From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Parkyp and Sarahwithlove.

Great question! You’re right Sarah, perennials will flower and die back each winter and emerge again in the Spring. Apart from watering and perhaps a little tidying if needed they have require little maintenance.  Flowering shrubs will add structure to your garden all year round, particularly the evergreen ones and then you get to enjoy the flowering season too.

Much depends on soil type and garden aspect as to which plants to go for. If you have acidic soil, camellias take some beating. I have 5 in the garden but around the edges so they create a green screen. 4 were here when we moved here, but they run a relay race in flowering terms. The biggest ( I think is a Williamsii Donation) flowers for months. The first flower was spotted on the 4th December and the last flowers of the season are flowering now. If you have acidic soil, azaleas are useful low growing shrubs that have amazing colour that lasts for a few weeks. Pieris is also an interesting choice for acidic soil...bright red leaves followed by flowers.

Hydrangeas do well in all soils but do tend to be a marmite kind of a plant, people seem to love them or hate them. Personally I’m a fan...both the mophead varieties and the lace cap are beautiful and if you pick them at the height of their blooming time they can be dried and look good indoors in the winter.

If you have a more neutral to alkaline soil, English lavenders are a good choice. You can get them in pink or white as well as the more usual purple. They will spread over time and the only maintenance needed is to cut off the spent flower stems in the Autumn and a very, very light shear in the Spring.

Ceanothus has a distinctive blue flower, flowering in mid to late Spring. It does well in sheltered spots. Some varieties are evergreen but some can be deciduous.

In terms of perennial flowers hardy geraniums are very useful. These are sometimes known as Crane’s Bill and are not the bedding type geraniums that are perlagoniums. The hardy geranium grows back every year and grows as a green mound, is a brilliant weed suppressant as the mound is quite dense and is usually covered with flowers throughout the summer. If you deadhead the blooms as they are spent, you can encourage it to keep flowering until the colder days of Autumn.

Sedums are a perennial that  are fabulous for late summer colour. Their leaves look a little more fleshy than other plants and they flower in late summer. They attract the bees and butterflies.

Heucheras also add a colourful touch. Their leaves are coloured all year round and in late Spring they produce delicate small flowers on quite long stems. Heucheras can lift themselves out of the ground over time but can be divided and replanted.

Honeysucklelou2

Bulbs can also be a useful source of low maintenance colour that flower year after year. Think of daffodils, grape hyacinths ( Muscari), tulips, bluebells, crocus, fritillary, anemones, Crocosmia ( sometimes known as Montbretia. )

Sarahwithlove

Thanks that's really helpful. I did have lavender in my garden but the rabbits have eaten there way through it so I'm hoping it's gonna grow back 😂

Honeysucklelou2

There are so many different plants depending in your garden’s aspect - for more shady areas Solomon’s Seal or Dicentras can be a useful source of colour. The dicentra tends to flower before the leaves come back on the trees then die back until next year.

One of the most useful books I’ve got on my bookshelf is Dr Hessayon’s series, one of which is called “The Flower Expert”. If you have the time, a little planning will enable you to have colour in your garden all year round.

Oh almost forgot...for late summer colour perennial Rudbeckias are beautiful, especially if planted in a decent sized block. You can also get annual ones so need to check carefully before purchase.

Sorry folks didn’t quite intend that to be such an essay😂.

Parkyp

Oh thank you honeysuckle so much info there, very helpful indeed. 

Beautiful day today, hope you have a nice Sunday x

Sun_Addict

Very impressed how knowledgeable you are about plants. I have the hardy geraniums around my pond and they are gradually covering my huge pond pump (Henry Hoover size). They look so beautiful when they flower. 

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you SA, Parkyp & Sarahwithlove.

Must admit I’ve been thinking about your question and thought about asters as a source of Autumn colour that come again each year and Osteospurnums which flower prolifically throughout the Summer. There is a variety called Tresco purple which is particularly colourful. They just need protection from cold so are more of a tender perennial. Best grown in pots and the pots brought inside a greenhouse for overwintering, unless of course you live in a milder area.

This weekend has been mixed...lots of taxiing done!  I picked DD1 up from work yesterday and she suggested a quick trip to the garden centre. That is the one area of shopping I don’t need any persuasion over! I do confess to buying 2m of weed suppressing membrane so that I can start on improving the rear garden, one bag of topsoil to top up a raised bed at the allotment and 2 dahlia tubers that had 50% off. They might be a little later flowering but they look a beautiful variety so I thought I’d give it a go! 

Unfortunately on the way home I started with a visual migraine. I don’t get them very often but when I do I have to lie down until it passes. DD1 then woke me up as I’d asked her to at a certain time ( I had too much to do to be sleeping for  long) then promptly had an episode of her health condition. We were both feeling pretty rough for the rest of the day. More stress came about later that afternoon followed by a sleep disturbed night . Today somehow being so tired from the stresses of yesterday gave me the determination to ensure that the afternoon stress was not going to be repeated today so I  very politely rang and firmly said that alternative arrangements would have to be made and a repeat of yesterday afternoon was not gong to happen. Thankfully that worked and a much more peaceful day has been had.

DD3 dragged me out for a short circular walk, which I was very thankful for. It was just  around local public footpaths that go around the very edges of the village. We saw chickens, lambs with ewes and piglets on our walk. At one point we climbed over the stile and followed the hedge around a corner and came across 3 lambs asleep in the sunshine! The cherry blossom was out in a few gardens on the way home...always a cheering sight! Although it wasn’t as long a walk as usual, we were both quite hot and thirsty when we got home. Fortunately I remembered that we had some elderflower sorbet in the freezer that we’d made last year. We dug it out and enjoyed the cool refreshing taste!

For the last few weeks I’ve shut the laptop down completely on Sundays.  Sometimes the youngest 2 will try and sneak on, being the only 2 without phones. Today it seems to have paid off. The youngest 2 have had a fabulous time in the garden getting a paddling pool out and having a water fight before building a den inside. The less temptation for screen time the more imaginative playtimes are had.

I’m thankful today for better health, for sunshine and for a peaceful day.  

Honeysucklelou2

These lambs were enjoying the sunshine too!

Honeysucklelou2

Found these lovely sea pinks growing on a rocky outcrop!

Honeysucklelou2

The  tide was really low today meaning we could enjoy extra, otherwise hidden, parts of the beach.