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.
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.
Elephant's Ears. Clump-forming hardy perennial. Free flowering. Red flowers in a massive raceme and glossy fresh green leaves. March-May. Height 60cm. Spread 45cm. 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 selection forms a low clump of green leaves, which develop dark, red-purple tones in winter. In early spring, semi-double flowers emerge snow white and take on a light pink glow as they mature.
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.
'Eroica' is all the more striking for its unusually tall and well-branched, red-tinted stems with rose-pink flowers. At 15-18in. the stems are long enough to cut for bouquets. As temperatures cool in the autumn the foliage colours even more effectively, becoming bright red above and maroon below.
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.
A clump-forming evergreen perennial with large glossy green leaves, leathery in nature. Has taller stems of pink-tinged white flowers which appear mostly in spring. Suited for a woodland garden or borders. Plant in humus-rich soil which is well-drained, but moist in either full sun or partial shade.
Elephants Ears. Clump-forming perennial with broad deep green leaves. Thick stems of cream-greenish white flowers. Height 30-45cn. Spread 45-60cm. Flowers from February to April. Evergreen. Good in shade.
Compact growing cultivar producing clear pink flowers in abundance. Flowers March - May. Height 25cm. Any reasonable soil. Any site except extreme shade.
Richly coloured neat winter foliage and stunning magenta flowers in spring.
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.
Elephant's Ears. Clump-forming perennial with deep green leaves, purple-red beneath, red tinted in winter. Dark rose-red flowers. Height 30-45cm. Spread 45-60cm. Flowers from April to May. Evergreen. Hardy.
Basal rosette of large, 15-18 inches long, dark green, thistle-like leaves, cottony beneath, from which arise rather splendid, thick, thistly stems. These bear in late summer unusual, beautiful, silvery-blue flowers with dark purple centres, each three inches or so across.
An architecturally striking ornamental. A Yucca-like perennial with variegated yellow and grey-green, strap-shaped leaves. The foliage is more than enough interest for any garden situation, but flamingo pink flower spikes might emerge in summer after several years to mature. They are tipped with gorgeous mauve bracts.
A pretty orchid with strap-like green leaves and magenta-pink flowers. Mulch in winter or lift and store dry and frost-free. Height 40cm. Spread 40cm. Flowers from April to July. Herbaceous. Sheltered Site.
Forming tufts of leaves adorned with small purple flowers in spring, this new terrestrial orchid from Japan is easy to grow in all gardens. It loves partial shade and any good garden soil that remains cool. Height to 50cm, flowers early summer. Winter hardy.
Striking heart-shaped pewter colored leaves with prominent green veins. Demonstrates great vigor, making strong crowns quickly.
Striking heart-shaped silver colored leaves with prominent green veins. Demonstrates great vigor, making strong crowns quickly.
Great for under-planting to trees and shrubs or add in with your favourite border. This low maintenance perennial plant thrives in shade but will happily perform in sunny locations too.
Striking yellow foliage and blue flowers.
Brunnera are rhizomatous herbaceous perennials with large, ovate or heart-shaped basal leaves and sprays of small bright blue flowers in spring. 'Jack Frost' is a perennial grown for its large, heart-shaped silver leaves edged and veined with green, and sprays of small blue flowers in spring. Ultimate height 0.1-0.5 metres, Ultimate spread 0.5-1 metres.
Thick, heart-shaped leaves that are green-on-silver with pronounced veining. Sprays of two-tone pink and blue Forget-me-not flowers appear in spring.
Perennial with heart-shaped leaves with narrow creamy white margins. Airy sprays of forget-me-not-like bright blue flowers. Height 45cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from April to May. Herbaceous. Hardy.
'Mr. Morse' is a clump-forming perennial, with broad, hairy, heart-shaped leaves which are silver with green veins and tiny white flowers in spring.
Large, mint green, heart-shaped leaves are coated with silver. Sprays of soft blue flowers. Great for all locations sun or shade. Flowers late spring, an essential perennial.
Large, mint green heart-shaped leaves are coated with silver. Sprays of soft blue flowers.
Compact habit, large heart-shaped and produces small, clear blue flowers. Blooms from early summer to autumn and is very easy to grow.
Lesser Calamint. Erect low-growing perennial with aromatic dark green hairy leaves. Bears mauve sometimes pink tubular flowers. Height 45cm. Spread 75cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A clump-forming perennial with aromatic dull green leaves. Blue flowers. Height 30cm. Spread 20cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A clump-forming perennial with aromatic dull green leaves. Blue flowers. Height 30cm. Spread 20cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Clustered Bellflower. Spreading perennial with dark green, rough, leaves. Dense clusters of tubular-bell-shaped dark violet flowers, on very short stems. Height 10cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous.
Bellflower. Clump-forming perennial with heart-shaped toothed mid-green leaves. Attractive upturned open bell-shaped pure light blue flowers. Height 25cm. Spread 45-60cm. Flowers from June to August. Semi-evergreen. Hardy.
Bellflower. Clump-forming perennial with heart-shaped toothed mid-green leaves. Attractive upturned open bell-shaped pure white flowers. Height 25cm. Spread 45-60cm. Flowers from June to August. Semi-evergreen. Hardy.
Fairies Thimbles. Bellflower. Creeping rosette-forming perennial with heart-shaped, toothed, bright-green leaves. Attractive, nodding bell-shaped, white to lavender-blue flowers. Height 8cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from June to August. Semi-evergreen. Hardy.
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