Gardening Tips and Advice for Perennials
You have hundreds of plants to choose from for your perennial garden, from shrubs and ornamental grasses to tall or short flowers. You can even plant annuals among your perennials to create height, texture and color contrast. Although the range of possibilities may seem overwhelming, your choices are limited depending on your geographic location and the sun and soil characteristics of your yard. Before purchasing any perennials, find out about any specific growing conditions the plants have to see if they coincide with your outdoor landscape. Does this Spark an idea?
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Hardiness
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When selecting perennials for your garden you need to consider the climate in which you live. Some plants that are perennial in warmer areas, meaning that the roots survive in the ground all year round, can only be grown as annuals in colder regions. Determining the USDA zone of your locality will make your perennial selection much more successful. For example, coneflowers tend to be hardy from USDA zones 4 to 9, whereas Lily of the Nile is only hardy to zones 8 and 9. Adding a mulch, such as bark, around the base of your perennials can increase hardiness in cold climates. Visit The New Perennial Club website to look up your hardiness zone and to find out about perennials that are hardy to that zone.
Constant Blooms
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Some perennials only remain in bloom for two to three weeks, so planting early, mid and late-summer bloomers will keep the flower bed constantly colorful and vibrant. Removing dead flowers may prolong the bloom period of the entire plant. Examples of perennials that generally bloom in late spring or early summer are poppies, peonies and coreopsis; mid to late-summer bloomers include asters and phlox; fall bloomer examples are chrysanthemums and hibiscus. Again, this is dependent on your climate zone. You can search for perennials by blooming period on The New Perennial Club site.
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General Care
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To ensure your perennials survive the first season and continue to bloom year after year, perform some basic care measures. Proper soil preparation is more essential for perennials than annuals, states the University of Arizona. The university recommends you test your soil with a nutrient test kit to find out which nutrients are lacking and thus what kind of fertilizer is required. Ensure the soil has adequate drainage. Dig a hole approximately 10 inches deep and fill it with water. The next day fill the hole again. If some water remains after about eight hours, the soil does not have adequate drainage. In this case, plant perennials in raised portions of the bed to create a natural slope for excess water to dissipate. Add compost or other organic material to the soil before planting. Plant your perennials in an environment with compatible light requirements. For example, columbines and lobelia prefer shady areas, whereas hollyhock and fescues prefer full sun. Water requirements are also dependent on the species of perennial, but generally the plants require frequent watering after the initial planting until established. Finally, some tall-growing perennials, such as black-eyed Susans and coneflowers, should be loosely tied to stakes, so that they do not bend over and break their stems.
Plant Division
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When flowering perennials become overcrowded, blooming quality will be affected. The Colorado State University Extension recommends dividing perennial plants and transplanting the divisions apart from one another. This should be done every three years for fast-growing varieties, such as asters and shasta daisies. Less aggressive perennials generally do not need to be divided until after five seasons.
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References
- East Texas Gardening; Perennials for Shady Areas; J.D. Wood
- Gardening Tips 4 You; Perennials; Don Dean
- The University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Flower Bed - Perennials
- University of Vermont Extension System; Plant Hardiness; Leonard P. Perry
- Colorado State University Extension; Perennial Gardening; D. Waltman, et al., December 2009
Resources
- Photo Credit garden art 2 image by bluefern from Fotolia.com
