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PERENNIALS... for the summer border...

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  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    ..this is another plant that I struggle to keep.. yet I love its electric blue flowers.  I wish I could grow it better..

    ANCHUSA 'Loddon Royalist'..




    ..I think that's all my 'A's..
    East Anglia, England
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    You've explained why my Aster "Monch" always flopped and needed staking! My Anchusa died.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Anchusas are very short lived perennials, C.Lloyd always treated them as biennials.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    If it's any consolation I can't keep anchusa going either. Interesting about Christopher Lloyd . I think he grew lupins as biennials too, but they keep going for me.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Oh I totally agree, "Monch" is a real wonder-plant. Mine was just starting to splay out a bit last year, so this spring I have chopped it in two, and given my sister the other half.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    He did @JennyJ, but that was because he found them boring after they had flowered, so he replaced them with Dahlias and their like.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    edited March 2022
    Yes, biennials, but I also think it's important to get decent plants of Anchusa so they perform well the season after planting.  I've had some disappointing potted ones, so I'm going to recommend R.V. Roger of Yorkshire, who supply huge bare roots of these in autumn, and they grow and flower well the following season... 

    I've also grown the variety 'Opal', which has pinkish markings on each flower, but I didn't like those quite so much.
    East Anglia, England
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I have grown anchusa successfully from seed but also found they didn't last long.  I'll be trying them again here tho, just as soon as OH clears the grass for a new bed I'm planning for pollinators' perennials.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Yes, trust me to like the only grass that is tender! I’ve only just realised you are working your way through the alphabet 🙄 Agastache and Achillea are two of my must-have summer perennials on the A list.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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