Most gardeners, novice or experienced, know how easy it is to create a colourful garden in May and June: early flowering perennials such as columbines, cornflowers and lupins are looking at their best, whilst the striking purple of the alliums has pushed its way through to create bold splashes of colour in the border. So the skilled part is how to create an impression all year round.
Every gardener wants a garden that is easy to take care of, and shrubs provide long-term impact without all the work of perennials. These form the backbone to any garden and can provide yearlong interest.
Shrubs for Seasonal Interest
Autumn - Fatsia japonica
This is a particularly useful shrub for coastal gardens or gardens with shady corners. Its striking appearance will add architectural interest all year round and especially in autumn when creamy white flowers are produced.
Winter - Daphne mezereum Rubra/Alba
Daphne mezereum or Spurge Olive is available as a white or red flowering shrub. It is often referred to as February Daphne as it comes into flower during late winter when much of the garden is dormant. This is very popular with cottage gardeners as the flowers are sweetly fragranced and are followed by berries.
Spring – Camellia
Possibly the royalty among evergreen shrubs is the camellia. With a wide choice of varieties, ranging in size from 60cm to 6m the camellia produces beautiful spring flowers in shades of pink, red, yellow and white to brighten up the garden as it awakens from its winter sleep. Camellia japonica offers glossy leaves and both single and double bloom varieties.
Summer – Gardenia
Normally grown as a houseplant due to its love of heat, the exotic Gardenia is routinely associated with the Pacific Islands and parts of Asia and Africa. However, there is a hardy variety, Gardenia Crown Jewels, which can be grown as a garden shrub. The creamy white blooms are stunning set against the deep green foliage and the fragrance is sensational.
Flowering Plants for Each Month of the Year
January:
Cyclamen coum is a tough little perennial which flowers from December through to March. A lovely plant to brighten up the winter garden, Cyclamen coum produces deep pink, pale pink or white blooms and foliage marbled with silver.
Iris reticulata Harmony features mid blue flowers with the typical iris yellow stripe. A miniature variety, Harmony flowers in January and February and is ideal for borders and containers. Iris reticulata Harmony is a deciduous perennial that enjoys sun or partial shade and is hardy.
February:
Galanthus 'Magnet' is a really lovely variety of snowdrop. The bulbous perennial features long, thin pedicels which are strongly arched. This is the perfect plant for adding gentle movement to the post winter garden as the flowers will respond to the gentlest breeze. This is a hardy variety which will continue flowering through to April.
Primula 'Petticoat' is a double, pure white, primrose that flowers over a very long season. Perfect as a transitional plant, Petticoat will bloom from February to June/July and is happy in most light conditions, from full sun to full shade.
March:
Anemone blanda 'White Splendour' is a bulbous, deciduous perennial with the look of an oversized daisy. White Splendour will thrive in full sun or partial shade and is perfect for the front of a shady border. A deserved recipient of the RHS Award of Garden Merit, ‘White Splendour’ will flower from March to May.
Pulsatilla rubra is a native wildflower that has sadly had to be recognised as a ‘Priority Species’ as only 19 natural sites remain, of which just 5 have good numbers of the variety. Delicate green foliage has a fern like appearance and the blooms are a deep red colour. Rubra will flower through to May and after flowering, this versatile plant will produce ornamental seed heads for continued interest.
April:
Viola 'Roscastle Black' has one of the longest flowering periods from April to September and is a sultry deep-purple, almost black, colour. This velvety Viola is a prolific flowerer with scented blooms that will attract bees and butterflies into your garden.
Geum 'Rubin' will reward regular deadheading with an almost continual period of flowering from April to November. Rubin is a hardy perennial which produces tomato-red flowers and which will form a bushy clump. For a dazzling spring-summer display, try companion planting with Trollius Dancing Flame.
May:
Acanthus dioscoridis Perringii loves the heat so will thrive in a hot, dry part of the garden. Green, thistle-like foliage gives rise to short spires of large lavender-pink and lemon flowers on stout stems. This slower growing and more diminutive variety of Acanthus flowers from May to September and is fully hardy.
