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.
Soft-blue flowers beginning in midsummer. Foliage is chartreuse-yellow, holding the colour well with a bit of afternoon shade. Attractive to butterflies.
Compact and floriferous, well-branched and easy to grow anise hyssop with lavender-purple flowers that bloom all summer long on 18" high spikes over anise scented foliage. It is a hummingbird and butterfly favourite and is a terrific addition to the late summer garden.
A compact growing Agastache hybrid, with long-blooming flower spikes in a delightful changing colour mix of creamy coconut, pale orange and light rose-pink. Blooms early summer through September. Highly attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies.
Spikes of deep, violet-blue flowers are held over deep green, upright, branched foliage. Prefers full sun or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
Burgundy Glow is a creeping perennial with evergreen leaves, silvery-green suffused with wine-red, and short spikes of deep blue flowers in late spring and early summer.
Compact, dense, mat-forming, evergreen to semi-evergreen perennial with narrowly ovate, pale grey-green leaves with cream to pale yellow margins, flushed pink in spring, and spike-like whorls of blue flowers in late spring and early summer.
Hollyhock. Vigorous, upright perennial with rounded light green leaves. Flowers tall and stately. Height 2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Spray with systhane to protect from rust.
Hollyhock. Vigorous. upright perennial with rounded light green leaves. Flowers tall and stately Height 2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Spray with systhane to protect from rust.
Lady's Mantle. A clump-forming perennial. Shallowly lobed, sharp-toothed, hairy pale-green leaves. Loose tiny yellow-green flowers. Height 60cm. Spread 80cm. Flowers from June to September. Useful for flower arranging.
Lady's Mantle. A clump-forming semi-evergreen perennial. Shallowly lobe sharp-toothed hairy pale-green leaves. Loose tiny lime-green flowers. Height 50cm. Spread 80cm. Flowers from June to September.
Neat, compact mounds of grey-green leaves, topped with upright sprays of lime-green flowers in late spring and early summer. Cut back foliage hard in late summer to encourage a new flush of leaves and flowers.
Drooping heads of rich pink large flowers. This mid-height Allium is a great show-stopper once established in the garden with guaranteed flowering. Upright stems of 35cm produce a mass of ball bearing shaped deep pink flowers above short foliage. This allium like many is great for bees and other pollinating insects.
This ornamental onion has snaky, twisty leaves that will remind you of the snake hair from the Medusa legend. ‘Medusa’ forms a low mound of grey-green, narrow foliage with leaves the twist slightly at the end. The nodding buds look like snakes at the tips of the stems, before they straighten to form 1¾-2” rounded clusters of light amethyst purple flowers.
Fantastic mid to late summer flowering allium, bearing large rounded heads of pink-purple flowers in June and July. Like all alliums, its blooms are extremely attractive to a wide range of pollinating insects such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies.
Numerous lilac-purple flowers appear accompanied by healthy glossy foliage that remains attractive until autumn, attracting many butterflies and bees.
Peruvian Lily. Tuberous perennial. Vibrant colors, rusty copper and golden, very large flowering, all flowers with dark stripes and yellow markings. Height 40cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to August. Deciduous. Foliage colour Green. Sheltered Site. May cause skin allergy.
Peruvian Lily. Soft, buttery yellow blooms with a distinct brown marking in the throat make this selection the perfect complement to other flower colours in the garden. It forms a good, compact mound of waxy green foliage and short stemmed flowers.
Peruvian Lily. Tuberous perennial. Creamy white flowers with a dark pink throat and splash of yellow. Height 40cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to August. Deciduous. Sheltered Site. May cause skin allergy.
Peruvian Lily. Tuberous perennial. Compact, clump-forming perennial with dark green lance-shaped leaves and clusters of funnel shaped full red flowers which have dark brown speckles and a hint of yellow on the inner petals in summer and autumn. Deciduous. Sheltered site. May cause skin allergy.
