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.
Lavender. An aromatic evergreen shrub with narrow, grey leaves. Large rounded, purple flowerheads with conspicuous bracts are borne through summer. Height 70cm. Needs well drained soil in sun.
French Lavender. A compact bushy shrub with narrow grey-green leaves and dense spikes of purple flowers topped with purple bracts from late spring to summer. Height 60cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to August. Evergreen. Hardy. Sheltered site.
Leontipodrum Alpinum is a perennial to 20cm in height, with narrow, grey-green leaves and starry white-felted flowering heads in late spring and early summer.
Edelweiss. A clump-forming alpine with narrow grey-green basal leaves and white flowers surrounded by silver-grey bracts. Height 10cm. Spread 10cm. Flower colour White. Flowers from April to May. Herbaceous. Foliage colour Grey. Green. Hardy. Protect from winter wet.
Produces large amounts of medium semi-double, white daisy flowers. Height 10-14 inches. Spread 17 inches.
Long blooming and compact with semi-double flowers.
Delightful double flowers with soft lemon yellow petals and darker golden yellow centers on a compact plant with a tight, low habit. Incredible flower power with a profusion of blooms.
This is a terrific dwarf strain, producing a low mound with a long succession of large white yellow-eyed daisies. Great for edging, also excellent in tubs or mixed containers. Divide plants in the spring every 2 to 3 years to maintain vigour. Removing faded flowers regularly will greatly increase the blooming time. Attractive to butterflies.
'Shortstop' will provide classic Shasta Daisy flowers with full, bright white petals surrounding a rich yellow centre on a compact plant that naturally maintains a tight, low habit.
A clump-forming perennial with glossy, dark green leaves and fringed, semi-double white flowers with yellow centres. Height 60cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from June to September. Herbaceous.
Marguerite. A clump-forming perennial with glossy, dark green leaves and dense white flowers with shorter petals in the centre. Height 90cm. Spread 75cm. Flowers from June to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Blazing Star. Gayfeather. Tall stems with narrow leaves topped with long-lasting violet-mauve flowers in dense spikes. Height 90cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from August to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Leopard Plant. A large clump-forming perennial with deep purplish green rounded leaves. purple-red beneath. Tall red stems of orange/ yellow flowers with brown centres. Flowers form July to September. Height 60-90cm. Spread 45-75cm. Plant in full sun or part shade. Moist soils.
A clump-forming perennial with deeply cut leaves, purple-green stems bear slender racemes of yellow flowers. Height 90cm. Spread 1m. Flowers from July to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Red flowers 60 cm high.
Long stems with stunning, large, scented outward facing trumpets. Pink and cream throated flowers. Height 45cm.
Yellow flowers 60 cm high.
Lily. A beautiful lily with trumpet-shaped white flowers strongly flushed purple on the outside in early summer. Height 10-30cm. Flowers from June to July. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Petals of deep cherry-pink with a crisp white edge.
A very pretty pale pink Lily with deep pink-red freckles. They are a must have for fronts of garden borders or for growing in patio pots and containers. With the wonderful fragrance, they are often used for cut flower arrangements. Flowering from June to August and growing to a height of 45cm.
A beautiful Lily with very fragrant trumpet-shaped white flowers flushed purple on the outside in mid-summer. Height 1.2m. Flowers from June to July. Herbaceous.
White flowers 60 cm high.
Long stems with scented deep pink and white flowers. Height 80cm. Plant 10cm deep outside or in pots.
Orange flowers 60 cm high.
Lily turf. An evergreen perennial with narrow dark green leaves, dense spikes of blue flowers in autumn. Height 25cm. Spread 45cm.. Evergreen.
Lilyturf. An evergreen perennial with narrow dark green leaves, dense spikes of lilac blue flowers in autumn. Height 25cm. Spread 45cm. Evergreen.
A free flowering selection with plenty of blue-purple spikes in late summer-autumn. Evergreen grassy foliage makes neat clumps for shade.
Tufted, grass-like perennial that typically grows to 10-15” tall and features strap-like, arching leaves that emerge an unusual but attractive white in spring. Leaves acquire green speckles as the growing season progresses, eventually becoming totally green by autumn.
A perennial with deep purple-red stems and leaves. Scarlet flowers from late summer to mid-autumn. Height 90cm. Spread 30cm. Flower colour Scarlet. Flowers from August to October. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A clump-forming perennial with soft hairy light green leaves. Flowers from late summer to mid-autumn. Height 60-120cm. Spread 30cm.
A hybrid with mid-green leaves and blue flowers from mid to late summer. Height 90cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from July to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A regal beauty for a border where the stunning flower spikes will be a talking point. Blue spikes flowers. Beautiful and unusual.
A regal beauty for a border where the stunning flower spikes will be a talking point. Blue spikes flowers. Beautiful and unusual. A mix of all colors, except yellow.
A regal beauty for a border where the stunning flower spikes will be a talking point. Red spike flowers. Beautiful and unusual.
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