Make the most of perennials with your time, money and choice
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Russet Helenium against pink Echinacea with the skeleton seedheads
of alliums in the foreground
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'Buy perennial bare roots or seed early in the year and, by summer, you can have plenty of border plants in flower for a fraction of the cost of buying plants.'
'For the more impatient gardener, you can choose the increasing range of seed varieties that will begin to flower in the summer from seed sown in early February of the same year.'
Perennials are the backbone of a flower garden, offering a combination of foliage and flowers every year, and a range of sizes and flowering times.
Perennials may be introduced into the garden in a number of ways to suit your pocket and convenience. Some gardeners only consider buying them as containerised plants, although this can be expensive if large numbers are needed. If you are on a budget, now is the time to consider some cheaper alternatives.
Buy perennial bare roots or seed early in the year and, by summer, you can have plenty of border plants in flower for a fraction of the cost of buying plants.
Bare roots
A range of perennials may be available in winter as bare-root plants, in a similar way to roses or trees.
The plants are grown in soil, lifted while they are dormant and the roots cleaned before sale. Bare-root plants may be available by mail order, often from small nurseries, but are also packaged and sold in garden centres and DIY stores.
The plants would normally be cheaper than pot-grown plants, but the roots mustn't be allowed to dry out or the plant will suffer. Plants are probably best potted up quickly after receipt and allowed to grow on before planting out once conditions are good.
Growing from seed
If you need large numbers of plants, a better option may be to grow from seed, which works out as very good value. Most packets cost £2 and contain around 50-200 seeds.
Even if only half the seeds germinate, each plant will only have cost a few pence. When they are raised from seed, perennials don't usually provide instant impact, as they don't reach the flowering stage as quickly as annuals and need at least another growing season before they are at their peak.
You usually sow seeds in midsummer, grow on through the winter and plant out in their final flowering position during the following summer.
*A notable exception is the ever-popular Verbena bonariensis. These plants rise up rapidly from a seedling to a mature 1.5m (5ft) plant, topped with flat heads of tiny purple flowers within weeks of sowing.
First-year flowering
For the more impatient gardener, you can choose the increasing range of seed varieties that will begin to flower in the summer from seed sown in early February of the same year. Look out for perennials highlighted as; first-year flowering; in seed catalogues, or for details of plants see Gardening.co.uk's related article at the end of the page: First-year perennials.
Plug plants
If you don't want to start off seed so early yourself, or you don't have the facilities, you may like to order plug plants of young perennials form suppliers instead. These can usually be ordered for delivery at the end of March. The choice of varieties won't be as great, but the fiddly work of pricking out and growing on can be avoided. The plugs can be potted up and grown on before planting out when they are large enough.
*See related articles below for more on perennials, popular garden plants and late-flowering plants.
denotes Subscriber-only content | Thursday 21 August 2008 | Help | Glossary 