Achillea 'Pretty Belinda' is a compact, semi-evergreen perennial ideally suited to the front of a border. The rich pink, flat headed flowers appear from May to August, accompanied by green, fern-like foliage, and will fade to a softer tone in maturity. Pretty Belinda will stand upright to attract bees, and will also make a lovely cut flower.
June:
Aconitum 'Bressingham Spire' is a wonderfully old fashioned perennial which will add height to a later summer border. The cool, violet-blue flowers grow on spikes and, if co-planted with white flowers, will add a cool element to your landscape. This fully hardy recipient of the RHS Award of Garden Merit will flower from June to August.
Alstroemeria 'Sweet Laura' is a scented variety of this herbaceous perennial with tall stems and elegant golden flowers with red and orange markings. This is the perfect plant for adding even more summer sunshine to the garden as it flowers from June to September and can also be used as a cut flower.
July:
Agapanthus 'Cally Blue' is a dwarf variety which is slow to get going but well worth the wait! A prolific flowerer, Cally Blue is perfect for the front of borders where it can be best appreciated, forming neat, hardy clumps. Cally Blue does better in full sun but can also fares well in a North facing aspect. Bees and butterflies will be able to enjoy Cally Blue from July to September.
Anthemis tinctoria 'E C Buxton' is a charming flower with a truly nostalgic air. Profuse displays of lemon, daisy-like flowers appear above neat mounds of fern-like green foliage, from July to September. E C Buxton does not do well in the shade so will need a position in full sun. The pale lemon will work equally well alongside pastel blooms and vibrantly coloured plants.
August:
Aster amellus 'Brilliant' is a hardy deciduous perennial, ideal for carrying the garden through from summer to autumn with a display of pink daisy shaped flowers. Prolong the colour in your beds and borders while maintaining a little height thanks to the tall, stiff stems and, when the flowers have gone, enjoy the decorative seed heads which will see you through to early winter.
Astilbe chinensis 'Veronika Klose' is another plant that is fabulous for extending the flowering season into autumn and is the perfect choice for a shady garden. The foliage is course textured and dark green, forming an attractive contrast to the spires of rose purple flowers. As with the Aster, seed heads may be left for winter interest.
September:
Chrysanthemum 'Dixter Orange' is perfectly named for this autumn flowering perennial. Gorgeous double blooms in burnt orange will light up the garden right through to November, forming bushy clumps of deciduous foliage and are perfect for filling gaps left by annuals.
Colchicum 'The Giant' is a bulbous perennial and one of the tallest of the crocuses. This heirloom variety is free flowering and produces spectacular flowers in September and October which are pinky mauve. They earned the somewhat saucy nickname ‘Naked Ladies’ as they have been known to flower with soil.
October:
Eurybia divaricata produces white star shaped flowers which are held on attractive, dark almost black stems. This delicate yet hardy perennial will inject some autumn interest into a shady corner of the garden and continue through to December.
Hosta 'Red October' has rhubarb red petioles and soft green leaves with silver-white undersides. From October the clumps of foliage contrast spectacularly with tall reddish purple spikes which appear carrying lavender coloured flowers.
November:
Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra'
This fantastic addition to the perennial border will give interest from June right through to December and is fully hardy. This grass like plant has blood-red spikes fading to bright green at the base which become more transluscent with maturity. Slow to take off, Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra' will reward your patience with a spectacular show before it begins to die back.
Nerine bowdenii
Nerine bowdenii is a bulbous perennial which really comes into its own when other plants are becoming dormant and which will make any mixed border come to life in November and December.The exotic looking flowers are held atop thick upright stems and are a strong pink colour with wavy-edged petals. The stems appear before or with tufts of strap-shaped foliage.
December
Eurybia divaricata
Eurybia divaricata is a really pretty plant that loves the shade. This plant has graceful stems which are wiry and almost black in colour. These hold the daintiest flower head which is daisy like with thin white petals.
Cyclamen coum
See January.