Garden perennials: tips on how to grow and care for them
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- · Perennials: definition
- Garden perennials: when to buy them
- · Garden perennials: planting
- · Tips for creating your own garden
- · Garden perennials: care for growth and pruning
- Perennials: our favorites
- · Frost-resistant perennials
Perennials: definition
By definition, in botany, with perennials we mean a vast category of plants that live for more than two years; this differentiates them from annuals and biennials, the life cycle of which ends in a maximum of 12-16 months. Both woody plants, therefore all shrubs and tall trees, and herbaceous plants, not equipped with woody stems, fall into the perennial category. Another subdivision is between evergreens, which never lose their leaves (or rather the change occurs gradually throughout the year so that it is almost imperceptible) and deciduous trees, which remain without leaves only in summer or winter. .
This happens because in these plants the root or other underground organs (bulbs, tubers or rhizomes), with proper care, do not die during the bitter cold of winter or the sultry heat of summer and are therefore able to germinate again. . In fact, in perennials, the root system is much deeper and more developed than in annual or biennial plants, to absorb as much water as possible.
If you want to know more about flowering herbaceous perennials for your garden, read our article!
See also
Garden perennials: when to buy them
The best time to buy perennial herbaceous plants is at the end of winter, so they can be planted in late February-early March when the cold has passed. It is always preferable to choose small seedlings in 8-10 cm pots. You can also buy larger or "older" plants (as long as they do not have diseases) or directly the bulbs, roots and rhizomes, even if they will need more care after planting.
Before buying perennials for our garden, let's try to understand which are the most suitable for the flower bed and the space we have available: let's place light-loving plants in direct sunlight, such as the saponaria, sedum, echinops and coreopsis; in the shade ferns, L'hellebore, anemone, astilbe and other similar plants. Many perennials survive even in partial shade but in any case we try to arrange them in a place where they can enjoy at least 4 hours of light every day.
Let's also ask ourselves if the plant is suitable for our climate, how much humidity and how much water they need: if we live in the mountains it is obvious that it is not worth buying a plant of Mediterranean origin. We also consider the moment of flowering: the lewisie and the primroses they are the first to bloom just after winter; the Japanese anemones and the echinacea they bloom when the days are hot.
The choice, of course, also depends on our tastes, but knowing the characteristics of our climate and the soil of our garden is very important. Perennials are the most common plant species in the world; Consequently, identifying general rules for the cultivation and care of these plants is very complex. However, it can be said that most of these plants are quite tolerant, while others are more delicate.
Garden perennials: planting
Once you have chosen our plant, for planting it is first of all necessary to prepare the soil in the best possible way, enriching it with sand to increase drainage and with mature organic fertilizer that provides a good supply of mineral salts.
We then extract the seedling from the pot, untie the roots and place it in the ground. We then compact the soil with our hands or feet. Finally, we make holes around the plant, where we will let the water flow to irrigate it, so that it reaches the roots better. For plants that will become very tall, it is better to insert supports immediately.
In general, let's make sure to place the perennial in a place in the garden where it can grow freely; if we want to plant more plants in the same place, it is recommended to keep a space of 15-20 cm between one plant and another. At the same time, let us take care to contain an excessive development of the plant by pruning it and eradicating the damaged parts.
Perennials need a few years to stabilize. This means that as soon as they are planted they will need frequent watering; once stabilized they will need less and less water, until they need it only in the summer months or in periods of drought.
To irrigate our perennials, we preferably proceed in the morning or, even better, in the evening, avoiding wetting the leaves.
Tips for creating your own garden
The eye wants its part and there is nothing that puts you in a better mood than a beautiful flower garden. We can have fun playing with colors and creating harmonious combinations for our flower beds or borders. The borders, for the uninitiated, were born in England: they are rectangular portions of land up to 10 m long and at least 2 m wide: generally they are used to embellish a driveway or frame a lawn.
In our flower beds or borders we can create chromatic scales from red to pink or from blue to light blue. Or combine complementary colors, such as blue and yellow, red and blue or yellow and purple. We also add white that goes well with any color and gives brightness to the composition. Finally, let's not forget about green, the king of colors in our garden, with all its shades.
If we want to arrange in the flower beds and herbaceous borders of different heights, it is very important to place the tallest plants in the second line or in the center, so that all, even those of lower height, receive light and are not suffocated.
Another tip is to include some ground cover plants inside the flower beds or borders which, by covering the ground, prevent weeds from spreading. These plants are also perfect for creating rock gardens, where generally small plants are flanked by tuff, limestone or sandstone rocks.
