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.
Small starry soft mauve flowers May-July, 18cm. Walls, border edges, screes and rockeries.
This is a new more compact strain of the bellflower, Its is best in light shade or 3/4 sun but not crowded by other plants so near the front of a border. Purple buds open to soft lilac, large drooping bells. Stunning! Flowers June to September. 45cm.
Loddon Anna' is a valuable plant for the border with its erect, branching stems which bear large, soft, lilac-pink, bell-shaped flowers right through the summer. Plant in sun or, to preserve delicate flower-colour, partial shade, and in rich, moisture-retentive soil to encourage plenty of growth and flowers. Plants may need staking in more exposed areas. The Royal Horticultural Society have given it the Award of Garden Merit (AGM). Height 120cm. Spread 60cm.
Milky Bellflower. Perennial forming a tight mound, with narrow, toothed, mid-green leaves. Large panicles of open bell-shaped white flowers, on leafy stems. Height 25cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Milky Bellflower. Upright perennial with, narrow, toothed, mid-green leaves. Large panicles of open bell-shaped, dark violet blue flowers. on leafy stems. Height 75cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous.
Bellflower. Clump-forming perennial with basal rosettes of mid-green leaves. Flower stems carry stalkless, shallowly cup-shaped flowers, pale amethyst with deep purple shading. Height 90cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from June to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Peach-leaved Bellflower. Upright perennial with basal rosettes of bright-green, glossy leaves. Cup-shaped, lilac-blue flowers are produced on slender stems. Height 90cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from June to August. Evergreen. Hardy.
Bellflower. Alpine with rounded, mid-green leaves and small starry purple flowers. Height 20cm. Spread 25cm. Flowers from June to September. Semi-evergreen.
A dwarf hybrid with 30cm short upright candelabras, dense with 7.5cm long inflated cream bells; heavily marked inside with maroon spots. Forms a low creeping mat of foliage.
Clump forming, tall green foiliage. White, lightly spotted pink flowers foliage. Height 60cm. Spread 50cm. Prefers full sun, or partial shade with free-draining soil.
Wonderful for the front of raised beds, rockeries, walls, steps and mixed containers to enjoy all year round, but some are well suited for mixed summer baskets and containers. Resilience: Hardy. Habit: Trailing. Height x Spread / Trail: 20 x 40 cm.
Campanula 'Campanello' is a new more compact strain of the bellflower, Its is a vigorous, spreading, semi-evergreen perennial with oval, light green leaves and long, nodding, flowers on upright stems in summer.
Indian shot plant. Perennial with bold, dark, striped maroon foliage. Iris-like, bright red flowers. Height 1m. Spread 50cm. Flowers from July to October. Herbaceous. Not hardy. Sheltered site.
Deep blue flowers in autumn. It forms a mound of slightly toothed, grey-green leaves with silver hairs on the undersides. It's perfect for growing in containers or towards the front of a sunny border. It's flowers are a magnet for bees.
Cupids Dart. A short-lived perennial with clumps of grass-like hairy green leaves. Single lilac-blue flowers with dark centres. Height 60-90cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from July to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Hardheads. Knapweed. Clump-forming robust perennial with mid-green leaves and stout leafy stems carrying a bright yellow thistle-like flower. Height 1.4m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from June to July. Herbaceous.
Hardheads. Knapweed. Mat-forming robust perennial with narrow mid-green leaves woolly beneath. Woolly stems, blue flowerheads. Height 45cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from April to July. Herbaceous.
Hard heads. Knap weed. Mat-forming robust perennial with narrow mid-green leaves woolly beneath. Woolly stems, white petaled flowers with a blue centre. Flowers from April to July. Herbaceous.
A tough, hardy perennial with "thistle-like" large, lilac pink tufted cornflowers contrast against the silver frosted, soft, feathery foliage. Initially compact in the pot, but will grow taller through the season in containers or borders.
Valerian. An old cottage garden plant often seen growing on walls and dry, stony banks. Attractive fragrant white flowers above bright light green leaves. Height 1m. Spread 1m. Flowers from April to August. Herbaceous.
Red Valerian. An old cottage garden plant often seen growing on walls and dry, stony banks. Attractive fragrant scarlet-red flowers above bright green leaves. Height 1m. Spread 1m. Flowers from April to August. Herbaceous.
Valerian. An old cottage garden plant often seen growing on walls and dry, stony banks. Attractive fragrant white flowers above bright light green leaves. Height 1m. Spread 1m. Flowers from April to August. Herbaceous.
Spreading perennial with slender red stems and bright, green leaves, with wavy margins, tinted red in autumn. Brilliant blue flowers. Height 45cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from August to September. Herbaceous. Hardy. Sheltered Site.
Short lived perennial with succulent like leaves. Forms a stout clump which drips with dark purple flowers in drooping racemes in June and July.
Turtlehead. An erect perennial with leafy stems topped with dark pink or purple flowers with sparse yellow beards. Height 60-100cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from August to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Clump-forming perennial with prickly, dark green leaves, softly hairy beneath, and rich crimson thistle-like flowers. Height 1.2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Ornamental thistle. Pure white flowers appear on tall stems for several months in summer.
Clump-forming perennial with prickly, dark green leaves. softly hairy beneath, and rich crimson thistle-like flowers. Height 1.2m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to July. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Lily of the valley. Strongly scented, waxy white bell-shaped flowers. A tough, creeping perennial with dark green foliage. Height 23cm. Spread 30cm. Flowers from March to April. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A low compact bushy form. Wide funnel-shaped. pink/white flowers with yellow centres. Height 60cm. Spread 90cm. Flowers from April to June. Evergreen. Frost hardy. Sheltered Site.
An attractive, compact, evergreen shrub with striking variegated foliage. The variegated dark green leaves are egg-shaped and have relatively broad margins of an orange colour. In the winter the foliage turns a dramatic red with green. Requires a sheltered, sunny position.
Striking glossy purple foliage. Forms a bushy shrub 1.5m high. ideal for smaller gardens. A classy container or border plant.
A rounded female shrub with spreading branches and handsome, variegated dark green with broad, pale yellow margins.
Tickseed. A clump-forming perennial usually grown as an annual with narrow mid-green leaves and semi-double deep yellow flower heads each flushed orange-yellow near the centre. Height 45cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from April to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Tickseed. Compact mounded perennial which produces an abundance of fluffy, brilliant golden-yellow, pom-pom flowers, densely packed with multiple rows of petals.
Tickseed. Compact, mounded perennial which produces an abundance of fluffy, brilliant golden-yellow and orange pom-pom flowers, densely packed with multiple rows of petals.
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