Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Best online retailer for well-grown perennials?

Robin_GoodfellowRobin_Goodfellow Posts: 8
edited November 2023 in Plants
I would like to plant a huge border over the winter as a gift for my mother in her new garden. While buying hundreds of plug perennials and potting them on would be my usual (and much cheaper) approach, I don't want to do this for two reasons: I want it to be looking reasonably full already this summer, and my mother is likely to contrive to kill anything not well-grown or established, no matter how hardy.

I could also wait until the spring and buy from bricks and mortar garden centres, but I want to get the plants in before the thousands of bulbs I intend to put in, working on the basis that it's easier to avoid plants when planting bulbs than vice versa. I am also undergoing medical treatment that is going to leave me weaker and weaker, and I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything at all in Spring.

So with all that in mind, where would you recommend for me to by 40-60 reasonable well-grown perennials out of season? The usual common favourites - foxgloves, lupins, delphiniums, cranesbill geraniums, achillea, echinacea, salvia, verbascum etc etc.

Many thanks
«1

Posts

  • BluejaywayBluejayway Posts: 392
    edited November 2023
    Farmer Gracy sell bare root perennials which take well and grow on quickly in their first season.  In my experience anyway 🤞Some may be out of season now though.
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Late autumn is not really a good time to plant perennials in the ground and the choice also will be very limited. I'd plant spring flowering bulbs now and wait until March to buy perennials from either a good online supplier or a local garden centre. Have a look at the websites of Knoll Gardens and Hardy's Cottage Perennials to see what is available. I'd choose at least 1 litre pots, preferably larger, to get off to a good start.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    I sympathise with your problem, but I don't think  you will be able to follow your plan with any success. Any bulbs, with the exception of tulips, should ideally be already in the ground in order to give them time to establish and be ready to bloom at the right time.  Waiting any longer risks them failing.
    Potted perennials at this time of year, no matter how well established, would show little beyond a few sticks, apart from the foxgloves which are biennial. As planting conditions are often unsuitable, most nurseries  target their sales to begin late February at the earliest, more generally March and April, which would give their plants a good start.
    If the ground is prepared you could plant the bulbs and mark or photograph their positions or you could plant them in pots to be slotted in later. Small bulbs tend to look better en masse, so you could plant them close together and spread them a little when planting out.
    Use labelled stakes and sink plant pots to show where the perennials will go so that you have less to do when you are finally able to plant out. Get someone to help you if you can, I am sure your mother will appreciate your effort just the same :)
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I am also undergoing medical treatment that is going to leave me weaker and weaker, and I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything at all in Spring.

    I'm sorry your health is in such a hard place. I agree it's not great timing for your lovely project. I wonder if you might be able to get a landscape gardener/designer to do the project for you in the spring - giving them a close brief and a list of plants? 

    I can hear that the vision is pressing and important for you. I wonder if you might be panicking.

  • Robin_GoodfellowRobin_Goodfellow Posts: 8
    edited November 2023
    You can plant hardy perennials at any time of year as they become dormant, and I don't know if it's climate change or new varieties, but old bulb-planting times really do not apply anymore. You can plant bulbs in mid to late January in this area of the South East and they'll generally all come up (from many years of experience). It baffles me how many such myths endure in gardening. I included personal information about my unusual circumstances in order to explain why I intend to do this in an unusual way and time frame. This was very specifically to head off those who seem to be pathologically addicted to correcting others and offering unasked-for advice. Clearly I was unsuccessful. 

    The issue that I agree with is stock and availability. Places just don't sell perennials in winter, it seems. There's no particular reason not to - I often have a huge number of biennials/perennials sown/propagated in pots over winter - but I imagine the market simply isn't there, as most people prefer to plant out in Spring, and you don't gain (or lose) anything by doing it in winter.

    Suggestions of retailers that may stock and sell bare roots or any plants larger than plugs in winter (I know there may not be any) very gratefully received: patronising suggestions and responses less so.
  • KayJKayJ Posts: 82
    edited November 2023
    Personally I find Claire Austin, Sarah Raven, Dorset Perennials, Darcy & Everest, Tortworth and Ballyroberts reliable. :) Mostly 9cm pots but the occasional bigger one....I find the 9cm pots establish their roots over the winter and grow away well in the spring and are more affordable, and are reduced for multiples in some cases. All have stock available as far as I can see.
  • Robin_GoodfellowRobin_Goodfellow Posts: 8
    Thank you.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    It can be risky planting young plants now because of slug damage when they come up in the spring, but I gave had some success, despite that.

    I have used https://www.hardysplants.co.uk/perennials when ordering online, but I mostly buy from garden centres or nurseries.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Robin_Goodfellow Claire Austin has all the perennials you mention in stock at present. Price reduction when purchasing three the same. I have bought plants from Claire Austin out of season and they all grew well. I do have clay soil so Delphinium and Echinacea would not be an option at this time of year slugs would find them below soil.

    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    If you don't plant your perennnials until spring, you'll be able to see where the bulbs are because they'll be growing!
    Another approach is to plant your bulbs in pots, something like 3 to 5 to a pot depending on size, then plant them out in the spring when they've started to grow. It's like buying growing bulbs from the garden centre in the spring, but cheaper and more choice of bulbs.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Sign In or Register to comment.