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.
Deep red reflexed flowers with streaks of maroon, larger than other crocosmia flowers and more proliferous. Flowering July - August. The leaves are upright and pleated so attractive even when not in flower. They like moisture retentive soil in full sun.
A perennial with sword-like mid-green leaves. Arching, branched spikes of upward-facing, funnel-shaped, orange-red flowers. Height 35cm. Spread 8cm. Flowers from July to August. Herbaceous.
A perennial with pleated, sword-like, mid-green leaves. Arching spikes of upward-facing, funnel-shaped, orange-red flowers. Height 1.2m. Spread 8m. Flowers from June to July. Herbaceous.
'Meteor' is a clump-forming perennial with upright sword-shaped leaves and arching racemes of orange-yellow tubular flowers with yellow throats in summer.
This compact powerhouse will blow you away with the classy, clean look. The perfect upright, bouquet shaped habit is worthy of a gold medal. Naturally graceful arching stems are compact and full of bright gilded gold blooms. Fantastic in containers, wont flop even after multiple seasons. Forms multiple crowns quickly. Great for mixed beds, sunny banks, borders.
A perennial with sword-like mid-green leaves. Arching, branched spikes of lemon-yellow flowers. Height 60-75cm. Spread 8cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous. Frost hardy.
A superb dahlia with dark metallic bronze deeply divided leaves. Semi-double bright red flowers with bright yellow anthers. Height 1.1m. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Not hardy.
For a top quality cut flower. Height 60cm. Large, cactus-type flowers with quilled bright pink going to yellow petals. Exquisite.
Compact, upright, bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial with toothed, pinnate, dark green leaves and strong, upright stems bearing large, double, pink flowers with wide, pink to lilac-pink petal tips.
Compact, upright, bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial with toothed, pinnate, dark green leaves and strong, upright stems bearing large, double, white flowers with wide, pink to lilac-pink petal tips.
Compact, upright, bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial with toothed, pinnate, dark green leaves and strong, upright stems bearing large, double, white flowers with wide, pink to lilac-pink petal tips.
Bicoloured variety with a yellow centre and orange/red outer petals. Superb garden performance, flower colour and form. Continually produces flowers all summer through to the first frosts. Branch freely and are strong sturdy and compact plants.
Compact, double flowered dahlia with masses of brightly coloured flowers against a background of dense foliage.
Compact, double flowered dahlia with masses of brightly coloured flowers against a background of dense foliage.
90cm high, huge yellow flowers with bronze centres on sturdy upright stems. Excellent for borders and cut flowers.
120cm high, huge white flowers tipped with purple on sturdy upright stems. Excellent for borders and cut flowers.
For a top quality cut flower. Height 90cm. Massive 20cm across flowers with lots of fine petals making an amazing pom-pom of peach, pink and yellow. Stunning.
Very decorative bedding dahlia with compact growth habit and a rich profusion of large flowers. This variety is suitable for pots, flowerbeds and window boxes. Flowers from early summer into autumn.
Flower colour is yellow with orange in the middle of the petal. Petals are narrow and separate from each other with a linear shape.
A superb dahlia with dark green leaves and soft orange-yellow and red flowers. Height 50cm. Spread 40cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Not hardy.
Single type dahlia bred by the eminent NZ grower Dr Keith Hammett. Delicate flowers pink-veined on a base of white with a dark central disc. Foliage is dark brown, almost black. Attractive to bees and pollinating insects this easy to care for cultivar is suitable for pots and containers on the patio and for planting in the garden.
A fantastic new variety with black leaves and flat single white flowers, which sometimes turn a very pale pink. 1m.
Spectacular semi-cactus Dahlia that provides spiky shaped petals that develop from red through to orange, to bright yellow centres.
Very decorative bedding dahlia with compact growth habit and a rich profusion of large flowers. This variety is suitable for pots and flowers-beds and window boxes. Flowers from early summer into autumn.
Compact, mound-forming, tuberous perennial with toothed, pinnate, purple-black leaves and strong, upright stems bearing single, yellow flowers from summer into autumn.
The flowers are yellow, red and orange. Height up to 20cm. The soil conditions should be well-drained and the plant area sunny.
A fruity cocktail of yellow and coral pink. Very dwarf and well-branching habit. Perfect for container growing.
A dense, compact dwarf dahlia with deep, pink double flowers. Great in tubs. 30cm.
A delightful, spreading, low-growing evergreen perennial. Fine silvery leaves are covered in bright white daisy-like flowers in summer.
A slowly spreading perennial with bold long stalked rounded. veined dark green leaves. turning red in autumn. Clusters of white to bright pink flowers appear before the leaves in spring. Height 30cm. Spread 1m. Excellent as a marginal or in normal soil.
A selection of delightful pink tones with darker centres. Prefers full sun with free-draining soil or compost.
A pacific hybrid perennial. Dwarf form with spikes of deep rose flowers. Height 80cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Hardy. Sheltered Site. Harmful if eaten.
A pacific hybrid perennial. Dwarf form with spikes of white flowers. Height 80cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Hardy. Sheltered Site. Harmful if eaten.
A pacific hybrid perennial. Dwarf form with spikes of blue flowers. Height 80cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Hardy. Sheltered Site. Harmful if eaten.
A pacific hybrid perennial with tall spikes of purple flowers. Height 2m. Spread 75cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Hardy. Sheltered Site. Harmful if eaten. Protect from slugs.
Compact, clump-forming, borderline hardy, rhizomatous, evergreen perennial with stiff, upright, strap-shaped, blue-green to blue-grey leaves and, in late spring and early summer, panicles of star-shaped, pale violet flowers followed by spherical, glossy, purple fruit.
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