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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Looking for plants that will keep on flowering

80 replies

minipie · 27/04/2026 14:56

Hi everyone

I’m after a few plants that I can put in our beds (sunny, decent watering/drainage) and will just keep producing flowers for months without me having to do anything. Preferably perennials and with a bit of height, so not ground cover.

Some I already have which fit the bill:

convulvulus cneorum
creeping phlox (this is a bit short)
erigeron
salvia Amistad
geranium Rozanne
rock rose (a bit bigger than I’m after)

Any more along these lines?

Lavender should work in theory but always seems to just go leggy and woody, maybe I’m not pruning it enough

Thank you!

OP posts:
Lokiswife · 28/04/2026 19:15

Dicentra (aka bleeding heart)

Trotula · 28/04/2026 19:51

minipie · 28/04/2026 11:34

oh I keep trying thyme and it keeps dying 😭 any particular ones to recommend?

I had to pull out the sage as it got huge but was so attacked by snails it was ragged.

and I seem to be the only person who can’t get mint to grow!!

I’m no help on the thyme mine seeds itself and I have loads! Probably the conditions?
It grows wild in Greece so guessing it likes fairly dry poor soil? Mine are on the edge of my little veg plot along with sage and lemon balm.
I have to dig bits up each year to stop it taking over!
Maybe your soil is rich and wet?

AliMonkey · 28/04/2026 20:33

I just wanted to say thank you for the thread and all the responses, I've made a list for my visit to the garden centre! (If not mentioned already, I'd have said geraniums, erigeron and perennial wallflower as being my failsafes.)

MaddestGranny · 28/04/2026 20:36

minipie · 28/04/2026 10:55

Oh ok! morning glory is beautiful so will stop being scared of it taking over 😃

Off to garden centre this weekend I think!

Morning Glory, the purple one which grows unchecked in Spain and other Mediterranean countries, can be a menace in your garden (unless you really love their purple-ness).

The Morning Glory, Heavenly Blue, which seems to be native to US, is the most beautiful sky-blue & will lift your heart. However, it needs to be started off early indoors, (e.g March, probably inside a glasshouse or sunny windowsill) and must br protected from snails as it grows on.
It doesn't start to flower till September. Each separate flower lasts for one day. They are seriously lovely.

FruAashild · 28/04/2026 20:38

I have my thyme in this terracotta pot. I inherited it when we bought this house so don't know where it came from, but you could use a reclaimed chimney pot, partly bury it and fill it with compost.

Looking for plants that will keep on flowering
InertBird · 28/04/2026 23:21

I never have any success with keeping thyme alive - it looks great for one season, I never remember to cut it back (probably the reason for my trouble with it) and then it's just a bunch of twigs Confused

durdledoris · 28/04/2026 23:28

Hardy fuschias are my go to - last ages and very hard to kill

RobinStrike · 28/04/2026 23:47

I love this thread and there are lots of great suggestions. Can anyone help with similar suggestions but for shady areas ? Will any of the above listed flowers work or do they all need a good amount of sunshine? Thanks

InertBird · 28/04/2026 23:54

RobinStrike · 28/04/2026 23:47

I love this thread and there are lots of great suggestions. Can anyone help with similar suggestions but for shady areas ? Will any of the above listed flowers work or do they all need a good amount of sunshine? Thanks

Struggling to think of shade loving plants that flower for months tbh - hellebores are in flower for a few months though, then things like epimediums, pulmonaria, brunnera, and even foxgloves flower for a fair while. I'd love to know of any long-flowering shade plants too.

Leavesandthings · 29/04/2026 00:01

RobinStrike · 28/04/2026 23:47

I love this thread and there are lots of great suggestions. Can anyone help with similar suggestions but for shady areas ? Will any of the above listed flowers work or do they all need a good amount of sunshine? Thanks

Heuchera have small flowers on stems for a long time but are mainly grown for beautiful colourful foliage.
I love them. I keep being enticed by new colours in the garden centre even though I have no where to put them.

