Perennials buying guide
The centre piece of any garden, perennials are the hardy, reliable type. Unlike annuals, which provide quick colour but only live for a year, perennials come back for many seasons – this also means they’re great for getting the most out of your garden budget. They bloom for a shorter period of time and the stems die back over winter. Perennials might take a few years to get established, but it’s only because they’re setting down roots to return bigger and better each year. Plants that are here for a good time, as well as a long time.
Asiatic Lily
Asiatic lilies are easy, dependable perennials that put on a great show in summer. They produce large, up-facing trumpets in gold, white, yellow, pink, and orange shades - and what they lack in fragrance they make up for in colour. These provide the earliest lily bloom and make excellent cut flowers.
Location: full sun
Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand
Size: 0.1 - 0.5m
Blooms: Summer
Astilbe
Astilbe brings both colour and texture to gardens and comes in soft shades of pink and purple. It’s commonly referred to as false goat’s beard because of its elegant feathery flowers. Fluffy plumes aside, its fern-like foliage makes it an excellent filler. We love these perennials as part of a woodland-style planting scheme, which suits their love for damp and shady spots.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: clay, loam
Size: 0.3 - 1.2m
Blooms: Summer to Autumn
Coreopsis
Coreopsis is a great all-rounder. It’s long blooming, low maintenance and happy in most soil conditions. A genus in the asteraceae family, these bright and cheery plants have masses of daisy-like flowers, available in upbeat colours like yellow, orange and red. They’re sometimes called tickseed because of their round seeds which vaguely resemble ticks. Birds love to snack on these seeds, while pollinators love to visit the flowers.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: sand, loam
Size: up to 0.6m
Blooms: Summer to Autumn
Dahlia
A genus of tuberous plants in the asteraceae family, dahlias are native to Mexico and Central America and available in an array of colours. They come in a range of flower shapes, from miniature pompoms to giant blooms the size of dinner plates. These drought-tolerant plants grow quickly each season, often flowering in about eight weeks. They look great in borders, beds and even cut and propped up in a vase indoors.
Location: full sun
Soil: clay, loam, sand
Size: 0.1 - 0.5m
Blooms: Late Spring - Early Summer
Echinacea
Echinacea plants produce masses of daisy-like petals and leafy stems. They’re also known as coneflowers, thanks to their prominent purple cone-like centres – these contain seeds that butterflies, bees and birds love. On the other hand, their genus name refers to the Latin name for hedgehog, echinus, which nods to the prickly lower stem of the plant. Purple is the most common specie but they can be found in a range of bright or subdued colours, making them a pretty addition to most traditional gardens or a wildflower meadow.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: sand, loam, chalk
Size: up to 1.5m
Blooms: Late Summer to Autumn
Foxglove
The common foxglove, digitalis purpurea, is a native woodlander with purple-pink trumpet flowers. It has beautiful spires which bumblebees make a beeline for, so you can enjoy plenty of downtime watching pollinators fumble about in the bells. These tall and regal perennials can reach up to two metres in height, depending on the variety, so look great sat at the back row of the flower bed.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: clay, chalk, loam, sand
Size: up to 1.5m
Blooms: Early to Mid-Summer
Gaillardia
Galliardia is a brightly coloured flower, guaranteed to add cheer and interest to any border. A member of the daisy family, this resilient perennial has eye-catching red and yellow blooms. It’s also known as blanket flower – a nod to the bright, vivid colours of traditional Native American textile patterns.
Location: full sun
Soil: chalk, sand, loam
Size: up to 0.6m
Blooms: Summer to Autumn
Garvinea
Garvineas are very similar to the well-known gerberas you find at florists. Unlike gerberas, these perennials are hardy garden plants that produce enormous amounts of flowers. They have strong hairy stems which produce flower buds which at first hang down, but raise as their daisy-like petals unfold. Available in shades of yellow, orange, red, white, pink, and purple.
Location: full sun
Soil: clay, loam, sand
Size: 0.1 - 0.5m
Blooms: Spring
Geranium
A favourite in British gardens, geraniums are easy to grow and provide a long season of colour. Geraniums (the common name for the species pelargonium) come in a rainbow of shades and have neat foliage. These small yet mighty blooms look just as attractive in bedding displays as they do spilling from hanging baskets. If potted in containers, they can be moved indoors during hard winters.
Location: full sun
Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand
Size: 0.1 - 0.5m
Blooms: Late Spring to Autumn
Geum
Geums are familiar favourites in herbaceous borders. It’s a prolific flowering plant with masses of single rich orange, saucer-shaped flowers. They need a little space for their flowers, which tend to be produced on long spreading stems with large, hairy leaves.
