Gaillardia Bring Sunshine like Flowers to Borders

Perennials are a huge group of plants that should survive year after year. The majority of perennial plants discussed here are herbaceous in that the leaves and stems die back and new growth restarts from the buried roots in the new year.

Picnic in the shade of Cherry Trees

This selection of top ten Roses to grow as cut flowers has been chosen for their scent and the length of the vase life. If Roses are picked as the buds are breaking they will last at least a week and if they are picked fully open it will be several days.

Alstromeria are one of the longest lived cut flowers I know. Several weeks of flowering are possible if the bunch is bought with colour just showing. Ensure there is plenty of bud and you will be delighted.

Compact, early flowering shrubs with jam making potential from fruit in autumn make these plants well worth cultivating. As I think you can now imagine Chaenomeles make good and often under utilised shrubs and small trees in the garden  landscape. Varieties vary from 3 feet to 12 feet in height. I grew my plants from seed supplied by the Royal Horticultural Society in the annual seed distribution.

Climbers can look really great if you do some preparation. Select an appropriate wall to train your Climbers against or use a free standing structure like this metal frame for the blue Clematis.

Flowering Cherry trees contribute most to the floral pageantry of spring blossom and they are easy to grow. Cherries are graceful and well shaped trees and many varieties have excellent Autumn colour. (Scarlet leaves of Prunus sargentii and pubesens, yellow of hybrids Pandora or Tai-Haku or coppery Ukon.)

I have just bought a non-stop flowering begonia cunningly entitled ‘Begonia Orange’. Here are some more orange blooms until the begonia gets going.

Ground cover plants ‘beat weeds’ and many of the plants recommended below will flower year after year. Plant healthy young plants from pots or modules about 12 inches apart and the fast growing ground cover will produce a dense carpet of colour for many years.

This summer flowering perennial has good disease and pest resistance. The plumes of flowers stand above fine foliage

As flowers age they can lose some of their colour. The sun can have a bleaching effect and the pigment should already have done it’s job of attracting pollination insects.