Brunnera flowers for a long time in spring

Daphne flowers for a long time in winter into spring

Fuscia summer into late autumn

RobinStrike · 29/04/2026 09:54

Thanks @Leavesandthings@InertBird I am a real novice with gardens. I’ve started with hanging baskets and tubs but I would like to add a bit of colour to my shady spots

TheToteBagLady · 29/04/2026 11:18

I have hydrangea in shade. It blooms very well from July until late September, maybe even October and November but the colour is fading. The foliage then is spectacularl, but no flowers

minipie · 29/04/2026 12:39

Leavesandthings · 29/04/2026 00:01

Heuchera have small flowers on stems for a long time but are mainly grown for beautiful colourful foliage.
I love them. I keep being enticed by new colours in the garden centre even though I have no where to put them.

Brunnera flowers for a long time in spring

Daphne flowers for a long time in winter into spring

Fuscia summer into late autumn

Just to add Tiarella is very similar to Heuchera and flowers well in shade. And agree hydrangeas is a good (larger) option for shade flowers. I have Bleeding heart too in shade as mentioned above. And I keep
meaning to get more foxgloves, although the leaves do look a bit messy.

My fuchsias fell victim to snails 😭 I think I need to try again with a more established one.

OP posts:
whymadam · 29/04/2026 14:16

RobinStrike · 28/04/2026 23:47

I love this thread and there are lots of great suggestions. Can anyone help with similar suggestions but for shady areas ? Will any of the above listed flowers work or do they all need a good amount of sunshine? Thanks

Camellias and rhododendrons are good shrubs in shade, also fuschias, impatiens, begonias and some of the euphorbias. Japanese anemones, astrantia and persicaria. I'm sure you know, so just a reminder that shade isn't always damp. It can be bone dry under hedges, walls and trees so remember to give plenty of water and mulch to keep the moisture in longer.

Silverbirchleaf · 29/04/2026 14:18

Marking this thread to read and digest later.

deeahgwitch · 29/04/2026 15:59

Silverbirchleaf · 29/04/2026 14:18

Marking this thread to read and digest later.

As am I.

InertBird · 29/04/2026 17:10

@whymadam that reminds me, euphorbia amygdaloides var robbiae is a great one for dry shade, the "flowers" go on for ages (bracts really, same as hellebores)

Leavesandthings · 30/04/2026 10:57

minipie · 29/04/2026 12:39

Just to add Tiarella is very similar to Heuchera and flowers well in shade. And agree hydrangeas is a good (larger) option for shade flowers. I have Bleeding heart too in shade as mentioned above. And I keep
meaning to get more foxgloves, although the leaves do look a bit messy.

My fuchsias fell victim to snails 😭 I think I need to try again with a more established one.

Yes maybe try a more established fuscia, they are very hardy once they are established.

I have a pink hardy fuscia in my garden but the ones I really admire in other peoples gardens are 'hawkshead' which is a small neat one with lots of delicate white flowers, and the funky white and blue ones.

minipie · 30/04/2026 12:26

Yes it was hawkshead (or something similar) I was trying to grow - maybe they are more delicate than the more blowsy ones

OP posts:
Leavesandthings · 08/05/2026 19:17

Morrisons have fuchsias of different varieties including hardy ones, for £1.50, at the moment!
I just picked up a Delta Sarah

Girliefriendlikespuppies · 08/05/2026 19:42

Roses are surprisingly tough, grow in clay soil (intact they prefer it) and flower from
spting until autumn. My rose collection keeps growing and I now have 6 or 7 separate plants, my favourite cost £2.50 came from The Range, my second favourite cost £3 from Tescos 🙈😂

FindingMeno · 08/05/2026 19:43

Feverfew is bomb proof and flowers for ages.
Lilies -shorter varieties.
Cistus.
Day lilies

Empress13 · 08/05/2026 19:45

Ceanothus beautiful blue flowers low maintenance grows huge over time comes back year after year

MIAMNER · 08/05/2026 20:29

Penstemon garnet and Hidcote pink
sedum autum joy
Salvia x jamensis 'Nachtvlinder'

All hardy prolific flowers which are also easy to propagate by division

FruAashild · 09/05/2026 08:58

Veronicas have long flowering seasons and there's a big variety of heights to choose from. Good for insects as well.

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