardy. Sheltered Site.
Phlomis russeliana is a hairy perennial to 90cm in height, with large, ovate, rough-textured grey-green leaves. Stout stems bear whorls of hooded, soft yellow flowers 3cm in length.
Meadow Phlox. An erect perennial with narrow green leaves and fragrant. lilac-pink striped white flowers in early and mid-summer. Height 90cm. Spread 45cm. Flower colour Lilac White Pink. Flowers from June to July. Herbaceous. Foliage colour Green. Hardy.
Perennial Phlox. An erect perennial with narrow green leaves and fragrant clusters of pink flowers with a purple eye in mid-summer and early autumn. Height 90cm. Spread 60-90cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous.
Compact, bushy mound-forming, herbaceous perennial with broadly lance-shaped, dark green leaves and, in summer, upright panicles of fragrant, pink flowers with darker pink eyes.
Summer Phlox is very popular for its midsummer display in the border.
Huge blooms release clouds of beautiful perfume in summer, and as Phlox are excellent as cut flowers this can be brought into the home too. Natural dwarf and disease resistant, they are happy in borders and containers with neat, compact upright foliage. Attractive to butterflies. Prefers well drained soil in sun or partial shade. Height 30cm. Spread 45cm. Hardy perennial.
White with pink buds & eyes giving the effect of being blush pink. Real beauty, deliciously scented and compact.
Perennial Phlox. An erect perennial with narrow green leaves and fragrant clusters of red flowers with a scarlet glow in mid-summer and early autumn. Height 75cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous.
An upright, suckering perennial with evergreen dark green leaves and tubular cream flowers in summer. Flowers from June to August. Evergreen. Height 1m.
An upright, suckering perennial with evergreen dark green leaves and tubular deep rose flowers in summer. Flowers from June to August. Evergreen. Height 1m.
The tallest of the Funfair series with handsome spikes of light burgundy trumpets emerging in June. Prefers partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
Upright suckering shrub with evergreen dark green leaves and tubular, deep pink flowers in summer. Height 1m. Spread 1.2m. Flowers from June to August. Evergreen. Frost hardy. Sheltered site.
Endemic to China, Podophyllum delavayi has a 10-20 cm umbrella leaf (rarely two) deeply cut into 6-8 lobes. The juvenile leaves (but not those on flowering plants) are usually spectacularly patterned, marbled, zoned and blotched in shades of green, red, purple, bronze, black and white.
Exotic hybrid related to our native May Apple. Upright stems appear in spring, bearing huge, lobed umbrella-shaped chartreuse leaves boldly marked with rich chocolate-brown spots. Mature plants produce garnet-red flowers and fleshy fruits.
Solomon's Seal. A perennial with red tinted stems of narrow leaves. Small tubular creamy white flowers. Height 1m. Spread 30cm. Flowers from May to June. Herbaceous. Hardy. Harmful if eaten.
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