Location: full sun
Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand
Size: 0.1 - 0.5m
Blooms: Late Spring to Autumn
Hosta
Native to East Asia where they grow in moist woodlands, open grasslands and along water edges, hostas are grown for their beautiful foliage. Leaves vary from all shades of green to blue and acid yellow in differing shapes. Some produce small trumpet-shaped flowers in summer. They’re extremely hardy, need very little maintenance and last for many years.
Location: partial shade
Soil: clay, loam
Size: 0.1 - 0.5m
Blooms: Summer
Leucanthemum
Leucanthemum is a genus of plants in the aster family, asteraceae. It bears single daisies with pure white petals and a sunny-yellow centre. Also known as the shasta daisy. Leucanthemum dies back to below ground level each autumn and fresh new growth appears again in spring. It also makes an excellent cut flower for a vase indoors.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand
Size: up to 1m
Blooms: Summer to Autumn
Lupin
Lupins have tall flower spikes that can reach up to 4ft in height. Because of their towering and distinctive appearance, they work beautifully towards the back of borders. They come in every shade imaginable, from creamy white to vivid pink and dark maroon.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: sand, loam
Size: up to 1.2m
Blooms: Summer
Phlox
Phlox are loved for their clouds of billowy blooms and fuss-free nature. They come in a range of colours, such as pink, purple and white, and bear masses of – often fragrant – flowers. These long-lasting plants are perfect for encouraging pollinators and work well in sunny borders.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: chalk, sand, loam
Size: up to 1m
Blooms: Summer to Autumn
Polemonium
Polemonium is a compact, clump-forming perennial. Most varieties have delicate bell-shaped flowers in purple shades, complemented by yellow centres. It’s commonly known as Jacob’s ladder, because of its rung-like arrangement of leaves.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand
Size: up to 1m
Blooms: Summer
Poppies
There are over 100 varieties of poppy. The Oriental poppy, Perry’s White (papaver orientale) is a hardy perennial and one of the most popular to grow. A garden highlight, it features large, crepe-like, pure white flowers and a contrasting maroon-purple heart. The poppy’s blousy texture makes them a stunning addition to simple gardens and wildflower meadows alike.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand
Size: up to 0.75m
Blooms: Mid-Summer to Early Autumn
Rhodanthemum
Commonly known as the Moroccan daisy, rhodanthemum is a cheery little plant. This hard-working perennial has charming simplicity thanks to its daisy flowers above a mound of grey-green foliage.
Location: full sun
Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand
Size: 0.1 - 0.5m
Blooms: Late Spring to Summer
Salvia
Part of the mint family, salvia has a spike-like shape of densely packed tubular blossoms and velvety leaves. It’s also known as sage with more than 1,000 species in the genus. These hardy perennials bring strong colour to early summer borders and are natural survivors in hot temperatures. Many have an aromatic scent that makes them magnets to pollinators.
Location: full sun
Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand
Size: 0.1 - 0.5m
Blooms: Early Summer to Late Autumn
Scabious
Scabious is a long-stemmed flower with an abundance of flowers that resemble a pincushion. It’s a genus in the honeysuckle family, with pretty nectar-rich flowers that are attractive to pollinators. Common colours are white and shades of blue, and, unlike the annual types, has foliage that remains green all year round. This cheerful meadow flower lasts for several years and can be enjoyed as a cut flower inside the home too.
Location: full sun
Soil: chalk, sand, loam
Size: up to 1m
Blooms: Summer to Autumn
Verbena
For a knockout display of colour from spring until frost, Verbena is hard to beat. These long-blooming plants have tiny fragrant flowers in saucer-shaped clusters. Their tall stiff stems means they tower gracefully above many other plants, adding height to borders. The most common variety is a vibrant shade of purple – which also makes them a first-class butterfly plant.
Location: full sun
Soil: chalk, clay, loam
Size: 1 - 1.5m
Blooms: Summer to Autumn
Wallflowers
Wallflowers (erysimum) provide bold, colourful displays. Popular perennials like bowles’s mauve – they’re great value in small gardens. Wallflowers can be grown from seed or bought as bare-root plants for planting later in the year.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand
Size: 0.1 - 0.5m
Blooms: Spring
Zantedeschia
Part of the family araceae, these are attractive and distinctive plants also known as arum lilies. Their ’flowers’ are actually a long, pointed spike (known as spadix) made up of many small flowers. These are then surrounded by a large, graceful hood-like sheath called a spathe. Their architectural shape is enhanced by large glossy green foliage colour.
Location: full sun, partial shade
Soil: clay, loam
Size: 0.5 - 1m
Blooms: Spring
