Most Asked Questions About Perennials
Due to their beauty and ability to grow back year after year, gardeners love to plant perennials. Unlike annuals, which only live for a single year, perennials last for 2+ years and often come back larger and stronger every single year. The term perennial is to distinguish these plants from their shorter annual and biennial counterparts. It also has to do with growth classification, since these plants do not grow a lot of woody material like a shrub or a tree.
Many perennials are also herbaceous. This means in the fall and winter their foliage dies off, but their root system remains to grow back the following spring. For example, every spring the exciting Coneflower and the joyous Black-Eyed Susan grow back to add color and texture year after year to the garden. It is interesting to note that the perennial symbol is also the astronomical symbol for Jupiter, which is a reference to their continuing existence.
Identifying Perennial Types and Characteristics
Not all perennials die back in the winter, some are classified as evergreens, like Bergenia, which keeps all its leaves for the winter and is a great source of color and color all winter. Other types like certain Fuchsia types are called subshrubs, which means they keep their woody structure and you can prune back the foliage to help protect from frost.
A plant's behavior can also depend heavily on the environment. A plant acting as a perennial in a mild climate may behave as an annual in an environment with extreme winters. An example is Black-Eyed Susan. In the moderate climate of Ohio, it thrives as a perennial but in far more warm and humid Louisiana, it may only survive a single season. This is one of the many key components in making a garden.
Deciduous perennials, like mint and goldenrod, lose their leaves in the fall, while monocarpic perennials, like agave, are the ones that live for many years but die after flowering once. There are also woody perennials, like the structural maple tree and apple tree that are the many trees in a landscape. This is one of the important factors that makes gardening with perennials so interesting.\
Virginia Bluebells: A Shade Garden Jewel
The Virginia Bluebell, or Mertensia virginica, is a highlight in the flowering perennial with the spring bloom. A true spring ephemeral, that plant is native in the moist woodland of Eastern North America. In early spring, it starts the season with a cluster of beautiful, bell-shaped flowers that are in the soft pink color, then transition into a breathtaking sky-blue. For a rounded, soft look, it additionally has gray-green leaves and stems of also 24 inches in height.
Virginia Bluebells get their long-tongued bees and butterflies during their blooming period in March and April. After the bluebells have died in the early summer and gone dormant, the plants produce seeds. Its yellow and purple flowers can attract potential pollinators. Because of this dormant period and their limited blooming, bluebells work best planted in groups alongside other plants such as skunk cabbages, ferns, or hostas that love shade. Bluebells prefer partial to full shade and can survive in well-drained soil. They have no issues with pests or diseases.
Daylilies: The Perfect Perennial
Daylilies, from the family of Hemerocallis and often called “the perfect perennial” and “the perfect flower” due to their sixty unique shapes, are permanent and drought resistant. Although the individual flowers die at 24, they rebloom over the summer and produce a report over flowers of color.
Thanks to myriads of hybridization, growers can sell daylilies of every conceivable color, with the sole exceptions of true white or real blue. Darker shades of red and purple can do best with some afternoon shade, with some of the richer hues even starting to fade. Pastels and yellows, however, do just fine with exposure to full sun. There are also over sixty thousand registered types, or cultivars, of daylilies. There is a perfect, due to the range of blooms available, and the blooms are available every season, for any gardening style, starting in the early spring and going to the late fall and autumn.
Hostas: The Heart of the Sade Gardem
As for hostas, those are the ones which can truly be called the soul of the shade garden.
Foliage of hostas is their multitextured, beautifully foliaged, which comes with a range of sizes and colors. While some patches have a less renowned spotlight, and deep greens and blues are the more dramatic colors, portions with a variegation of white and gold have a more renowned spotlight. Hostas also send up a tall scape, over which blooms white and ivory colored bells layer.
However, some more predator-resistant varieties contain even some thick-leaved hostas which can be less hospitable to slugs, deer and other garden defoliators.
Wildflowers: Untamed Beauty of Nature
Wildflowers are flowers that grow without human intervention. This includes a mix of indigenous kinds, introduced species, and adapted species that have acclimatized to a new setting. Quite a number of popular wildflowers are also perennial, adding a hint of unbridled wilderness to gardens.
Wildflowers, such as the Cornflower, Red Poppy, and California Poppy, are popular for the bright colors and the pollinators they attract. For example, Yellow Rattle is a wildflower that is used in the restoration of meadows because it helps control aggressive grass that lowers the quality of meadows while allowing other species to thrive. Wildflowers include annuals, but also lots of perennials so you can have a reliable return of color and liveliness to meadows.
Explore Our Perennial Collection
Ready to make a garden that comes back to life every summer? Perennials come in different colors and shapes and offer a great variety for any garden. Whether you want the shade-loving Hostas and Virginia Bluebells, or the sunny Daylilies, there are great perennials just for you.
Visit TN Nursery to discover the extensive selection of quality perennials available and create the garden you have been dreaming of.
FAQs
What are some interesting facts about perennials?
Some perennials last for a couple of years while others like peonies last for decades. They get their name from the Latin word for per, "through" and annus, "year." Many are also edible and some even have medicinal benefits
What is the 3 year rule for perennials?
The 3-year rule is used to describe how a perennial grows over the first three years. They first "sleep" to focus on their roots. Secondly, they "creep" and exhibit more foliage. They "leap" by the third year, blooming, and reaching their full size
What questions to ask about plants?
Some questions to ask about plants are how much light they need (sun vs shade), how much water they need, the kind of soil they need, their mature size, and their hardiness zone. You should also ask if the plant is prone to any pests
What are the cons of perennials?
Some of the cons for perennials is that they have a shorter bloom time and require more finely tuned care over time. They can become invasive and spread beyond their intended spot, as well as requiring more reinvestment and upkeep over time.
What are 10 amazing facts?
1. Track the Sun. 2. Over 5000 years old, there is one specimen of the oldest living tree. 3. Out of all the trees in the world, Bamboo is the fastest growing. 5. The Amazon houses 16000 varieties of trees. 6. It's a living fossil. 8. Dried plants can live for hundreds of years unlike most plants that are alive. 9. The smallest seeds in the world are from Orchids. 10. To draw in and trap feeding pollinators, a titan arum gives off the odor of decaying flesh.
