I have put together a list of some of my favorite perennials for the garden. These work very well in zone 9 and I am sure they do well all the way up to zone 5. We planning to plant perennials, make sure to use a piece of paper and lay them out so you have change is height as well as size variation. Good luck and enjoy the blooms to come.
Cosmos ‘Cosmic Mixed’
NEW!! A colourful mixture of dwarf Cosmos. Large flowers bloom over attractive foliage creating a lovely and bright display. Wonderful in bedding, borders and containers.
· Height: 30cm (12in)
· Flowers: June onward
Coreopsis ‘Early Sunrise’ (Perennial)
Uniform and compact, this variety produces masses of weather resistant semi-double flowers in golden yellow. Flowers in the first year.
· Height: 24 inches
· Flowers: June onwards
Delphinium ‘Fountains Mixed’
Caution: Toxic If Eaten.
· Height: 2.5 – 3 ft
· Sow: February to April
· Flowers: June to August
Dianthus ‘Baby Doll Mixed’
Good dwarf mixture of large flowers in shades of red, rose, white and some bicolours. For borders, edging and containers.
· Height: 6 – 8 inches
· Sow: February and March
· Flowers: June onwards
Echinacea purpurea ‘Purple Coneflower’
An excellent perennial with large daisy-like purple flowers with a raised ‘cone’ center. Grown commercially as a cut flower and medicinal herb, often used with the petals removed.
· Height: 3 ft
· Flowers: June onwards
Foxglove ‘Foxy ‘
Flowers from the first year if you sow it early enough with strong upright flower stems. Shades of white, yellow, cream, lavender, rose and red, all with the gorgeous spotted flowers that are so distinctive.
· Height: 3 ft
· Sow: February to June
· Flowers: June to August
Gaura lindheimera ‘The Bride’
An excellent variety for growing towards the back of the border or in a container as a feature plant. The dainty stems paint a really pretty picture as they sway in the breeze and they make a lovely cut flower as well.
· Height: 3 – 4 ft
· Sow: January to March indoors and July outdoors
· Flowers: May to October
Lagurus ovatus ‘Bunny’s Tails’
A dwarf compact grass which makes an excellent container display. Forms neat mounds of green foliage from which the fluffy ‘tails’ emerge.
· Height: 8 inches
· Sow: March to May
· Flowers: June onwards
Pennisteum setaceum ‘Fountain Grass’
A tough and stately perennial with long, softly bristled spikes of purple tinged flower heads. Great for warm and dry positions and easily grown from divisions. Cut plants back at the end of summer.
· Height: 3 ft
· Sow: March to May
· Flowers: June onwards
Salvia x sylvestris ‘Blue Queen’
A vigorous, clump-forming perennial variety that has branching, deep blue/violet flower spikes above hairy lance-shaped leaves. An excellent garden performer from the original hybrid arising between S. pratensis and S. nemorosa.
· Height: 12 – 18 inches
· Sow: January to May
· Flowers: June to September
Iris Germanica
NEW!! These are some of the most popular irises. They are ideal border plants with large falls and standards and prominent beards. Flowering in May and June, they prefer full sun and well drained soil.
This collection contains:
· Autumn Encore – Blue tinged pink and a white beard.
· Desert Echo – A mix of tangerine and yellow
· Elizabeth of England – A delicate shade of lavender
· Night Owl – Deep purple, almost black
· I. pallida Variegata – Variegated leaves and blue flowers
Nemesia ‘Sundrops Mixed’ Ref: 10303
Plants form neat dwarf mounds that are smothered with large flowers all summer long. Use as bedding, or add to containers and baskets. An easy to grow and reliable variety. A Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner.
Diascia ‘Pink Queen’
An extremely popular and beautiful plant for hanging baskets and containers. Trailing pen habit with a mass of long spurred pink flowers.
· Height: 10 inch
· Flowers: May to October
Coleus ‘Choice Hybrids Superb Mixed’
A special mixture which combines the best characteristics of available Coleus.
