Top 10 perennial plants

Lead Image: Salvia nemorosa 'Ostfriesland' from T&M

Perennial plants add colour and seasonal interest to the garden from April to November, often attracting bees and butterflies to their blooms. Easy to grow, and incredibly versatile, they can be used as fillers between shrubs, groundcover beneath trees, container specimens or as part of a herbaceous border. Providing an easy alternative to annual flowers, perennials return year after year, growing larger as they mature.

Here are 10 of the best perennial plants, chosen by our horticultural team.

1. Lavender

The nectar-rich flowers of lavender are attractive to bees
Image: Lavender 'Hidcote' from T&M

Although technically a shrub, we have to mention Lavender as one of our top perennial plants! Well-loved for its fragrant summer flowers and scented silver-green foliage, this hardy, evergreen plant is ideal for edging, hedging, borders and containers. The flowers are highly attractive to bees and butterflies and have good drought tolerance, coping well with light, sandy soils. They also make superb cut flowers or even cake flavouring and decoration!

2. Sedum

These pink flowers provide welcome colour in late summer borders
Image: Sedum spectabile 'Brilliant' from T&M

Sedum, also known as Stonecrop, is a superb plant for late summer and autumn colour, often flowering into November! With fantastic tolerance to poor conditions, Sedums are one of the easiest plants to grow in the garden. For a perennial border, choose Sedum spectabile (Ice Plant) which has a neat, upright growth habit and succulent, grey-green leaves. Tiny star-shaped, pink flowers are borne in dense, flat, cymes from August through to late autumn. Lleave the faded flower heads intact for winter interest.

3. Rudbeckia

Growing to 60cm tall, Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' makes excellent cut flowers
Image: Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm' seeds from T&M

Rudbeckia is a reliable and popular perennial valued for its long-lasting colour in late-summer and early autumn. Sunny yellow, red or orange petals surround prominent conical centres of green, brown or black which are attractive to bees and other pollinating insects. The neat, bushy upright growth of Rudbeckia fulgida âGoldsturmâ is a popular choice that fits in nicely among other perennial plants. Rudbeckia hirta is a short-lived perennial and is often treated as a biennial. Plant Rudbeckia as part of a mixed or herbaceous border, or alongside ornamental grasses for a prairie-style look.

4. Geranium

This hardy geranium produces masses of saucer shaped, violet-blue blooms
Image: Geranium 'Rozanne' from T&M

Hardy Geraniums, also known as Cranesbills, are a diverse group of plants and are some of the most tolerant and long-lived perennials you could grow. These low-maintenance perennials provide colour over a long period in the summer with white, pink, purple or blue flowers. Growth habits range from trailing or spreading, to taller, clump-forming varieties. Grow hardy geraniums as ground cover, edging or to fill gaps in borders.

5. Salvia nemorosa

This new variety flowers freely throughout summer
Image: Salvia 'Strawberry Lake' from T&M

A hardy perennial, Salvia nemorosa is a prolific flowering plant producing purple flower spikes in abundance from summer to autumn, giving a long season of interest. Originating from hot, dry areas Salvia plants are superb for hot and sunny borders, and have good drought tolerance once established. A wonderful upright accent, Salvia works well as part of a mixed border or grown with grasses.

6. Phlox

This compact variety produces with large clusters of vibrant coral red flowers
Image: Phlox paniculata 'Coral Flame' from T&M

Phlox is a diverse genus of plants, the perennial species of which are popular for their bright, showy, and often highly fragrant flowers which are produced from late spring through to autumn. Phlox flowers are mainly pink, purple or white and some plants have variegated foliage which adds further interest to the garden. For ground cover or rockeries try growing Phlox subulata (Moss Phlox), a dense, evergreen perennial producing a mass of flowers.

7. Helenium

With a compact habit, this helenium is suitable for smaller gardens
Image: Helenium âShort ânâ Sassyâ from T&M

Also known as Helen's Flower, Helenium is a long-flowering, reliable perennial plant. With a range of hot colours from red to burnt orange and bright yellow, these fiery plants work well as part of a late summer border. The elegant flowers are borne in abundance from midsummer to early autumn on bushy, upright growth, with protruding central florets surrounded by a 'skirt' of petals. Grow Heleniums as a lively addition to herbaceous borders or try planting them with ornamental grasses for a prairie-style look. Heleniums make a great cut flower too.

8. Dianthus

Dianthus âMicro Chipsâ is smothered with blooms from May to Sept
Image: Dianthus âMicro Chipsâ from T&M

From large border carnations to dainty pinks, Dianthus plants are a versatile choice that is perfect for cottage gardens. Grow alpine pinks such as Dianthus deltoides âMicro Chipsâ in a rock garden, raised bed, in patio containers or as ground cover. These tough little perennials cope well with windy and salty coastal conditions. Grow the larger pinks and carnations in beds, borders and patio containers. Dianthus flowers are also brilliant for cutting.

9. Japanese Anemone

These semi-double soft-pink blooms brighten up late summer
Image: Anemone x hybrida 'Serenade' from T&M

Japanese Anemones (Anemone x hybrida) are stunning performers in late summer and autumn when many other plants have fizzled out. Masses of large, bright, simple blooms are produced on elegant branching stems high above mounds of green, palmate foliage. Growing up to 1.5m tall, theyâre superb for adding height to the back of borders, although more compact varieties are available to suit any planting scheme. Japanese Anemones work well as part of a cottage garden theme, or grown in woodland gardens.

10. Penstemon

This bright pink variety is rain and drought tolerant
Image: Penstemon 'Pensham Amelia Jayne' from T&M

A valuable addition to summer borders, Penstemons are smothered in tubular-bell-shaped flowers, similar in appearance to foxgloves, and come in a range of bright colours and patterns. Bees love these easy-to-grow perennials, which look fabulous planted in groups where they knit together to form sheets of colour. Plant tall Penstemons in the middle of mixed or herbaceous borders, to lend an informal cottage-garden feel to the planting; or grow the dwarf varieties at border fronts or in patio containers.

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