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Learning plants

ashley13ashley13 Posts: 162
in Plants
My name is Ash and I live in north Wales. I am trying to learn a few things about plants,  are they herbaceous hardy perennials evergreen  or deciduous shrubs.   My boss at work st the garden centre told me to look at bur ncoose website.   This is a plant I'm trying to learn about but I'm not sure what info to take, is it hardy herbaceous or what I'm not sure.   http://www.burncoose.co.uk/site/plants.cfm?pl_id=1759&fromplants=pl_id=1757
  
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  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    Hi, that plant you linked is a short lived perennial. That means that it grows and flowers in the spring/summer then dies down over winter to return the next year from the root. But only for a few years usually about 3. It will set seed and you can grow new plants from those seeds to replace the original. They may not be the same colour though, there can be slight differences from seed. 

    Hope that helps. 
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    edited May 2018
    It is what is known as a sub-shrub, so it is somewhere between a shrub and a hardy perennial.  It is hardy and evergreen , but not long lived, three years usually and needs propagating from cuttings (as a shrub would be) to keep it going in a garden.
    Stupid price on that website for something you can buy from most Supermarkets for less than £2.
  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    Berghill said:
    It is what is known as a sub-shrub, so it is somewhere between a shrub and a hardy perennial.  It is hardy and evergreen , but not long lived, three years usually and needs propagating from cuttings (as a shrub would be) to keep it going in a garden.
    Stupid price on that website for something you can buy from most Supermarkets for less than £2.
    Indeed, i forgot to mention taking cuttings. 
  • ashley13ashley13 Posts: 162
    So where it says Hardy and Evergreen am i to remember that this plant is hardy and evergreen?  It doesnt say whether it's perennial.
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    Well done for trying to learn about the plants.This is a tricky one to explain.

    Erysimum is wallflower.
    Wallflower are normally biannual...the plants grow in the first year and flower in the 2nd then die.

    Erysimum Bowles Mauve is different..
    It is classed as a  bushy short lived perennial.
    It forms woody stems at the bottom.
    It lives and flowers maybe for 3 years, before getting straggly.
    The leaves remain on the plant over the winter...... but are not thick and leathery like normal evergreens.
    it flowers for a long time and is a very useful plant for the garden.

    https://www.rhsplants.co.uk/plants/_/perennials/erysimum-bowless-mauve/itemno.RH30000159/

    https://www.peternyssen.com/erysimum-bowles-mauve.html
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    These plants go very woody after the second year, I treat them as annuals and take cuttings then throw the old plant away, sometimes can get 2 years out of them.
    they don’t set seed so no need to dead head, it’s from cuttings only. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • ashley13ashley13 Posts: 162
    so what information do I take from the website?  http://www.burncoose.co.uk/site/plants.cfm?pl_id=1759&fromplants=pl_id=1757
  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    A perennial is not evergreen because it dies down for the winter thus it is not 'green'. 

    Hardy means it can be outside all year and would normally survive our winters. It is always best to look and see if a minimum temperature is given. 

    So, hardy is about temperature and evergreen or perennial is about if it keeps its leaves like a conifer or if it loses them and dies down over winter then grows anew in spring.

    Try to catch gardening programmes like gardeners world or beechgrove garden as they often explain these things very well. 
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I would say that plant sellers are not the place to start with learning about plants (though the pics can be useful). You will often see wildly different info about the same plant and they often don't mention vitals things, like whether a plant is perennial or not. Most labels on plants don't say anything useful either. I would look for passionate plant amateurs who have built websites or charities. The Gardeners' World programme is useful to introduce you to plant types (there is lots of old programmes on Youtube). Asking friends and family to introduce you to their flowers is another good way - they will probably love to have you meet their green family.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Pleased to see you are still working at the garden centre. Hope you’re enjoying it.
    I would say:
    Bee friendly.
    Height and spread.
    hardy
    eVergreen.
    —————- 
    i have never had any pest or slug damage on mine.
    i have never had one grow to 4 - 6’
    mine grow well in acid soil.
    take no notice of that price, you can buy a good sized one in Morrison or other supermarkets for £2.00  £10.00 is ridiculous. 


    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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