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.
01.08.2023 - 14:56 / gardenerstips.co.uk / hortoris
Many gardens have soil that is too poor to be worth improving particularly when some perennials would thrive there anyway. Here is a top 14 selection of perennial plants that are tolerant of poor conditions.
Alyssum – yellow flowering
Aquilegia – mixed colours likes light shade
Digitalis – Foxgloves with purple or white spikes
Doronicum – early yellow flowers, die back quickly
Lamium – ground cover bicoloured leaves and purple flowered
Vinca – arching stems with a prostrate habit and blue flowers
Acanthus – bears breeches, spikey leaves with purple flowers
Geranium – species with low habit and pink, blue or white flowers ( not Pelargoniums)
Hemerocalis – Grass like foliage Day lilies
Hypericum – St Johns Worts shrubs with yellow flowers
Nepta – silvery foliage cat mints
Saxifrage – white and pink starry shaped flowers on a neat mound
Anemone Japonica – Pink or white flowers clump forming
Solidago – Erect yellow flowers best in a limy soil
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.
Abeliophyllum distichum also called White Forsythia is more refined than traditional yellow Forsythia to which it is distantly related, both being part of the Olive family.
Understanding the soil and natural conditions in your garden can help you organise and plan the type of garden that will be successful. I am going too offer tips on gardens with a sandy soil and in particular where there is a heat trap. To make a colourful impact in a tricky situation chose plants that grow naturally in those conditions.
The best trees for chalk soil conditions tend to be locally grown and not be Dutch imports. In fact they resemble shrubs more than trees but there are the odd exception that are tree like.
This is one of the many books in my collection but the only one to focus on growing big, bigger and biggest vegetables. If you want to grow giant vegetable for exhibition or to get large crops then there are many pointers in ‘How to Grow Giant Vegetables’ by Bernard Lavery and below.
My perennial Phlox have been a good stalwart flower for cutting and filling a vase this last few weeks. I found the pink colours had more scent but all the Phlox seemed to drink copious amounts of water (I wondered if water and scent were related). The Penstemon in the same vase as the Phlox was not as successful as they had a far shorter life. Another successful long lasting cut flower is the Alstromeria. The Reds performed better than the yellows but both lasted over a week.
Great plants for the herbaceous border, these hardy Geraniums are top notch plants that are easy to grow and cultivate.
The Witch hazels are great winter flowering shrubs and small trees. If your garden is on the small side the Witch Hazels or Hamamelis can be kept in check by judicious pruning. Take care not to prune off and stop the scented winter flowers. Careful annual pruning can encourage the formation of more flowering sideshoots.
There are two great uses for Geraniums that make it worth growing these fine flowering plants. Outdoors they make fantastic border plants and the red varieties are very popular in formal bedding schemes. The second use is as a long flowering houseplant and if you deadhead and feed you plants you will get lots of geraniums from one windowsill plant.
This summer flowering perennial has good disease and pest resistance. The plumes of flowers stand above fine foliage
On the new craze of gardening for cut flowers, where America starts will we follow or is it really voice versa?