What perennials can I plant this month please (if any)?

[Atishoos]

I lost my mojo and enthusiasm for the garden due to illness. I am on the mend now and while the garden was maintained to a basic level, the borders are bare! Yes completely bare but ready to go. They are on each side of the patio and I am itching to get some good long lasting plants in there that will return. I am hoping that by getting some stuff in there now, it will hopefully take care of itself (with annual weeding etc.) going forward.

I'd love to hear what you might suggest. I have a decent budget for purchasing the plants. One side is West Facing and obviously the other is East, but gets sun for much of the day. Soil is good, but not that deep as it is raised beds and they need watering in hot dry weather. Scented climbers that won't take over the fence are welcome too!

Before now I just put annuals in, but would like something a bit more permanent now. Thanks.

You can plant just about anything any time if it’s been container grown. So think about plants you particularly like, colours, size, whether scented or not,etc

Echinacea, Hellebore, Poppies and Salvia Will all do well planted now

Lots of summer plants can be planted out this month, and unfortunately you've just missed the Farmer Gracy clearance sale of their bare-rooted summer perennials. The garden centres will be starting to fill with the container grown perennials which can be planted out now.

All sounds very encouraging. I'm so out of practice I am a bit bewildered though so a trip to the garden centre is on the cards at the weekend to get some of the plants recommended so far.

Lupins, foxgloves, buddleia, aquigela, nepeta, roses, etc not to mention summer bulbs, & then plant spring bulbs in the autumn.

If it were me, I'd be tempted by:

• nepeta (catmint), specifically Six Hills Giant, which is lovely and reliable and will romp away.
• hardy geraniums (there are loads of lovely ones, but Ann Folkard and Roxanne are very pretty).
• herbaceous peonies - lovely for a 'cottage garden' feel and they're just coming into season.
• hemerocallis (for later in the summer)
• stachys byzantina (lovely texured leaves)
• cirsium rivulare - will reliably flower all summer if you remember to deadhead it; gorgeous colour.
• echinacea - there are so many beautiful colours of this. The only thing to watch is that it doesn't like to sit in damp soil during the winter, so needs good drainage.
• alchemilla mollis - beautiful lime-green flowers and tough as old boots. The only issue is it may spread and become a pain!

I'd also be tempted by alliums if you can buy them in bud - not so cheap as buying bulbs earlier on, but they are lovely and IME they do reliably spread.

For scented climbers, I would try star jasmine - it's often sold as an indoor plant but IME survives winters well so long as it doesn't dry out; the fragrance is absolutely amazing. Classic trachelospermum jasminoides is also gorgeous, but more of a thug. If you could bear the upkeep, I'd pop some sweet peas up the fence - they certainly won't take over, and it's just the right time to be planting out seedlings from a nursery.

Sorry, that was a brain-tangle: I mean, try jasminum officinale, ordinary jasmine, not trachelospermum.

You can plant any perennials now, although autumn would be a better time as then they have the cooler, damper months to establish. Good perennials for me are Verbena Bonariensis, Crocosmia, Japanese anemones, Sedum Autumn Joy, Eryngium Bowles Mauve, Penstemon and Salvias.

I buy lots of perennials in pots very cheaply from Morrisons.

You could also plant some lavender and evergreen shrubs so that you have some structure in your borders all year round.

Yes, I kind of remember that perennial planting is best done in Autumn. Would it be better then if I just used annuals for the Summer and put the perennials in later? Or could I crack on and give it a go now anyway?

For scented climbers, I would try star jasmine - it's often sold as an indoor plant but IME survives winters well so long as it doesn't dry out; the fragrance is absolutely amazing.

We have a star jasmine growing up our kitchen wall in Scotland - it's been there maybe 15 years and is going strong.

You say your garden gets sun for most of the day, so unless you're going to be very vigilant about watering I would wait for the autumn. Even with diligent watering if we get a scorching summer like recent ones you will almost certainly lose some plants.

Even really tough sun loving plants will do better in fierce heat if they've had a winter to settle in. Sorry to put a spanner in your plans.

@GabrielleLegs don't apologise, this is the kind of advice I'm looking for! It's been so long since the borders were planted that I've lost a lot of the knowledge I had back then, so knowing that it might be better to wait until Autumn is sound information for me. I can't recall everything that was there before, but seem to remember there were perennial geranium Johnson's Blue which were so colourful but got straggly, and honeysuckle and passion flower climbers which got way out of hand. Some gladioli in clumps, some acquilegia, and that's about as much as I recall!

I guess it's horses for courses, but I honestly don't think there's much issue with planting now rather than autumn. Planting in the heat of summer is a different matter. You could always chance it with a few cheaper things, and then do more later?

Cross post.

A geranium like Johnson's Blue needs a Chelsea Chop mid-season; that's why they get straggly. You cut it back to a few inches above the base and it will come back so much the better for it.

Oh and most of the border gaps were filled in with annuals back in the day. The perennials I mentioned above were there before me!

I'm giggling at the "Chelsea chop", I obviously didn't do that either. When you say mid season do you mean mid Summer? I really need to get back to this gardening lark. I loved it for years, even grew from seed and cuttings in my teeny greenhouse, now long gone in one of those storms. Those were the days, but they will hopefully return.

I appreciate all your knowledgeable advice, and this is so good for my recovery mentally and physically to just get as far as enthusiasm for doing something in the garden.

Just an idea. How about sowing some annual seeds in the garden this year. If you plant things like poppies, nigella, californian poppies or maybe those packets of wildflower meadow seeds they will look lovely this year and then self seed for years to come amongst the perennials you plant.

You can even sow some perennial/biennial seeds direct into the soil e.g. foxglove. They'll grow a bit this year, then die down in the winter and then grow like billy O and flower next summer. So much cheaper than buying individual foxgloves in pots.

You do the Chelsea Chop when the Chelsea Flower Show is on in the last week of May.

Gardening is just so good for mental and physical health isn't it. Something about the planning, watching stuff grow, the fact that it can't be rushed and all that fresh air. It really helped my husband with anxiety and panic attacks. I hope your garden makes you very happy and content over the coming summer. 🌻

TBH I think you're fine to chop things back when they get leggy, no need to be fancy about it!

I believe people refer to Chelsea Chop (or Hatton hack) because the shows are meant to coincide with when you'd need to cut some things back. This year has been very odd, though, so I wouldn't pay it any mind. The reliable thing to hold to is that if you have a herbaceous perennial like nepeta or a geranium, and you see it getting leggy, you just chop it back by 1/3 and it'll come back bushier and make more flowers.

@GabrielleLegs Yes, even the thought of planning some work is lifting me up. I like the idea of scattering some seeds like you mention. I could also stick in a few pot grown perennials that are ready to go in and see what happens. I can take time over the Summer to decide on "permanent" (if they grow ha ha) perennials for Autumn planting. Oh I'm getting so excited now. Even if I have a few failures what the heck, it's the enthusiasm to do it that counts for me.

I'll keep an eye on the thread, and once again thank you all for bucking me up so much. Been a trying three years, but off we go!

Sorry to butt in but does the Chelsea chop thing also hold for salvias? Mine get very leggy as they’re not in as sunny a spot as they would like.

@minipie Salvias are ideal for the Chelsea chop. It suits all perennials that flower in mid to late summer.

Fab thanks

The Sarah Raven website has a sale on until Sunday that includes a lot of the perennials already mentioned.

Look at Claire Austen, they sell really well considered bundles for borders. I wouldn’t wait. I would plant now. It’s been a wet spring so the ground is moist and warm. Concentrate on things that will flower later in the season, and then put in bulbs in the Autumn.