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.
Spikes of pure-white, tubular flowers with dark-spotted throats rise above compact clumps of basal foliage in late-spring and early-summer.
Coneflower. Bright yellow double flowers, compact plants bear loads of golden yellow, pom-pom type blooms. Sturdy plants are quite floriferous and bloom from mid-summer through autumn.
This Echinacea sports a double flower with a tuft of petals in the center of each bloom surrounded by longer ray petals. Beautiful creamy white fading to green in the centre. 18-24 inches high and wide.
Globe Thistle. A clump-forming perennial with grey-woolly stems and grey-green leaves. Produces attractive, globe-shaped dark blue flowerheads. Height 1m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from July to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Epimedium x rubrum is a great ground cover plant in the shade under trees and shrubs. The leaves are flushed with red when young and turn reddish-brown in autumn, remaining throughout the winter. Crimson and yellow flowers appear in mid- to late spring.
Barrenwort. Bishop's Mitre. A clump-forming perennial with heart-shaped green leaves, copper-red and brown when young. Charming pink and yellow flowers with red tinted spurs. Height 30cm. Spread 1m. Flowers from March to April. Evergreen. Hardy. Sheltered Site.
Fleabane. Spreading carpet plant. Pink/lilac daisy like flowers with yellow centres. Height 30cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers June - September. Full Sun good for costal locations or exposed sites.
Fleabane. A woody-based carpeting perennial with grey-green leaves. Pretty yellow centred flowers with white petals fading through pink to purple. Height 15-30cm. Spread 1m. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Hardy. Protect from winter wet.
Golden-leaved Sea Holly. Striking electric blue, teasel shaped flowers stand tall over contrasting golden foliage. A real dazzler in the border.
In the centre of a violet-blue ruff-like collar of long, jagged edged spikes sits a thimble-like mound of tiny blue flowers. These are carried on stiff stems that rise from a clump of mid-green leaves. The flowers start pale blue and darken with age.
Sea Holly features open umbels of prickly steel-blue flowers which are a favourite for cutting, fresh or dried. This unique dwarf strain is ideal for the front of a sunny border or in mixed containers. The short stems produce metallic-blue sprays that remain attractive for weeks. Attractive to butterflies.
Wallflower. A bushy perennial with grey green narrow leaves. Clusters of rich mauve flowers. Height 75cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to August. Evergreen. Hardy. Sheltered Site.
An evergreen perennial with whorls of grey-green lance-shaped leaves edged in yellow. In the cooler months, the foliage becomes flushed with shades of red, pink, and orange. From early spring it bears clusters of lime-green flowers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Flowering perennial with intense yellow flowers, it has a very uniform upright habit and flowering time. A great subject for the border or containers.
Dwarf compact form. Bushy clump-forming perennial with slender stems. Produces star-shaped white flowers. Flowers from June to October. Herbaceous. Hardy.
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.
Young leaves in spring are bright yellow, and continue yellow tinged into early summer. Mid-size blue flowers.
Cranesbill. An evergreen geranium with aromatic shiny leaves and flowers held well above the leaves. Height 15cm. Spread 20-30cm. Flowers from May to June. Evergreen. Hardy.
This hybrid geranium is a spreading. rhizomatous plant typically growing 6-10'' high. Forms compact mats of foliage free flowering. pinkish/mauve flowers
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