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 stiff, compact, open clump-forming, herbaceous perennial with erect, branching stems bearing few oblong to lance-shaped, wrinkled, toothed, dark green leaves, hairy beneath, and branched clusters of small salverform, purple flowers from midsummer to early autumn.
A tall erect perennial with pretty clusters of violet flowers. Height 2m. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Frost hardy. Shelter from strong winds.
A stunning Verbena that produces an abundance of blue flowers borne on tall well branched spires where bushy deciduous foliage sits below. A brilliant hardy plant that will thrive in moist, well-drained soil in full sun.
Speedwell. A clump-forming veronica which typically grows to 18-24" tall. Dense, vertical terminal spikes of tiny, pure white flowers tower above the foliage in summer. Herbaceous. Hardy.
'Georgia Blue' forms beautiful mats of purple-tinged leaves. In spring, this free-flowering groundcover boasts abundant iridescent blue flowers. It grows to about 9 inches high and a foot wide. It is a vigorous and easy-to-grow cultivar.
Prostrate Speedwell. A dense, mat-forming alpine with narrow bright to mid-green leaves. Short spikes of pale to deep blue flowers in early spring to mid-summer. Height 15cm. Spread 40cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Low growing perennial. Excellent for use as ground cover, having a quick growing, spreading habit. Flowers from June through to September. Intense indigo blue colour flower spikes fading to a light emerald. Height 10 - 50cm. Spread 10 - 15cm. Sun/partial shade.
Speedwell. A mat-forming perennial with toothed green leaves. Erect spikes of pretty pink flowers in summer. Height 30cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous.
A mat-forming perennial with toothed green leaves. Erect spikes of bright blue flowers in summer. Spread 45cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Dense, slender spires of bright, fuchsia-pink flower spikes appear all summer long over toothed, fresh green leaves. Prefers full sun or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
Culver's Root. A tall erect perennial with dark green leaves. Spikes of white flowers from mid-summer to early autumn. Height 1.5m. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous.
An erect, deciduous perennial with whorls of lance-shaped, pointed, toothed, dark green leaves. Strong, upright stems bearing slender, dense, terminal racemes of tubular, pale pink flowers. Flowers from July to September. Height 1.2 - 1.5m. Spread 25cm. Attracts bees and butterflies.
Culver's Root. A tall erect perennial with dark green leaves. Spikes blue flowers from mid-summer to early autumn. Height 2m. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Multiple graceful mauve spires June-September. Easy to grow flowers from mid-summer to early autumn. Height 1m.
A slightly misleading name, because the spikes of small flowers are lilac when they open, but the buds are deep pinks and the side flowers open at the same time as the main flower (unlike many other veronicastrums) to form arrows! The flowers are carried in a candelabra form up the straight stems with perfectly placed long mid green leaves. Handsome as all veronicastrums are.
Lesser Periwinkle. A mat-forming evergreen shrub with trailing stems of dark green leaves. Dark plum-purple flowers produced from mid-spring to autumn. Height 10-20cm. Spread Indefinite. Flowers from April to September. Evergreen.
Lesser Periwinkle. A mat-forming evergreen shrub with trailing stems of dark green leaves. Blue flowers produced from mid-spring to autumn. Height 10-20cm. Spread indefinite.
Lesser Periwinkle. Prostrate, mat-forming to trailing, evergreen perennial or subshrub bearing glossy, ovate, dark green leaves with yellow margins and purple-blue flowers from mid-spring into autumn.
Lesser Periwinkle. A mat-forming evergreen shrub with trailing stems of dark green leaves. Dark blue flowers produced from mid-spring to autumn. Height 10-20cm. Spread Indefinite. Flowers from April to September. Evergreen. Hardy.
They will grow in sun or dappled shade in most soils where they will cover the ground with their evergreen leaves. The leaves are either variegated or green and the flowers are white. Good for underplanting and easy to grow.
Periwinkle. Spreading evergreen perennial. Yellow leaves with green edges with numerous small blue flowers spring, summer and autumn. Grow in any moist or well drained soil in full sun, part shade or full shade. Height 10-20cm. Spread 100-150cm.
'Verino' is a prostrate, mat-forming to trailing, evergreen subshrub bearing glossy, ovate, dark green leaves and reddish-purple to dark purple flowers from mid-spring into summer.
Etain violet forms well-behaved clumps and blooms from time to time from spring through fall.
A spreading. perennial with tiny flat-faced purple flowers in spring-summer. Height 2.5 - 5cm. Spread indefinite. Evergreen. Hardy.
'Rebecca Cawthorne' is a compact, mat-forming, evergreen perennial with ovate, toothed, dark green leaves and, from late spring to late autumn, fragrant, white flowers with irregular, purple petal margins.
Light blue with violet speckles. Suitable for natural landscaping. Use for low maintenance plantings. Moderate self-sowing at suitable locations. Suitable for pot and planter. Attractive for butterflies and other pollinators. Deer resistant. Erosion control. Deer resistant. Easy to grow.
A low-growing perennial with rounded dark green leaves. White flowers heavily speckled with violet-purple in spring and summer. Self-seeds freely. Height 10cm. Spread 20cm. Flowers from March to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A rare mixture of all the Viola Sororia Sorority colours ranging from white to dark blue and pale blue to red many being speckled as well. A lovely low-growing perennial, ideal for rockeries and shady borders.
Night Scented Phlox. This will give you unsurpassable honey-vanilla scent as the sun goes down. Foliage forms a compact mound. Unique flowers appear crimson-red when closed, and white when open. Prefers full sun, or partial shade. Free-draining, soil or compost.
Arum Lily. A clump-forming perennial with semi-erect arrow-shaped glossy green leaves. Produces large, coloured spathes from late spring to mid-summer. Height 90cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous.
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