One day my mother-in-law brought me an unimpressive green branch from her garden. A decade later the many children of that Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ are the backbones of my garden and I am convinced of the power of perennials. While annuals complete their life span in one year, perennials are long-lived plants that may die back or go dormant in the winter but return in the spring. Annuals will give your garden a few weeks of beautiful blooms but perennials contribute years of blossoms and the plants are often just as attractive when not in bloom.
Flowering perennials can offer you much more than the predictable geraniums or marigolds that crowd your local home improvement store. Many perennials seem to have an endless array of varieties offering different colors, sizes and flower types, with more entering the market every year. Many, like my Sedum, offer a beautiful flower, an interesting plant after flowering, and even an interesting shape and seed pods for the birds through the winter months. Because they are not bred solely for larger and longer blooming flowers like many annuals, some perennials such as Lily of the Valley are fragrant and can make wonderful bouquets for your home.
Because perennials will be in your garden for many years, know them well before selecting them. In addition to soil, light and drainage requirements, consider things like the length and timing of the flowering season and what the plant looks like after flowering. Also, does your garden have room for rapidly spreading perennials like Black-eyed Susans? If not, choose another or confine it to a container.
Don’t overlook fragrance. A fragrance you may enjoy emanating from one blossom in a vase may be overwhelming when your garden is filled with the flower. Also consider the fragrance of flowers surrounding it. Will they complement each other? Finally, make sure you buy the correct variety. Many perennials have varieties with different fragrances or none at all.
Many perennials are tough old plants that thrive without a lot of TLC from you. But first they need a good start. Perennials need appropriate soil, a good-sized hole when planting, and deep watering to encourage a deep root system. Most only need one dose of an all-purpose fertilizer at the start of their growth season.
But one chore makes every perennial gardener groan. Each year perennials add new growth along the outer perimeter of the plant and too much competition for water, nutrients, and sunlight will weaken the plant and impede further growth. A plant can also outgrow its original planting spot. So every few years most perennials need to be divided or dug up and separated into smaller segments after their flowering season. Keep this in mind when making your shopping list. Why buy three Purple Coneflowers when one will soon fill your garden? Divide your perennial with another gardener and swap to increase the variety in your garden.
Initially, perennials cost more than a flat of impatiens at your grocery store but consider it an investment in years of flowers and divisions that one plant will give you and your garden.