Peruvian Lily. Bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial with lance-shaped, dark green leaves and, from early summer into autumn, funnel-shaped, pink flowers, the inner petals with yellow throats. Height 20cm. Spread 25cm. Flowers from May to August. Deciduous. Sheltered Site. May cause skin allergy.
A cultivar particularly distinguished by its mauve flower colour, its strong, upright flower stems, its winter hardiness, and its continuous flowering from beginning of summer until the first hard frost in the autumn.
Compact with an upright habit, ensuring that stems are still a good length for cutting. The perfect perennial for borders and patio containers where it will flower continuously from June to November. Height: 75cm (30"). Spread: 60cm (24").
Butterfly like blooms smother attractive foliage from June to November, sometimes longer. Great for cutting and happy in borders and containers. Dead head by pulling the flowers stems gently from the bottom of the plant, the resulting ‘wound’ then initiates new flowers. Height & spread 30cm (12”). Prefers well drained soil in a partly shaded sheltered site. Hardy perennial.
Butterfly like blooms smother attractive foliage from June to November, sometimes longer. Great for cutting and happy in borders and containers. Dead head by pulling the flowers stems gently from the bottom of the plant, the resulting ‘wound’ then initiates new flowers. Height & spread 30cm (12”). Prefers well drained soil in a partly shaded sheltered site. Hardy perennial.
Butterfly like blooms smother attractive foliage from June to November, sometimes longer. Great for cutting and happy in borders and containers. Dead head by pulling the flowers stems gently from the bottom of the plant, the resulting ‘wound’ then initiates new flowers. Height & spread 30cm (12”). Prefers well drained soil in a partly shaded sheltered site. Hardy perennial.
Butterfly like blooms smother attractive foliage from June to November, sometimes longer. Great for cutting and happy in borders and containers. Dead head by pulling the flowers stems gently from the bottom of the plant, the resulting ‘wound’ then initiates new flowers. Height & spread 30cm (12”). Prefers well drained soil in a partly shaded sheltered site. Hardy perennial.
Butterfly like blooms smother attractive foliage from June to November, sometimes longer. Great for cutting and happy in borders and containers. Dead head by pulling the flowers stems gently from the bottom of the plant, the resulting ‘wound’ then initiates new flowers. Height & spread 30cm (12”). Prefers well drained soil in a partly shaded sheltered site. Hardy perennial.
Windflower. Erect perennial with suckering shoots, mid-green leaves. Very large single white flowers, pink-tinged on reverse, with golden yellow stamens. Height 1.4m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from August to September. Herbaceous.
Vigorous, erect perennial with mid-green leaves. Single white flowers, pink tinged on reverse with golden yellow stamens. Height 1.2 - 1.5m.
Rich pink blooms appear in late summer and continue on through the autumn over neat and compact foliage. Slug resistant. Prefers moist well-drained soil in sun or part shade. Height 30-45cm. Spread 30cm. Fully hardy, dwarf perennial.
Rich pink blooms appear in late summer and continue on through the autumn over neat and compact foliage. Slug resistant. Prefers moist well-drained soil in sun or part shade. Height 30-45cm. Spread 30cm. Fully hardy perennial.
Windflower. Erect perennial with suckering shoots, dark green leaves. Flowers semi-double dark pink. Height 80cm. Spread 40cm. Flowers from August to September. Herbaceous. Great colour in late summer particularly in light shade.
Windflower. Erect perennial with suckering shoots, dark green leaves and pale pink flowers. Height 80cm. Spread 40cm. Flowers from August to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Windflower. Erect perennial with suckering shoots, dark green leaves. Flowers bright pink. Height 80cm. Spread 40cm. Flowers from August to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Large, single white flowers with blue banding on the reverse held well above the foliage. Flowers from summer until the autumn. Grows up to 2 ft.
Clump-forming perennial with mid-green deeply cut leaves. Solitary, semi-pendant pure white flowers on strong stems Height 40cm. Spread 40cm. Flowers from April to June. Full sun/partial shade. Hardy.
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