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.
Clump forming with showy flower stems in summer. Although it can handle periodic wet feet, it’s best to avoid prolonged wet feet. This plant can be used as an accent plant or in group plantings for colour contrast. 55cm high x 45cm wide.
Hardy, cream and rich green variegated leafed 'Flax Lilly'. Ideal for border and large container. Excellent cold weather and frost tolerance. Compact and interesting foliage. Ideal as a foliage plant or as a feature in a large pot. Easy to care for. Ideal Conditions: Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost. shelter from cold winds in frosty areas. Possible Situation: Ideal for mass planting for landscaping, or for central features in containers.
Evergreen. Mat-forming perennial. Many small upward facing scarlet flowers borne singly above tiny oblong pointed leaves. Height 10-15cm Spread 20cm. Full sun. Well drained soil.
A mat-forming perennial with narrow dark green leaves. Single white flowers, with bearded petals. Some with darker eyes. Height 20cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from May to July. Evergreen. Hardy.
Wild Bleeding Heart. A spreading perennial with lobed. grey-green leaves, white flowers. Height 45cm. Spread 60-90cm. Flowers from April to June. Herbaceous. Hardy. Brilliant for dry shade groundcover.
Dicentra can be rhizomatous or tuberous perennials with attractively divided leaves and pendent, heart-shaped flowers, usually in arching panicles or racemes. 'Luxuriant' is a compact herbaceous perennial to 40cm tall, with finely divided leaves and arching sprays of red flowers from late spring. Height 0.1-0.5 metres. Spread 0.1-0.5 metres.
Bleeding Heart. A clump-forming perennial with lobed, pale green leaves. Arching fleshy stems produce racemes pink and white, heart-shaped flowers. Height 1.2m. Spread 45cm. Flowers from April to May. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Bleeding Heart. A clump-forming perennial with lobed gold leaves. Arching fleshy stems produce racemes of red heart-shaped flowers. Height 1.2m. Spread 45cm. Flowers from April to May. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A unique contrast of golden foliage and true red flowers makes this Dicentra a great addition to the shade garden. This easy to grow perennial has large, heart-shaped flowers that hang from sturdy, arching stems from May to July providing lots of colour in shady sites.
A new colour combination with stunning bright yellow clump forming foliage and arching fleshy stems producing racemes of pure white heart-shaped flowers.
Large, deep purple-maroon flared trumpets on very tall, strong springy stems. Ideal Conditions: Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost. Possible Situation: Ideal in a border or raised beds.
A lovely very perennial Digitalis with apricot pink flowers in late Spring and again later if you keep dead heading. Produced from division. A cross between D. mertonensis and D. lutea. Sterile seed. Height - 100cm. Spread - 40cm. Semi-shade Soil - most soils apart from very dry or wet. CAUTION; toxic if eaten.
Stunning perennial, producing multiple spikes of tubular blooms that will, simply, take your breath away. The striking flame-coloured tubular flowers are lightly speckled and shimmer faintly when illuminated by the sun giving real impact to any garden. Height 100cm. Spread 50cm. Plant in sun/part shade. Attracts bees and butterflies.
Compact variety which forms a low rosette of glossy green leaves in the first year, bursting into flower during the second summer. The flowers are very large, strawberry-rose in colour with darker markings on the inside. Height 75cm. Spread 50cm. Loved by bees, butterflies and moths. Plant part sun/part shade.
Foxglove. A short-lived perennial with softly hairy, dark green leaves. Dense spikes of cream flowers each with a purple-brown lip. Height 60cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from April to June. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Common Foxglove. A short-lived perennial with hairy, dark green leaves. One sided spikes of white flowers. Height 1-2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from April to June. Herbaceous. Hardy. CAUTION toxic if eaten.
Leopard's Bane. A slowly spreading compact perennial with heart-shaped green leaves. Golden yellow daisy-like flowerheads. Suitable for tubs. Height 30cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from March to April. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Dragon's Head. A clump-forming, low perennial with small hairy leaves. Pretty bluish purple tubular flowers on leafy stems. Height 20-30cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from June to July. Herbaceous. Hardy. Very drought tolerant once established.
Hardy perennial produces intense blue flowers. Forms bushy plants. Prefers full sun or half shade. 30cm.
Compact, upright, clump-forming, herbaceous perennial with narrowly ovate to lance-shaped, rarely toothed, rough-hairy, dark green leaves and, from midsummer to early autumn, flowers with white petals surrounding a yellow-green central cone.
Flower are bright, warm shell-pink with a green eye. The flowers are large doubles and have an extremely long life in the garden. Foliage is a medium green and has an attractive gloss to it.
This bright lemon-yellow Echinacea has double flowers that shine out in a sunny garden. The high crown count means vigor and flowering over a 5 month period.
Compact, bushy plant with large, slightly drooping flowers. The tangerine-coloured petals lighten to a golden orange as they age. Prefers full sun, with free-draining soil or compost. Ideal for pots on the patio, in border fringes or raised beds.
Snow-white petals surround tall gold-tinted cones that rise from green buttons. Daisy-like flowers glow against the dark green foliage. The compact, upright habit with large, long-lasting flowers heightens its appeal.
Produces large, fragrant, saturated magenta purple blossoms on sturdy, well-branched stems that are held in perfect proportion to the bushy clump of deep green foliage. As the flowers age, the tips of the petals turn a bit lighter pink but the centre remains a bright magenta colour.
Large, round yellow flowers with golden brown centres on neat, compact plants, great for patio pots.
Coneflower. Bright yellow double flowers, compact plants bear loads of golden yellow, pom-pom type blooms. Sturdy plants are quite floriferous and bloom from mid-summer through autumn.
Coneflower. An erect perennial with stout stems of large daisy-like flowerheads. Height 1.5m. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
This compact coneflower has ruby-red, fragrant flowers. Height 38cm. Spread 38cm. Blooms early in the season and continues until frost. Plant full sun/part shade. Loved by pollinators.
Large, pure yellow flowers with wider overlapping petals and a tawny centre cone. This compact plant is sturdy, well branched and produces many flowers from late summer into autumn.
Sunny-yellow, fragrant double flowers with downward pointing petals. Height 45-60cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from late spring through to summer. Prefers sunny position.
The petals look like slices of watermelon with deep pink centres and light green edges. Flowers prolifically on a compact habit. An eye-catching addition to sunny summer borders. Herbaceous. Hardy.
This Echinacea sports a double flower with a tuft of petals in the center of each bloom surrounded by longer ray petals. Beautiful creamy white fading to green in the centre. 18-24 inches high and wide.
Globe Thistle. A clump-forming perennial with dark green leaves above white-downy beneath. Produces attractive, globe-shaped dark blue flowerheads. Height 90cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from July to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Low growing cultivar with lovely white flowers flushed pink. The new foliage comes with the flowers and is a surprising red colour.
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