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 short-lived perennial with silver-woolly leaves. Branched stems of pinkish white flowers from mid to late summer. Height 90cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from July to August. Semi-evergreen. Hardy.
Beautiful, pineapple scented, golden foliage. Flowers are a scarlet red colour and appear in summer. Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
An erect bushy perennial with grey stems bearing pointed lance shaped wavy. Glossy mid grey-green leaves. Produces blue flowers throughout summer months in tall spikes. Height 60cm. Spread 30cm.
Long stems with dark blue flowers, they can be planted in the plant border but also can be used as a pot plant. The spikes of blue violet appear all summer.
Long stems with dark blue flowers, they can be planted in the plant border but also can be used as a pot plant. The spikes of blue violet appear all summer.
A shrubby perennial or evergreen shrub with pale green leaves. Blooms early summer to fall, its airy flowering spikes changing throughout the season from solid colours to bi-color deep violet and white mid to late summer. Height 1m. Spread 1m. Flowers from July to October. Evergreen. Frost hardy. Protect from winter wet.
Small bushy shrub with vivid blue/purple flowers for most of the year. Flowering most of the year on long thin green stems held above the foliage to attract passing insects. Calyces: are a darker purple, ribbed with fine dark blue/purple hairs. Height 60cm.
Vibrantly coloured flowers top the upright stems of this aromatic perennial for several months from early summer. The foliage is a fresh green, and when crushed or brushed over, it emits a delicious minty smell. Fabulous for pots and containers, it will become drought tolerant once established.
'Black and Blue' is a tall perennial with a running rootstock, forming a wide clump of stems bearing ovate leaves and loose spikes of dark blue flowers 4cm long, each set in black calyx, and opening in late summer and autumn. Height 2.5m, Spread 90cm.
The flower colour of this glorious perennial is quite simply breath-taking. From late summer to late autumn, 30cm long upright spikes carry sumptuously coloured purple-blue flowers, which are held at their bases by near-black calyces This is a vigorous plant, but it is not fully hardy, so it will need some protection in winter. Therefore, it is ideally suited to grow near a sheltered, south facing wall.
Colour: Pink/White. Height: 70cm-80cm. Spread: 70cm-80cm. Planting Position: Sunny, Well drained.
Lovely peach coloured flowers from Jun-Oct. Good for pollinators. Grow in sun with well drained soil. Cut back in Winter, mulch with compost to protect from severe frosts below -5C. Height & spread 2ft.
A shrubby perennial or evergreen shrub with deep green leaves. Spikes of deep blue flowers from late summer to early autumn. Height 90-120cm. Spread 60-90cm. Flowers from June to September. Evergreen. Not hardy. Protect from winter wet.
A shrubby perennial or evergreen shrub with deep green leaves. Spikes of purple flowers from late summer to early autumn. Height 90-120cm. Spread 60-90cm. Flowers from August to September. Evergreen. Not hardy. Protect from winter wet.
A shrubby perennial or evergreen shrub with blue flowers. Height: 70cm-80cm. Spread: 70cm-80cm. Planting Position: Sunny, Well drained. Hardiness: Generally frost hardy. Flowering Period: April-September.
A shrubby perennial or evergreen shrub. Blue flowers. Height 70-80cm. Spread 70-80cm. Planting position: Sunny and well drained. Generally frost hardy. Flowers April-September.
Bicoloured flowers, namely pink with a subtle transition to a white lip. The plant is suitable for both gardens and pots.
A shrubby perennial or evergreen shrub with pale green leaves. Spikes of cerise-pink flowers from mid-summer to autumn. Height 1m. Spread 1m. Flowers from July to October. Evergreen. Frost hardy. Protect from winter wet.
A shrubby perennial or evergreen shrub with deep green leaves. Spikes of deep crimson flowers from late summer to early autumn. Height 90-120cm. Spread 60-90cm. Flowers from August to September. Evergreen. Not hardy. Protect from winter wet
Lilac-white flowers on long flower stems over aromatic stiff, green foliage. Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
A dwarf perennial with greyish green leaves. Violet-Blue flowers. Excellent border plant with spikey blue flowers. Flowers early-mid-summer. Height 45cm. Spread 60cm. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A dwarf perennial with greyish green leaves. Beautiful flowers spikes in violet blue from mid-summer to early autumn. Height 40cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
This salvia flowers with spikes of violet-blue from June to October and is a magnet for butterflies and bees. The grey-green, aromatic foliage also makes an attractive accent in the summer border.
Medium to tall, with flowers of deep violet-blue held on unusually dark stems. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A tuberous perennial with hairy mid-green leaves. Large pale blue flowers from mid-summer to mid-autumn. Height 45-60cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to October. Herbaceous. Tender perennial.
Vigorous, clump-forming, moisture-loving, deciduous perennial with oblong to lance-shaped, toothed, slightly sticky, dark green leaves and terminal racemes of two-lipped, bright blue flowers from late summer to mid-autumn.
Herbaceous perennial, upright, frost-tender, woody-based perennial to 75cm tall with small, aromatic, mid green leaves.
Herbaceous perennial, up to 1m high, with red stems, aromatic, pale olive-green leaves and abundant, citrus-scented, rich pink flowers with darker pink calyces from midsummer to autumn.
This hardy perennial forms a neat clump of mid-green, scented foliage with beautiful, slender, upright flower spikes in complimentary shades of blue and purple. Blooms all summer and into autumn.
Long, maroon spikes of small flowers, like bottle-brushes, sit on slender, willowy stems above a clump of deeply divided, grey-green leaves, tinted red. Height 1.5m. Spread 50cm.
Clump-forming, spreading, herbaceous perennial with pinnate, fern-like, dark green leaves and slender, erect, branching stems bearing long, nodding, bottlebrush-like spikes of white, fluffy flowers in summer and early autumn.
Clump-forming perennial, to 1.4m tall, with dark red, egg-shaped flowerheads held above the divided foliage in summer. Moist but well drained soil. Sun or part shade.
Tumbling Ted. A mat-forming alpine with bright green leaves. Loose clusters of white flowers in summer. Height 8cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Tumbling Ted. A mat-forming alpine with bright green leaves. Loose clusters of pink flowers in summer. Height 8cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Mat-forming semi-evergreen perennial, with grey-green foliage reaching a height of 35cm. It displays five-petalled pink blooms throughout summer and autumn on hairy stems.
Saxifrage. A rosette-forming saxifrage with rosettes of black leaves and ruby red flowers in autumn.
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