Garden perennials: care for growth and pruning
In order for our perennials to regenerate at the end of winter, it will be good to clean up the soil, eliminating the foliage and weeds from our flower beds and borders that take away space for the growth of our perennials. If the plants have emitted side shoots, it is best to eliminate them with scissors or fingers. We also eliminate the withered flowers.
At the end of winter, small perennials (that is, they do not exceed 30-40 cm in height) always have a dried appearance due to low temperatures and poor winter light. To stimulate their recovery, as soon as the temperatures rise and the hours of light increase, it is good to prune them to make them stronger and stimulate them to produce new growths. Pruning depends on the shape and type of the perennial: in general, we must cut the twigs at 8-10 cm from the ground for all plants that do not exceed 50 cm; for larger plants (from 50 cm to 1.5 m in height), pruning should only be carried out on dry or broken branches.
Perennials: our favorites
We have already said that there are many varieties of perennials. However, we have tried to make a small selection of our favorites to help you choose plants for your garden and balcony. We will focus on flowering plants, which lend themselves both to cultivation in the ground or in pots. This second option is ideal for embellishing our terraces and windowsills or they can be placed in the garden next to the plants we have planted in the ground, perhaps inside a beautiful terracotta pot! In this way you will also be able to have more variety in color combinations and to include herbaceous plants that are not suitable for your soil in your garden.
Hydrangea
It absolutely cannot be missing in your garden and in fact it is one of the most widespread and simple border plants to grow. There are bushy or climbing varieties and are very suitable for embellishing paths and balconies. Native to China, Japan and South America, the peculiarity of this plant is in its flowers: they change according to the composition of the soil! If it is acidic, the flowers will be blue and lilac, if alkaline, the flowers will be pink or red. It should be buried between October and November or in March; to ensure abundant flowering, it is essential to prune the plant once a year. Hydrangea requires abundant watering, especially during budding. However, water stagnation should be avoided. It is a plant that also lends itself well to growing in pots, as long as these are large.
Wisteria
It is a perennial climbing plant native to China and Japan, particularly beautiful and resistant that forms stems and foliage in clusters of even high height and width. It can climb on any support and is ideal for decorating pergolas, balconies, columns, walls and terraces. The fragrant flowers bloom in March and April in an explosion of blue-lilac, but also pink or white. It has small oval or lanceolate leaves and bean-like fruits. Wisteria is relatively easy to grow: it must be planted in full sun to favor flowering (it also tolerates partial shade or completely shaded areas, but in this case the flowering will be less luxuriant and slower). Its roots are very robust and risk lifting sidewalks or ruining walls: therefore, before planting it, you can bury a sheet of plastic in the direction we don't want them to take root. The vegetative rest phase which runs from the end of November to the end of February.
Lavender
Among the aromatic plants it is by far our favorite. A plant with medicinal properties whose flowers give off an intense, pungent aroma, almost annoying for some people.Precisely for this reason it is also used as a natural repellent against insects. It is ideal for ornamental purposes, to create floral compositions and to perfume outdoor environments or drawers and wardrobes. The small lavender flowers cluster near the tip of the stem, so much so that they look like spikes. It is an evergreen shrubby plant with thick, woody roots and a dense, bushy growth. The most common color of lavender flowers is violet blue, but there are variations in purple or white. Lavender, or LAVENDULA, is an ancient plant of Mediterranean origin now widespread all over the world and includes various species, many of which are Italian. It also grows spontaneously in wild contexts, because it has great adaptability. It loves being in full sun and in dry soils. The best time to plant it is spring or autumn.
Lantana camara
Certainly less known than lavender, lantana camara is a plant of Central American origin ideal for our garden because its flowers have a wide range of colors that last all summer until autumn, as long as it is watered in summer and fertilized frequently. The flowers can be orange yellow, pink, lilac, white; some small flowers can also have shaded colors; the leaves are an iridescent green. It is a very resistant plant, which rarely gets sick and does not require minimal pruning. It has very long roots so it needs a pot at least 20-25 cm deep. It is an ideal plant for long Italian summers and can be grown both in pots and in flower beds. It needs full sun for at least 5-6 hours a day and can tolerate wind too. Although it is considered a weed in many tropical areas (in high concentrations it is toxic), it is a plant that is associated with the arrival of positive surprises.