· Height: 14 inches
· Color from May to December
Cosmos ‘Sonata Mixed’
Compact plants with long lasting large flowers, a good choice for smaller gardens. In shades of rose, pink, red and white.
· Height: 24 inches
· Flowers: May to September
Zinnia
Huge showy double blooms in a wide selection of bold bright colours. A good bedding plant and cut flower.
· Height: 2.5 ft
· Halfhardy annual
Salvia splendens ‘Salsa Mixture’
Maximum impact, with ten colours including bicolours with incredible flower power. This variety is day length neutral and will flower quickly irrespective of sowing date.
· Height: 12 – 14 inches
· Halfhardy annual
Vinca Pacificas Mix
Heat tolerate and require less water than most summer plants.
Water as little as 3 times per week
PACIFICAS have extra large 2 in./5 cm blooms
Impatiens
The plants are compact and vigorous and flower profusely in a wide range of distinctive colours. Good all round garden performers making this one of the finest varieties available.
· Height: 8 inches
· Halfhardy perennial
Begonia
Formula mixture of colours with green or dark bronze foliage. Excellent for bedding schemes and containers.
· Height: 8 inches
· Halfhardy annual
Lobelia
A versatile variety that gives showy displays all summer in containers or the garden. When cut the blooms last and continue to open in the vase. Harmful if eaten.
· Height: 30 inches
· Halfhardy perennial
Lobelia ‘Regatta Mixture’
Early and incredibly free flowering all season in shades of rose, lilac, white, blue and blue splashed white. Harmful if eaten.
· Halfhardy annual
Petunia ‘Mix’
NEW!! Very large, open trumpets in a wide range of vibrant colours. Excellent in baskets, beds, borders and tubs.
· Flowers: February to June
Caladium
A versatile variety that gives showy displays all summer in containers or the garden.
· Height: 30 inches
· Colors– Red Flash, Christmas White, Carolyn Wharton, Rosebud
Steps to digging a perfect garden trench
Start with laying a garden hose on the ground to define the shape of the new planting area. The hose will give you a guideline to follow. You will need to use a sharp digging shovel to dig a v-type trench.
Select a sharp flat shovel to cut the trench.
Hold your spade at about 45 degrees, with its sharpened head on the edge line. Put your foot on the head and guide it at a 45-degree angle 3 inches into the soil.
Lift out the grass and soil and toss it into your wheelbarrow. Take a step to one side and make another cut and toss to match the first. Continue down the line you’ve drawn until the entire edge is dug out.
The trench should be 3 inches deep, sloping up to 3 inches wide at the top. Let the lawn grow right up to one side, with the garden bed meeting the other side.
Moss
Appling moss to a basket adds both texture and longevity to liner. It is important to use a clean moss, we recommend Oregon Green Moss.
Hummingbird Plants
Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans Giant Blue Sage, Salvia guaranitica Cypress Vine, Ipomoea quamoclit Shrimp Plant, Justicia brandegeana Mimosa, or Silktree, Albizia julibrissin Shrub Verbena, Lantana camara Butterfly Bush, Buddleja davidii. also spelled Buddleia
Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus Common Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea Cigar Plant, Cuphea ignea
Mulching, Color and Birth Control
Birth Control for weeds is how you keep the perfect garden without spending countless hours. Apply 1lbs.of Eptam or Amaze per 10’x10’ garden bed using a Earthway handheld spreader set on 3. Apply mulch to a minimum depth of 3”. Use 1-3.3 cubic foot bag per 15 sq. feet of bed area. Layout out all annuals, ground cover and perennials as the Garden Made Simple plan indicates spacing on 8” centers as previously described. Move the mulch back that is under each plant, dig a hole 1 1/2 times the size of the plant and install the plant. Make sure that the plant is planted 1/2” higher than the existing garden beds. Mound the soil to make sure that water will drain away from the plant. Water all that plant materials in thoroughly. This should take around 30 minutes. Make sure to follow the watering guidelines for additional watering instructions.
