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.
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
Sterile hybrid which forms a slowly spreading, low-growing carpet of glossy foliage, turning brilliant shades of scarlet during autumn and winter. The flowers have pink veining, long anthers, and are produced in abundance from late spring to midsummer.
This hybrid geranium is a spreading. rhizomatous plant typically growing 6-10'' high. Forms compact mats of foliage free flowering. pink flowers
Cranesbill. A very attractive plant with tufts of grey-green leaves and delicate cup-shaped, purplish-pink flowers darkly veined from a dark central zone. Height 15-20cm. Spread 20-30cm. Flowers from May to July. Evergreen. Hardy. Protect from winter wet.
Cranesbill. A compact mound forming perennial with rounded deeply lobed maroon to purple brown leaves. Cup shaped pink blooms, flowering freely from early spring to early autumn.
Rich blue blooms above low mounds of hardy blue green foliage. Care Instructions: Cut plant back to 1' after blooming to encourage growth of fresh new foliage. 30-45cm.
Tight mounds of shiny, deeply divided foliage that are covered in saucer-shaped deep magenta flowers from June to October. Height 30 cm (12in). Spread 50 cm (20in).
Cranesbill. A spreading mat-forming perennial with aromatic evergreen leaves. Abundant clusters of magenta-pink flowers. Height 30-45cm. Spread 60-90cm. Flower colour Pink. Flowers from June to July. Evergreen.
Cranesbill. The largest of all geraniums. Rosettes of large shining leaves with brownish red stems. Large pink flowers with netted veins and a dark crimson centre. Height 1m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from February to June. Evergreen.Not hardy. Protect from winter wet.
Cranesbill. The largest of all geraniums. Rosettes of large shining leaves with brownish red stems. Large purplish pink flowers with netted veins and a dark crimson centre. Height 1m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from February to June. Evergreen.Not hardy. Protect from winter wet.
Madeira Geranium. Huge rosettes with pink-flushed stems. Purplish pink flowers with a deep crimson central zone. Height 1.2m. Spread 100cm. Flowers from May to August. Evergreen. Sheltered, Well drained Site.
Rozanne'is a mound-forming perennial with marbled leaves with a soft velvety texture and large, cupped, blue flowers with white centres and maroon veins in late summer.
A spreading perennial to 20cm in height, with divided mid-green leaves, and single pale pink flowers with darker pink veins throughout summer.
Compact, herbaceous perennial. Mound-forming, dark green, deeply lobed leaves. Pale pink, cup-shaped flowers with dark veins are borne on short, branching stems. Flowers late spring to early autumn. Height 40cm. Plant in full sun or part shade.
This ground hugging perennial forms a carpet of bronze-flushed foliage that is covered in masses of small vibrant pink flowers throughout the summer. It is ideal for the front of the border, rockeries, pots and the top of retaining walls where it will gently cascade over.
Dense clumps broad, leaves make good ground cover. Brilliantly coloured flowers on long wiry stems June/Aug. Sunny moist well drained position.
A compact and highly floriferous, flamboyant Geum. Flowers have layers of frilly peachy pink and orange with distinctive lemon centres. Prefers full sun, or partial shade. Moist, but free-draining soil or compost.
Semi-double, peach flowers in abundance cover this fresh, easy to grow perennial. Amazingly green leaves with a compact habit.
Bright coral-red flowers are held in great numbers over this compact garden plant. The excellent quality foliage stay clean all summer long. Reblooms in the summer.
Early bloomer produces a plethora of dark, rose-pink flowers on short, dark stems. This easy to grow plant has a long bloom time allowing pollinators to enjoy this gem for months.
Bowman's Root. Indian Physic. An erect perennial with bronze-green leaves and star-shaped white to pinkish white narrow petaled flowers. Height 1m. Spread 60cm. Flowers from May to August. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A compact, clump-forming perennial, up to 60cm high, with leafy, branching stems and dark green foliage. Flowers have orange to yellow petals surrounding a large brown central cone, and are produced from midsummer into autumn.
Moerheim Beauty requires full sun and well drained soil. It is drought tolerant once established. Brown-red flowers.
A compact, clump-forming perennial to 60cm high, with branching stems and ovate to lance-shaped green leaves. Daisy-like flowers are produced at the tips of wiry stems from late summer to autumn, with dome-shaped dark reddish-brown central discs, surrounded by deep velvety red petals finely edged with yellow.
Tight heads of rich dusky pink flowers with maroon middles remain the same colours as they mature Jul-Sep, shortish 85cm.
Sneezeweed. An upright perennial with light green leaves producing yellow flowers with a brown centre. Height 60cm. Spread 60cm. Flowers from June to September. Herbaceous. Hardy.
Sunflower. A tall perennial with conspicuously veined, dark green leaves. Pale yellow flowers with a slightly darker centre open in late summer to mid-autumn. Height 1.6m. Spread 1.2m. Flowers from August to October. Herbaceous. Hardy.
A compact, branching annual to 60cm tall with dark green oval leaves. Golden-yellow flowerheads 8-10cm across with a deep reddish-brown ring surrounding the dark central eye are borne in profusion over a long season, this sterile cultivar does not produce seed.
Corsican Hellebore. An evergreen perennial producing grey-green, attractively veined, divided leaves. Large clusters of bowl-shaped, pale apple-green flowers from late winter to spring. Height 75cm. Spread 90cm. Flowers from February to April. Evergreen. Hardy. Harmful if eaten.
Has creamy pink flower clusters which are borne nicely erect above the leaves. When the flowers have finished blooming, they fade to a chocolate colour. From the first year, the plants will already produce over 20 blooms. New ones are constantly formed, with a striking contrast emerging between the fading and new blooms.
Lenten Rose. Evergreen perennial leathery dark green leaves & large saucer-shaped double white and pink spotted flowers. Height 45cm. Spread 45cm. Flowers from January to April. Hardy. Shelter from cold drying winds. Harmful if eaten.
Lenten Rose. Striking raspberry-coloured flowers, evergreen and hardy. Suitable for any location in the garden and also thrives very well for many years in large containers on the balcony and terrace.
Lenten Rose. Pale to deep rose flowers over a long flowering period from December until well into spring. Continuously produces new rose buds that are carried on sturdy stems and create a unique play of colours in combination with the deep rose colour of the older flowers. Extra robust and vigorous.
Lenten Rose. Elegant forward-facing blooms of soft pink facing to cream centres, with vibrant yellow stamens providing bright winter colour.
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