Perennials

It is nearly warm enough to plant in the yard, and a group of plants known as perennials can be useful. Their main advantages include that they do not have to be replanted every year, and they offer ornamental qualities such as unique flowers that cannot be found elsewhere in ornamental plants.

Although perennials are not generally a lot of work, they do require periodic deadheading, cutting back in the autumn and dividing every few years. Further, there are unfortunately no locally hardy perennials that bloom from spring to fall. However, with some planning, a wonderful varietal pallet exists so that a number of perennials can be blooming at any given time during the growing season.

To get started, define where perennials will be planted. Is the area dry, wet or shady? How tall can the perennial get? When do you want the plants to bloom? What color do you want the flowers to be? By knowing these basic things, you can avoid making mistakes. I personally find it useful to explore local garden centers to see what is available in combination with my research, and not purchasing much on the first few visits. Additionally, become familiar with garden center employees. As, some are more knowledgeable than others. It is also useful to know when plant shipments are scheduled. Sometimes, harder to find plants disappear the same day they arrive. Knowledgeable employees can help with this too.

An additional successful tactic includes visiting garden centers when they are less busy, especially during the hectic spring season. You will most likely get more personalized help. With this, the best times to visit I have found include early mornings or early afternoons after the lunch rush. The worst time to get personal assistance includes evening and anytime on Saturday.

Another consideration is that perennial availability is often seasonal according to when particular plants bloom. If all perennials are purchased in the spring, they will most likely all bloom in the spring. This leaves few to no flowers for the rest of the season. To have something blooming all season, perennial purchases should be made over the entire growing season.

I often had customers who, in the spring, read garden magazines featuring new, reportedly fabulous plants. However, these magazine features are often sponsored by a particular company. This means that the featured plant must be ordered directly from that company and is not locally available. This is not garden centers' fault. However, if you choose not to order that particular plant, garden centers will have something very similar or have other alternatives that work well.

A final consideration is that some perennials live longer than others. This variation in longevity can be advantageous. A good example of use of short lived perennials includes installing them in newly planted landscapes that look somewhat bare for a few years. The short lived perennials often grow large relatively quickly, but as trees and shrubs start to fill in the shorter lived perennials fade out offering up there space to the trees and shrubs.