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.
Hybrid of Euphorbia amygdaloides, and Euphorbia x martini. It has dark green, or maroon, lance shaped leaves, which fade to a blue-green and it has flowers of bright yellow-green, which are on red stems. It can grow up to 50 cm tall. It blooms in Spring.
Wood Spurge. A bushy evergreen perennial with dark reddish purple leaves and flowers with yellow bracts. Height 60-80cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from April to June. Evergreen. Hardy. Harmful if eaten/skin & eye irritant.
A mound-forming, evergreen perennial suitable for growing at the front of a border, or container on the patio. It bears flower stems during winter, which turn from light green to dark red before bright yellow flowers emerge from March to May.
Wood Spurge. A spreading evergreen perennial with shiny dark green leaves and flowers with light green bracts. Height 60cm. Spread Indefinite. Flowers from April to June. Evergreen. Hardy. Harmful if eaten/skin + eye irritant. Really excellent ground cover in shade.
Upright, bushy, evergreen perennial with erect, red stems bearing oblong to lance-shaped, maroon to dark purple leaves, bright red when young, and small clusters of tiny, yellow flowers surrounded by prominent, yellow-green bracts in late spring and early summer.
'Black Pearl' is an evergreen perennial with architectural, upright, leafy stems. From early spring, it bears long-lasting terminal clusters of lime-green cupped flowers with black centres.
Grey-green leaves and apple-green bracts with a red or chocolate eye. Evergreen perennial. Height 75cm. Spread 90cm. Flowers from April to June. Evergreen. Frost hardy. Harmful if eaten/skin + eye irritant.
Glaucous green foliage with a vivid silver edge to the leaf. Pale green flowers are produced in April and are margined with cream.
A hardy perennial giving a great display of silver white foliage throughout the year, complimented with silver white flower heads. Drought tolerant. Height 75cm. Spread 75cm. Evergreen.
Spectacular greyish-green leaves with uniform, clear-white margins. Green stems support plentiful creamy-white flowers with contrasting green centres. Height 50-63cm. Prefers full sun.
A bushy evergreen perennial with grey-green leaves and flowers with yellow-green bracts. Height 1m. Spread 1m. Flowers from April to June. Evergreen. Frost hardy. Harmful if eaten/skin + eye irritant.
Cypress Spurge. A spreading perennial with densely whorled, needle-like, bluish green leaves, flushed purple if in full sun and flowers with yellow bracts. Height 20-40cm. Spread Indefinite. Flowers from April to July. Herbaceous. Hardy. Harmful if eaten/skin + eye irritant.
An excellent new variegated form of Euphorbia characias offering Smokey blue grey leaves with white margins. Ideal Conditions: Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost. Possible Situation: Particularly useful in the pot, or container for the summer, mixed with Euryops or Erysimum and can be transplanted into the bed or border after use in the container to continue to satisfy.
A compact sub shrub with a neat, round clump of deep green leaves tinted with red, producing sprays of light green flower/bracts for weeks in spring. It branches readily, with a flower appearing on every stem.
A fabulous variety with unique red growth tips in autumn and winter- red noses like Santa's reindeer!
Honey Spurge. A rounded shrub with stout stems of narrow, dark green leaves, honey scented flowers with yellow-brown bracts. Height 1.2m. Spread 1.2m. Flowers from April to June. Likes a sheltered warm site. Sap is an irritant to some.
A semi-prostrate perennial with leaves spiralling from base to tip. Leaves are fleshy bright blue-green. Flowers with vivid yellow bracts. Height 30cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from April to July. Evergreen. Harmful if eaten/skin irritant.
A robust mound-forming perennial with purple green leaves that turn yellow in autumn. Described as one of the best plants for all season colour. Long lasting flowers with bright yellow bracts. Height 40cm. Spread 60cm. Herbaceous.
A rosetted bromeliad with spiny toothed deep green leaves. In summer each rosette produces pale blue flowers surrounded by white bracts. Height 45cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from June to August. Evergreen. Not hardy. Protect from winter wet.
Queen of the Prairies. A spreading perennial forming large clumps in moist soil. with fresh green leaves. plumes of deep rose-pink flowers become paler as they age. Height 2.5m. Spread 1.2m. Flowers from July to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Blanket flower. A bushy, often short lived perennial with mid-green leaves. Free-flowering with deep red flowers with a yellow edge. Height 35cm. Spread 35cm. Flowers from June to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Blanket flower. A bushy, often short lived perennial with mid-green leaves. Free-flowering with orange-red flowers. Height 35cm. Spread 35cm. Flowers from June to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Blanket flower. A bushy, often short lived perennial with mid-green leaves. Free-flowering red flowers. Height 35cm. Spread 35cm. Flowers from June to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Blanket Flower. A bushy often short-lived perennial with mid-green leaves. Free-flowering with pink red flowers. Height 35cm. Spread 35cm. Flowers from June to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Blanket flower. A bushy, often short lived perennial with mid-green leaves. Free-flowering with yellow flowers. Height 35cm. Spread 35cm. Flowers from June to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Flowering perennial with intense red flowers, it has a very uniform upright habit and flowering time. A great subject for the border or containers.
Flowering perennial with intense yellow flowers, it has a very uniform upright habit and flowering time. A great subject for the border or containers.
White flowers that have a pink blush with elegant, slender stems that branch out above mid green foliage. Vigorous but with a compact habit. Prefers full sun or partial shade in free draining soil or compost.
Dwarf compact form. Bushy clump-forming perennial with slender stems. Produces star-shaped white flowers. Flowers from June to October. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Dwarf compact form. Bushy clump-forming perennial with slender stems. Produces star-shaped pink flowers. Height 0.5m. Spread 0.5m. Flowers from June to October. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Wand flower. Upright, bushy, freely-branching perennial with tall slender stems with lance shaped leaves. Wand like panicles of white flowers. Flowers from June to September. Height 90cm. Spread 60cm. Attracts bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
Compact, upright, freely-branching perennial. Tall, slender stems bearing narrow, lance-shaped, purple to red-flushed. Wand-like panicles of deep pink flowers. Flowers from early summer into autumn. Height 40cm. Spread 30cm.
A tufted plant with glossy green leaves, the flowers are funnel-bell-shaped and deep blue in colour. Hardy.
Upright perennial with dark-green, ovate leaves. From mid-summer to early autumn, it has clusters of electric-blue flowers atop its leafy stems. Plant in moist but well-drained soil in sun or partial shade.
Cranesbill. A sprawling perennial with deeply divided yellowish green leaves. Flowers magenta-pink with a dark centres. Height 60cm. Spread 1m. Flowers from July to October. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Remarkable radiant gold-tinted foliage. Large vibrant dark magenta flowers with dark eye-zone. Easy care perennials.
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