Now that you have a little direction for your new garden, working in the garden needs to be enjoyable. Plan you gardening activities more like you would a picnic or a day at the beach. Make a list of all the things you’ll need and gather your supplies during the week so you don’t spend your weekend just gathering materials. Next, you can work on apply roundup after work on Monday or Tuesday because it needs a few days to begin working. When Saturday roles around, get an early start and work at a steady pace making sure to take breaks and drink plenty of water. Gardening burns approximately 7-10 calories per minute which is equivalent to jogging. You can over garden just like over exercising which will result in aches and pains in your entire body the next day. In the general areas where you are going to install your new garden, clean and remove all debris. If weeds are persistent in the garden, apply round up at 2% solution (typically 2 oz of commercial grade round up to a gallon of water and apply using a handheld pump sprayer) Prepare the beds for planting. Use soil conditioner to prepare the planting mixture incorporating it into the existing soil. You will need to use 1 bag for every 15 sq. feet. Make sure the thoroughly work the new soils mixture together with the existing soil using a garden fork. Apply Amaze or Eptam at a rate of 1 lb per 100 sq. feet. Incorporate the pre emergent herbicide in the upper 2” of the soil by raking with a metal leaf rake. These products reduce the population of new weeds in the garden. Add 1.5 pounds of Nursery Special 12-6-6 per 100 sq. feet of bed area. Apply spreading with a handheld Earthway handheld fertilizer spreader.
Common Name Scientific Name
Swallowtails
Eastern black swallowtail Papilio polyxenes
Giant swallowtail Heraclides cresphontes
Palamedes swallowtail Pterourus palamedes
Pipe-vine swallowtail Battus philenor
Spicebush swallowtail Pterourus troilus
Tiger swallowtail Pterourus glaucus
Zebra swallowtail Eurytides marcellus
Sulphurs and Whites
Alfalfa butterfly Colias eurytheme
Cabbage butterfly Pieris rapae
Cloudless sulphur Phoebis sennae
Common sulphur Colias philodice
Dainty sulphur Nathalis iole
Falcate orange tip Anthocharis midea
Little sulphur Eurema lisa
Sleepy orange Eurema nicippe
Southern dog face Colias cesonia
Hairstreaks
Gray hairstreak Strymon melinus
Red-banded hairstreak Calycopis cecrops
Snouts and Beaks
Snout butterfly Libytheana bachmanii
Milkweeds
Monarch Danaus plexippus
Longwings
Gulf fritillary Agraulis vanillae
Brushfoots
American painted lady Vanessa virginiensis
Buckeye Junonia coenia
Hop merchant Polygonia comma
Painted lady Vanessa cardui
Pearl crescent Phyciodes tharos
Phaon crescent Phyciodes phaon
Question mark Polygonia interrogationis
Red admiral Vanessa atalanta
Red-spotted purple Basilarchia arthemis astyanax
Texas crescentspot Phyciodes texana
Variegated fritillary Euptoieta claudia
Viceroy Limenitis archippus
Hackberry and Goatweed Butterflies
Goatweed butterfly Anaea andria
Hackberry butterfly Asterocampa celtis
Tawny emperor Asterocampa clyton
Satyrs
Carolina satyr Hermeuptychia sosybius
Skippers
Checkered skipper Pyrgus communis
Fiery skipper Hylephilia phyleus
Horace’s dusky wing Erynnis horatius
Juvenal’s dusky wing Erynnis juvenalis
Long-tailed skipper Urbanus proteus
Ocola skipper Panoquina ocola
Silver-spotted skipper Epargyreus clarus
Begin planting each plant by removing the plant from the container. Loosen the rootball of the plant by loosening the soil with your hands. This will stimulate growth. Dig the hole 1 1/2 times larger than the container. Make sure to create a small mound on the bottom of the hole. This helps will drainage. Place the plant in the hole and backfill with soil. Make sure not to plant to deep. As a rule, plant 1” higher than the soil creating a miniature levee around the plant. This will make sure the plant is not too deep and help with retaining water. Repeat this process until all the plants are installed. Do not install any 4” or 6” annuals, ground cover or perennials at this stage. Using a metal garden rake, regrade the garden bed to provide positive drainage.
