Category: Perennial

Trail/Ground/Creeping Plants

by zoe100675, posted in Flowers, Horticulture, Perennial, Shrubs

Aubretia are small and low growing but their colour makes up for it. A spring flowering trailer. It can also be incorporated in a rockery. It prefers drier conditions so drought tolerant. It is attractive to beneficial insects as a bonus too.

Lobelia is usually a summer flowering annual but they are perennial varieties. These will need some maintenance to prevent them from becoming leggy. The upright type L. ‘Starship scarlett’ will need to be cut back and divided to rejuvenate the plant. The bedding trailier will provide you with a cascade of colour until the 1st frost.

Phlox can be mat forming and upright. A hardy perennial that can be divided or propagated from cuttings. P. paniculata is the most common variety with many cultivars ranging from Oranges, Reds, Pinks and Blues. P. subulata is the variety for ground cover/trailing. The plant flowers from different times of the year. Some early summer through to autumn.

Erodium (Storksbill – related to the Geranium) A hardy variety that provides flowers and distinct foliage, very robust and will offer resilient cover. Erodium x variabile ‘Roseum’/ ‘Bishops form’ – a small alpine on its own, it is clump forming but a cluster of them will create a carpet of colour from the beginning of summer to the end.

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) offers pink white flowers in early spring. This plant does prefer a good nutritious base so a humus rich soil is ideal. The whole structure should have some substance. Take note where it is positioned though, its root system being underground but close to the surface. Its storage organ is a Rhizome – it only slightly protrudes. It will not be visible until it resurfaces so digging up can be so easy.

The Serbian Bellflower is excellent cover for the ground, walls and rockeries. C. poscharskyana ‘Blue waterfall’ will provide a trail of colour from early summer to late. It needs little attention and highly effective in encouraging beneficial insects.

Hardy Perennials

by zoe100675, posted in Flowers, Horticulture, Perennial

In the midst of winter, what better way to find colour in those bleak periods but from smaller hardy annuals/perennials. These plants will provide an array of colour at the front of borders with next to no bother. The perennials will re-appear the following year and the annuals after flowering will have set seed elsewhere.

Cyclamen coums are early and often can be seen alongside Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis), although Cyclamens flower for a longer period. Snowdrops are known to flower for a matter of weeks. The storage organ of the Cyclamen (Corm) allows you to divide over time and multiply numbers. It flowers from late winter to spring.

Bellis is a good ground cover plant for edges and effective in containers. The perennial will flower in autumn. It is effective in most aspects and can cope with exposed areas. It has a tendency to self seed so dead-head to avoid unecessary growth.

Pansies are not strictly perennial but they can come back and often do. It will flower in late winter to spring. It’s smaller cousin Viola shares the same growth habit.

Hellebore (Lentern/Christmas Rose) will flower in winter (usually but there are exceptions). It is generally an easy perennial to look after save very wet soil. The uplifting flowers on the darkest of days. They in fact prefer semi shade.

Primrose/Polyanthus are similar to the Pansy. They often come back and bring colour year after year often improving in their performance. It can be bought as a bedding plant but it will provide you with winter colour right through till spring.

Another spring flowering perennial that often is overlooked is the wallflower. It is hardy and is often incorporated with spring bulbs. It flowers March onwards usually but can be planted in the winter months. Effective in cracks of walls hanging down or in containers.