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.
Asclepias can be evergreen or deciduous perennials or subshrubs, with simple, entire leaves and umbel-like clusters of small, distinctively shaped flowers followed by paired fruits containing seeds embedded in silky fibres. Attracts bees and butterflies. Low maintenance.
Clump-forming perennial which grows to around 60cm tall and produces clusters of pale purple-blue, daisy-like flowers with yellow centres, during autumn.
Brilliant turquoise blue flowers with sunshine yellow centres over compact green foliage. Ideal Conditions: Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost. Possible Situation: Best used as a central feature in a tub or container, or for the mid border or raised bed.
Beautiful lavender jade blooms with sulphur yellow centers. Superb in September. Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
Brilliant purple flowers and compact green foliage. Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
Strong rose-purple blooms with a fine, almost filament looking properties to the petals. Prefers full sun or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
Wonderful baby pink blooms with an outstanding yellow heart on fantastic upright foliage. Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil or compost.
Also known as Michaelmas Daisies, these old favourites bloom from late summer into autumn with a multitude of elegant white, long lasting, daisy-like flowers.
'Jenny' forms a compact clump of narrow leaves and clusters of reddish-purple, semi-double flowers.
This is a short-growing aster has creeping rootstocks and pink, daisy-like flowers with yellow centres. It can be used on steep slopes for erosion control. Likes well-drained soil.
Dwarf aster with masses of small, semi-double, blue-violet to purple flowers adorned with a sunny yellow centre. This dense, mounding aster features a foliage of glossy dark green leaves, which is noted for its excellent disease resistance.
Clump forming bushy perennial with green leaves. Myriads of small pink flowers. Height 1m. Spread 30cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Upright, perennial with dark green leaves. Bears long lasting clear lavender-blue flowerheads on stout stems. Height 60cm. Spread 40cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Clump forming bushy perennial with purple-black leaves and small pale lilac flowers with ruby stamens. Height 60cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from August to September. Herbaceous. Black. Hardy.
Perennial with stout stems with attractive carmine red flowerheads. Clump forming. Height 80. Spread 60cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Clump forming perennial with green leaves. Stout stems with attractive clear, light pink flowerheads. Height 1.2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Clump forming perennial with green leaves. Stout stems with attractive clear. light pink flowerheads. Height 1.2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Astilbe Cappuccino is a great perennial for attracting bees and butterflies into your garden, as well as providing a flash of colour with it's creamy white spikes during the summer months. This variety particularly likes moist conditions so ensure it is watered well during any hot periods.
Upright feathery plumes of mauve-purple flowers. Astilbe 'Black Pearls' is a late flowering variety with sturdy upright stems that make unusual cut flowers. The bright blooms contrast beautifully with its exceptionally dark green foliage, which forms a dense and leafy clump. This showy perennial enjoys a reliably moist soil, making a good choice for damp borders or planted next to a pond.
Clump-forming perennial with handsome bronze-tinted, green foliage. Plumes of bright pink flowers. Height 90cm. Spread 75cm. Flower colour Pink. Flowers from July to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Clump-forming perennial with handsome green foliage. Long lasting plumes of deep red flowers heads during summer. Flower-heads turn brown and remain on the plants into the autumn. Ideal for soils that remain moist all summer.
Soft pink flower spikes. Leave change to light green in summer. Red edged foliage. Vigorous and floriferous plant.
Large claret red flowers on sturdy stems. Re-flowering variety. Clump forming.
A beautiful compact variety with small dark purple flowers on top of dark stems. It has a long flowering period.
Upright, clump-forming, herbaceous perennial with palmate, deeply lobed, mid-green leaves and, in summer, erect, branching stems bearing umbels of tiny, dark red to reddish-purple flowers surrounded by prominent, lance-shaped, maroon bracts.
Bergenia are evergreen rhizomatous perennials with leathery, rounded leaves and dense, erect clusters of bell-shaped pink or white flowers in spring 'Bressingham White' is an evergreen, rhizomatous perennial to 35cm, with dull green, rounded leaves and plentiful erect racemes of pure white flowers.
Clump-forming, evergreen perennial bearing oval, leathery, glossy, dark green leaves and, in spring, upright, dark stems bearing dense clusters of open bell-shaped, pale pink flowers turning darker pink with age.
Elephant's Ears. Clump-forming hardy perennial with rounded mid-to dark green leaves, tinted purple in winter. Flowers pale rose-red to dark pink on red flower stems. Height 30cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from February to April. Evergreen.
Magenta-pink flower clusters shoot skyward above tight mounds of glossy foliage in spring. Attractive evergreen leaves turn satiny chocolate-purple from late fall through winter.
This forms a low clump of green leaves, which develop luminous red wine tones in the winter. Taller stems of rich rose-pink, double to semi-double flowers show above the polished foliage in mid spring. Prefers full sun or partial shade with free draining, but moist soil or compost. Ideal in spring containers or an early splash of colour in a border.
Herbaceous evergreen perennial with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its wonderfully bold, coarse texture can be very effective in a balanced garden composition. This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season.
Deep pink flowers on short stems above shiny green leaves. Large blooms on petite plants provide a very showy display in early spring. Very floriferous. Winter foliage is clean, shiny, and almost black. Deer resistant.
Compact growing cultivar producing clear pink flowers in abundance. Flowers March - May. Height 25cm. Any reasonable soil. Any site except extreme shade.
Elephant's Ears. Clump-forming perennial with broad green leaves. White flowers ageing to pink. Height 30-45cm. Spread 45-60cm. Flowers from April to May. Evergreen. Hardy.
A wonderfully exotic-looking Mexican native with long up to 1m, arching sword-shaped leaves which form a bold and vibrant clump. The foliage is a rich green with a fabulous cream-white variegation in the form of fine stripes and a narrow outer margin.
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