Hellebore
It is an evergreen perennial herbaceous plant whose most widespread variety in Italy, thehelleborus niger, is also known as the "Christmas rose". In ancient Greece, black hellebore was considered a remedy in the treatment of mental illnesses; it is still used today in the medical industry as a cardiotonic and purgative medicinal plant. The flowers are very similar to those of the dog rose and can be of various colors, from white, to cream, pink or purple. Flowering generally occurs at the end of winter. They are easy to grow, even if they love humidity and for this reason they must be planted in the shade or partial shade. They also grow in the wild, in areas with moist, cool and shady soils. If you too will be captivated by the beauty of its flowers, however, you must know that all parts of the plant, including the roots, are toxic and highly irritating, both for humans and for animals, so it is good to use gloves and avoid direct contact.
Anemone hybrida Honorine Jobert
It is a very scenic bush plant thanks to its large, white or pink flowers that open in succession and are very resistant. The stem is very long, vigorous and can even exceed one meter in height. They prefer partial shade (3-4 hours of sun a day) and a soil that is drained and irrigated regularly. This variety is one of the oldest, discovered in Verdun in France in 1858 and chosen in 2016 as Perennial of the year by the Perennial Plant Association.
Geranium
How can we not talk about the most cultivated flower in pots on the balconies and windows of our windowsills? Geranium, in addition to being a very decorative herbaceous plant, is also very resistant and can also be found in supermarkets at a very low price. It is a perennial plant native to southern Africa of which there are many varieties distinguishable by the characteristics of the flower and leaves. It is a full sun plant whose flowering explodes in all its beauty in summer and which requires a lot of water both on the ground and on the leaves. In any case, we never overdo it with water! The soil must always be fresh, fertilized and well drained, so that the water does not stagnate. The most common species of geranium are the Pelargonium zonal, characterized by large leaves with hairy pigmentation and a shape that resembles a heart, and the Pelargonium peltatum of a climbing nature, also called ivy geranium, ideal for creating cascading compositions. Finally, geraniums are an excellent remedy for insects and mosquitoes, which do not like their smell at all.
Carnation
Carnation is a perennial flowering plant of herbaceous nature, of Greek and Iranian origin. It is a flower with a thousand meanings, which has played a symbolic role for many different cultures. Carnations are the flowers that arise from the tears of Mary in pain at the foot of the cross; the same flowers originate from the tears of a young shepherd seduced and then abandoned by the goddess Diana. The original color of carnation flowers is a pink-purple, but today there are many different colors, also because it has a strong ability to hybridize. The petals also have variegated colors, orange, yellow, white and even blue. Today the most common carnations are garden carnations, descendants of the Dianthus caryophyllus, of wild origin. The plants have semi-gnarled stems, the length of which can be up to about 50 cm, and gray-green leaves with a thin shape. It is a plant that loves full sun and well-drained and alkaline-balanced soil: in these conditions, the plant can produce up to 7-8 blooms per year.
Frost-resistant perennials
There are perennials that withstand the harshest temperatures. Their cheerful colors allow our gardens to be bright even in winter.
The first we want to talk to you about is the edelweiss, the symbol of the Alps that we can also find in the Abruzzese Apennines. In the rest of the world we find it in the Andes, in China and Japan. It is a unique mountain flower that prefers steep and rocky terrain. For it to grow, you just have to choose a rather arid climate and always position it in a northerly direction.
The second mountain plant is the campanula, which takes its name from the shape of its flowers, similar to a small bell. It is a very common plant in gardens and flower beds with very intense violet blue or white flowers. It can grow both in pots or in the ground as a bushy shrub (it reaches a maximum height of 2 meters). It grows extremely quickly and does not need too much care. Its presence gives a scenographic effect to your garden, because the high ground cover tendency of this plant creates beautiful colored flower cushions. It is useful to know that it can also be grown in pots (the hanging baskets that let the stems and flowers fall down are beautiful) and that it also fits well inside our home.
Finally, the yarrow, a very scenic full sun perennial that grows in large bushes, with rigid and erect stems. The gray-green leaves produce a strong aroma and umbrellas of white or pink flowers cluster along the stems. Flowering occurs in summer. It is also known for its therapeutic properties and is very common in mountain meadows.
Magnolia
It is the only evergreen tall tree that we have decided to include in this article, because when its flowers bloom it is a spectacle of nature. It also reaches 25 m in height. The dark green leaves create a beautiful contrast with the large pinkish-white flowers and the fruits, similar to pine cones. It should be grown in full sun and in drained soils.
There really is something for everyone! So what are you waiting for ?! It's a good time to buy a new perennial for your garden.
