Please help me choose my garden plants !

[Jazz12]

Inlaws have a small courtyard style garden. Mil would like to make it a flower garden. What plants can we buy/grow from seed/from bulb as cheaply as possible? Preferably perennials.

she made this list and is open to ideas:

Tulips
Dahlia
Marigold
Roses (SIL got some cuttings that rooted)
Hyacinth
Camellia
Chrysanthemums

It’ll be nice to have blooms for the longest time possible. Also I understand Roses and Camellias take time to establish and mature.

1. What are the flowering seasons for the above plants?
2. Do any of the above need digging up every year?
3. When do the seeds/bulbs need sowing?

Thanks!

It very much depends on your light levels and whether they are all going in pots?

However, dahlias tubers are pretty cheap and give flowers in the first season. I never lift mine but do make sure that the ones in the ground get a good mulch at the very end of the year (a bag of compost, for example) and the ones in pots get brought close to the house - just to keep the worst frosts off. Flowering season: July through to the first frosts. Buy and plant tubers around Mar/Apr.

Tulips are very reliable and will flower again next year, but often never as good as the first year. That means you end up adding more bulbs every 2-3 years to get a good display. Flowering season: March - May, depending on variety. Buy and plant bulbs around Oct/Nov.

Daffodil bulbs are as cheap as chips and are much more reliable about repeat flowering each year. Flowering season: Feb - April, depending on variety. Buy and plant bulbs around Sep/Oct.

Allium bulbs are also cheap (Purple Sensation, for eg) and will come back year after year. Flowering season: April - June. Buy and plant bulbs around Sep/Oct.

Chrysanths are cheap and will come back year after year. They need little care except cutting back in late spring to stop them getting too tall and leggy (some varieties) and then cutting back at the end of the year. Flowering season: August to winter. Buy and plant small plants around Apr/May.

Peonies are also fairly cheap bought as bare roots. They take a few years to establish and flower but are lovely. Buy and plant bare roots now for flowers in 2-3 years. Flowering season: around May/Jun.

Personally, although I love camelias I wouldn't bother. They can be picky about the time of day they get sun and the buds can easily be ruined or damaged by weather or wildlife. I've only ever found them a pain, tbh.

Hyacinths are easy and I like to buy the bulbs for the house, have them flower indoors and when the flowers have gone over add them into the garden to flower outside next year. Over the years, the stock keeps growing. If you want to plant bulbs straight into the garden then you normally buy and plant around Sep/Oct. Flowering season: Feb-Apr.

Also look at plants that you can buy, then divide, and that seed around, like certain geraniums, foxgloves, oriental poppies, pulminaria, campanula (the tall ones), Echinops. These are all perennial but also seed around my garden and come back year after year, after year. I even have to dig them up and give some away, I get so many. Alliums of the other hand just disappear in my garden, not happy at all.

What's their sunlight situation like? If you want fairly quick and easy results I had great success with those packets of mixed wildflower seeds in my last house. Basically just chuck them on the soil, cover with a thin layer of soil, and leave them to get on with it. It makes a sort of wild cottagey-type display, so it depends what sort of look your in-laws are going for.
The only caveats I'd add are that that part of the garden got a good 6 hours of sunlight a day, and most of the seeds were annuals, not perennials. But it was so easy we repeated it for a couple years. I think you can get perennial mixes but they tend not to flower the first year.

Sunlight - south facing garden

If it's south facing how about some Sunflowers? You can get them from dwarf uptown huge whoppers.

And I know that you want perennials but I think tomatoes would do well in that position.

Have you got anyone that's willing to give you some cuttings? Things like Honeysuckle and Hellebores do well in the sun. Herbs like Rosemary and Basil would do really well too

Aquilegias are perennial and happily self-seed themselves.

Great info !! Thanks everyone.

One Q: MIL has taken special liking to Tulips suddenly and sent DH to find bulbs for her. They are not in stock anywhere right now. Is that normal ? Are we too late for the next season!!?

You would normally plant tulips November or December to flower in the spring. If you could find bulbs now you could plant and see if you get anything this year but it is quite late.
I had a geum that flowered from April to August - really pretty - and it was £10 so good value for money. Also salvias can flower for a really long season from summer to late autumn. Wallflowers - Bowles Mauve flowered for months and months too. You’d probably buy these in a few months time though to plant when it’s a bit warmer.

No to camelias but roses can grow fast. Maybe a climber to trail up a fence or clematis if you'd prefer.

Agree with previous posters re aquilegias, they seed well and are tall so can be placed further back.

At the front maybe some grape hyacinths and primroses.

In a hot courtyard Salvias should do well and you can have them in flower from May to Christmas. Hot lips is deservedly popular and can be bought fairly cheaply.

There was a big, established camellia here when we moved and it’s been fab and really easy - tons of flowers every spring and just seems to get on with it. So maybe they’re just tricky early on, or maybe they like our garden, but not always very difficult.

That’s a great idea. And I have a Salvia in my garden. Are they easy to propagate?

The garden centres will have ready planted tubs of tulips for sale very shortly. It's too late to plant them as bulbs mine are already showing above the ground here. But buying in tubs is a great way of getting immediate colour in. The tubs of daffodils are on sale now at places like B and Q

Look on YouTube hundreds of videos on there for ideas, and they show you when and how to plant.There's some from people who grow and sell flowers for a living.

I would add irises to the list, and I had excellent success this year with a 50p packet of night scented stock. I have no idea if it will reappear this year but I have my fingers crossed for the summer and I literally only sprinkled some seeds onto a bit of soil and watered them in once then ignored so it was definitely low effort even if I do need to replant.

Some great suggestions above. I would add marjoram and echinacea, which are both perennials and not very demanding at all. They flower from July/August until October and self-seed quite easily. They also get lovely and tall. Hollyhock is another good one.

salvias propagate really easily from cuttings - do it in spring when the parent plant is putting on some growth, or autumn.

im still not sure if we’re looking at pots only or if she will be planting in the ground?

Thanks! It’s a pretty dull garden at the moment. She is open to planting in the ground and having some pots around. Just keen on a lot of colour (flowers)

I would add irises to the list, and I had excellent success this year with a 50p packet of night scented stock.

I used to have a similar garden to the OP's and grew Night Scented Stock underneath my kitchen window each year.

Could you add Nasturtiums to your list OP? They are annuals but you can save the seeds to grow again.

I also have a big Camellia in my front garden, south west facing and not the best soil. I never do anything to it but trim the top in Summer and it gives me beautiful flowers from late February through to Easter every year.

@jazz12 yes you can snap bits off and pop them in a pot of gritty compost and they'll root really quickly.

I'd love to have a blank canvas garden to do from scratch. Flower shopping is the best

Aim to have something in flower throughout the year, for example, have something come into bloom when something else is fading. Don't rule out edibles, things like blueberries and strawberries will grow in a pot.
Roses can flower from May to November.
Have some annuals.
Be careful with things that grow quickly or need a lot of maintenance.

Great! Can I try now? Or best to wait until the weather is warmer?

I have a small glass shed (greenhouse), I could pop it there too.