My Tips For Planting Perennials

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With many perennials, it seems to take a full three years for roots to take hold and bloom exuberantly. At least that is my experience.

For instance, below is my white clematis. Every year, the number of blooms on this clematis has been more abundant. However, in the first few years, it didn’t bloom as much.

How To Plant Perennials In Containers:

First, choose a clean or new container for your perennials. You can disinfect previously used pots with a mild bleach solution.

When selecting containers for perennials, keep in mind that they have larger root systems than annuals. Therefore, they require more space to grow. A larger pot will also give them a better chance of surviving the winter months.

Choose a container with good drainage holes. If the container doesn’t have holes, you can remedy that by drilling some in. If you fear dirt will fall out of your container, take a piece of screen and lay it over the holes.

I like to use something in the bottom layer of the container. I’ve used pea gravel and shards of broken pottery. This provides the soil with a more porous surface, allowing it to drain water more effectively.

You Get What You Pay For:

Purchase a high-quality potting soil, such as Miracle-Gro, for your perennials in containers. Remember the adage: You get what you pay for? Well, that is a good example here. Do not use topsoil. It’s too thick. Avoid using dirt from your yard as well.

If the plants are protected during the wintertime, they will most likely come back the following year. Surround the containers with straw, leaves, or bark mulch during winter. Watering should continue until the soil freezes and the temperature is above 40 degrees.

As most of you know, most of my perennials are in containers. Remember, plants that thrive in well-drained soil will also do well in containers.

You can use one type of plant in your container or a combination of various kinds of plants.

Perennials will probably be okay to leave in their original pot for the first year. After that, I’d get them planted in another container or the ground.

Remember to destroy diseased stems and leaves. Cut back hostas and remove all their leaves from the soil as soon as the first frost appears. Dead hosta leaves attract slug eggs.

Thrillers, Fillers, & Spillers:

Many landscape designers recommend designing a garden based on the concept of “thrillers, fillers, and spillers.”

Thrillers are the showy plants that command attention. Spillers are the plants that spill over the side of your container. Fillers are plants that occupy the remaining space. They make your pot look fuller and more balanced.

Cutting Perennials Back Before Winter:

Don’t be too quick to cut back herbaceous perennials before winter because it can deplete the soil. In other words, don’t take away the materials that break down and return nutrients to the soil.

Herbaceous perennials die back to the ground each year. However, their roots remain alive and send up new top growth each year.

So it might be wise to leave the plants alone. There is controversy over this theory. Some gardeners recommend tidying up the garden spaces by cutting back plants. Others, usually wildlife gardeners, advise leaving it be.

Wildlife Gardening:

Many gardeners choose not to cut back herbaceous perennials because they want their garden to be wildlife-friendly. If you cut back all the plants, then nature’s creatures lose a winter wildlife habitat.

Also, plants that have gone to seed provide food for birds and other animals. Dying foliage also provides cover for them when winter comes.

In early spring, remove the old foliage. This will make way for early spring perennials that appear in March and April.

My Personal Experience In Adding Perennials:

Lamb’s Ear:

I love to plant Lamb’s Ear, or Stachys byzantina, in my garden. In the first few years, I added Lamb’s Ear to my garden, but the plants died during the winter months.

The following year, I purchased a larger container, and it has taken off. In the gardening bed, it has grown four times its original size in just one year.

Yarrow:

I also added yarrow to my perennial garden.

Yarrow is both pest-resistant and drought-resistant. It attracts butterflies and is excellent for cutting and drying. This particular yarrow will have yellow blooms.

The yarrow plant is also an aromatic herb with numerous healing properties. Yarrow is considered almost maintenance-free.

Rose Bush:

I had my beloved yellow rose bush for three to four years. Each year, there were more yellow rose blooms on the plant.

This rose bush grew extremely large in the most enormous container in my garden. I’m not even sure if I can find a pot bigger than this one, which is 24 inches in diameter.

Salvia:

I added two gallon containers of salvia to my garden. Salvia is quite resilient and will return year after year. And it will also attract butterflies for years to come.

Daisies:

I also added two containers of daisies to the blue garden bed.

To my delight, one daisy plant survived the winter in galvanized containers.

Daisies have always been my favorite flower since childhood. I have a special place in my gardener’s heart for these flowers.

Sedum:

I added a Rock ‘N Grow Bundle Of Joy Stonecrop Sedum to my container gardens. You can see it below on the far left side of the photo, next to the lavender verbena.

Unfortunately, the Sedum Autumn Joy I’ve had for six years was taken over by pests. And it was always so healthy. But these things happen.

So I added another sedum to my garden next to the pot of salvia. Maybe one day I’ll come across Sedum Autumn Joy again, but I didn’t see it at the nursery this past year.

The sedum plant will burst into color for fall interest. During cold winter months, this plant will still provide color and texture to the landscape.

I believe I’ve covered all the perennials I’ve recently introduced to my patio garden. My experience comes from trial and error.

My Tips For Adding Perennials In Your Garden:

• Use a clean or disinfected pot
• Buy a quality potting soil like Miracle-Gro
• Tease and break up the base of the root ball before planting
• Leave about one inch between the top of the pot and the soil
• Press the soil down gently around the plant or plants
• Lastly, water your plant

I hope my tips will help you with adding perennials to your own garden space.