top 10 perennials for gardening beginners
top 10 perennials for gardening beginners
If you're not sure where to start when it comes to planting perennials in your garden, then this top 10 perennials for gardening beginners could be for you! Maintaining your garden can be hard work, and sometimes it can definitely feel like you can more brown thumbs rather than green, but fear not! All of these perennials have been chosen for their hardiness and flexibility for sun or part shade conditions as well as low maintenance. Keep reading for our top 10 perennials for gardening beginners.
First things first, what is a perennial?
Perennials are typically plants that live for more than 2 years (often a lot longer than this depending on plant varieties!), there are many different types of perennials, the most common you'll likely get for your garden includes: 'herbaceous perennials', this refers to a plant with non-woody stems that flowers one year, dies back during winter and re-appears the following spring to repeat the process again. 'Evergreen perennials' which keep leaves year round, 'hardy perennials' may encompass all of the above but will be tolerant down to low temperatures.
Geranium 'Rozanne'
Hardy Geraniums are one of the very easiest plants to grow and give you so much back. Amazingly floriferous, slug and rabbit resistant, unfussy on soil conditions and they make great ground cover. It’s no wonder the famous gardener Margery Fish said, when asked what the secret to gardening was, ‘When in doubt plant a Geranium!’ We couldn’t agree more. Geranium 'Rozanne' is particularly special, it's a sterile hybrid, meaning it won't self seed but as a hardy perennial will come back year after year.
Salvia 'Hot Lips'
All Salvias are wonderful, but this variety is the gift that keeps giving. Flowering up to 6 months of the year from summer to autumn, Salvia 'Hot Lips' is the most amazing hardy perennial down to -15°C and is the epitome of cottage-core gardening. Even better, in a mild winter, you can expect the foliage to remain on the stems, creating year round interest. Bees and butterflies flock to the blooms, and you only need to prune once a year in early spring once the risk of frost has subsided.
Aquilegia 'Barlow Black'
Despite their delicate appearance, Aquilegia are such tough plants, making them a perfect choice if you’re after something easy going. They can be grown in pretty much any soil conditions and are rabbit and slug resistant. As self seeders and hardy perennials, you can expect more and more to appear each year. Planted 'en masse' look quite spectacular from the late spring or early summer months.
Astrantia 'Roma'
Never to be overlooked again! Astrantia are the perfect naturally weed suppressing, groundcover plant for shade or part sun, with tall star like blooms that appear from June. Astrantia 'Roma' are a massive draw for bees too, and if you have excess blooms, make a wonderful spray in a cut flower arrangement.
Pansies & Violas
Don't let their exotic look full you. Alstroemeria can be a fantastic easy plant to grow for part shade or sun, provided you don't have waterlogged soil, making it an ideal candidate for pots if you do! 'Indian Summer' is a tall flowering variety, that reaches up to 75cm in height! Hardy down to -10°C means you're unlikely to need to lift unless you get regular hard frosts in the winter. If planted in pots, sometimes just bringing the pot closer to the walls of your home is enough to provide residual warmth throughout wintery conditions.
Erigeron 'karvinskianus'
Super easy-going, this is the plant you want if you're looking for hundreds of frothy, tactile blooms during the summer to autumn months. They creep, finding any free spaces to re-root and continue growing, one plant can spread up to 90cm overall. If you don't want them growing in your borders, then popping them in pots is equally as enjoyable, they will spill and trail over. As it hits winter, they can look scruffy, but don't let looks deceive you, wait for early spring, give them a chop and you'll be blessed with more blooms again from late spring or early summer.
Hellebore 'Anemone Green'
We absolutely love our Hellebores. Whilst other plants slumber, Hellebores come to life during winter and early spring. What makes this variety exciting (other than its evergreen) is it's striking lime green flowers! Which is sure to light up a shaded border or container in your garden. The only maintenance you have to consider for any Hellebore is pruning back old spent leaves, generally, early November is a good time to prune these off before hard frosts, the energy will go to the new buds and flowers forming. It may look bare initially, but new foliage forms soon after in early spring.
Verbena 'bonariensis'
A firm favourite for our pollinator friends and the backs of our sunny borders, reaching up to 2m in height! This lofty delight requires little to no attention, simply water whilst establishing and prune early spring before new growth emerges and off you go! If you're partial to a few sprigs of blooms in a vase, then this is the plant to grow, you'll be blessed with an abundance of blooms you can cut and enjoy and there will still be enough for the bees.
Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' are dependable, sunny yellow, dasiy-like flowers that really sing in your late summer to autumn garden. Best in full sun or very light shade, once these hardy perennials get going, there's no stopping them! H&S of 60cm, good for pollinators, excellent for cut flowers, they're an all rounder! Protect with the old foliage during winter and cut back during early spring toward the base, the new growth should emerge soon after.
Anemone x hybrida Margarete
A charming, versatile, summer and autumn flowering hardy perennial. If you want tall flower spikes, and groundcovering foliage that will smother your garden borders then this plant could be the answer! Why is it versatile? It works in sun, shade, most soil types including worked clay, ericaceous and light alkaline soils. Pollinators adore these great yellow centered beacons, and provide a valuable source of nectar as other flowers fade. Plus, it's hardy down to -20°C and super low maintenance.
