Question:
My perennials look shaggy with brown leaves and leggy branches. Do I wait until spring to cut them back, or can it be done now? Also, what perennials can I plant for year-round color? I don't want to mess with annuals anymore because I'm tired of replanting them.Answer:
- You could groom your perennials now or wait til spring. I'd groom the spring-blooming perennials now so they're ready to take off as the temperatures warm up in March.
- Most Sages, Evening Primrose, Shasta Daisy, and Penstemon can be pruned to the ground as they produce basal shoots, while others are trimmed back for shaping.
- You're correct; perennials don't need to be replanted like annuals. However, their blooming cycle is seasonal, and I'm unaware of any herbaceous perennial that blooms year-round.
- Flowering ornamental plants such as Floral Carpet Roses or Euryops have a very long bloom season. Garden Mums, Cyclamen, and English Primroses are the primary fall perennials.
- Mums have the shortest flowering season, while Cyclamen and English Primroses bloom continuously through May.
- Next spring and or summer, you could add Iberis, Foxglove, Coreopsis, Penstemon, Verbena, Phlox, Bacopa, Million Bells, Rudbeckia, and Echinacea, the Coneflower, to mention a few.
- Also, don't overlook the contribution of variegated foliage from landscape shrubs and grasses.
- Your favorite garden center now has a selection of small perennial plants in packs. Planted now, these varieties will bloom next year.
- If you wait to plant in the spring, these plants won't bloom until the following year.
- You avoid this with those plants growing in four-inch pots and larger sizes.
- Your first step might be to step back and evaluate the blooming pattern of the existing perennials to see which season needs to be enhanced.
- Also, think about the type or shape of flowers you prefer: daisy shape, columnar, or just dainty type flowers. Do they need to be large, small, or somewhere in between? There are lots of right answers, but what is the right one for you?
- The areas do not need to go colorless, as you would mix in a few annuals. I'm a believer in mixing annuals and perennials to bridge the color gap. For color, you could add Primulas, Primroses, Calendulas, Pansies, and Violas.
- Planted now, they will continue blooming until next April/May. I'd plant them close to one another as they'll grow very little between now and next February, and add some nutrients with a Starter Fertilizer to prevent the leaves from turning yellow.
- You now have year-round color with a minimal amount of replanting.
- And finally, as the leaves drop, be sure to gather up all the debris that accumulates at the base and around the plants.
- The foreign material packs down around the crowns with the winter rains. It can cause the plants to rot during the rainy season. It's repeated as needed during the fall and winter. It's the only time a leaf blower makes sense.