Why Plant Perennials

(1) Beautiful Flowers

While shrubs and trees act as the backbone of the garden, perennials provide the much-needed flowering muscle! Perennials last for more than one season – evergreen perennials stay in leaf all year round, while herbaceous perennials die back below ground over the winter before springing back into life again in the spring. Most perennials flower from late March to October but there are also winter flowering perennials such as hellebore which provide much needed colour and interest over the winter too.  Perennials produce flowers in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, including trumpet, cluster, flathead and daisy-like.

(2) Fabulous Foliage

Some perennials such as hostas, heuchera, heucherella and epimedium are primarily foliage plants. These beauties bring architectural flair to the garden with their stunning leaf forms, often with multi-coloured variegated foliage.

(3) Low Maintenance

Perennials require much less maintenance than annuals, not least because they keep coming back year after year. They are more drought tolerant than annuals and require less feeding and general care. Don’t be too alarmed if your perennial plants don’t flower in their first season – they will be working hard to establish a strong root system, ready to fuel a fabulous display of flowers and foliage the following year.

(4) Cost Effective

While annuals last a season then need to be replaced, perennials are a one-time purchase that will keep giving back for many years to come. For this reason, they are more cost effective than their annual and biennial counterparts. As perennials get more mature, they can also be lifted and divided which has the dual benefit of improving the vigour and flowering potential of your plants, while also creating new plants for you to grow elsewhere in your garden or give to a neighbour as a gift. The root systems of perennials are fibrous and grow in such a way that they can be easily propagated by “splitting”, which is done in the dormant season with a spade.

(5) Versatile

Perennials are highly versatile plants which can be used in many themed gardens including mixed borders, cottage garden, prairie, sensory, wildlife or simply container planting for small gardens, patios and balcony.    

(6) Good for Wildlife and the Environment

Perennials have a positive impact on the environment helping to improve soil by holding onto moisture, storing carbon even preventing soil erosion in some cases.  Many flowering perennials provide food and shelter for native local wildlife such as small mammals, birds, butterflies, bees and other pollinating insects.