colourful pereenials

[flowersun]

I am a novice at gardening and have, this year, planted lots of pots and window baskets with petunias, geraniums etc but would like to know what perennials I can buy which would produce nice colours year after year. Also can anyone recommend a climber which would climb up another tree? partial shade. Thanks

[foxyferret]

there are loads you can try depending on whether you want tall ones like delphiniums, lupins, perennial sunflowers etc. Some good medium ones like maltese cross, rudbekia goldstrum, columbines, geums etc. Good short spready ones are pulmonaria, perennial geraniums are always great and reliable. A lot of these can be grown from seed, if you don't have a greenhouse, try them on the windowsill in a seed tray with a plastic lid on. You can get these cheap propogators from homebase or wilkinsons. You are a bit late for this year, although you could try just a few now and if they grow, plant them out and see if they survive the winter. Best time for seeds generally March/April. You can of course buy plants,( a pricier way of doing it) or scrounge bits from friends and neighbours. Suggest a visit to your local library gardening section and just get a book on perennials where you will find hundreds of ideas. You could try a clematis up the tree as they like their roots in shade but flowers in the sun. I have a jackmanii clematis growing up a tree and it looks good in summer. Good luck.

[rowanwitch]

A good way to start is with the asstd packs the sunday papers sell/give away combined with scrounging bits from friends and neighbours. Climber for a tree Clematis 'polish spirit ' or trachelospermum if you live far enough south. Easy peasy plants hardy geraniums, aquilegia, shasta daisies, lychnis coronaria, lupins and delphiniums are lovely and traditional but are prone to slug and aphid problems. solidago, rubeckia, helianthus, achillea are great in sun, echinacea and perennial asters are good too. Haemerocallis and crocosmia are probably must haves for easiness

[boxtops]

Clematis certainly for your climber - we have montana which is the bog-standard pink one, we do nothing with it, and it gets bigger and better every year! We also have lots of daffodils and tulips and grape hyacinths which we just leave it their posts (feeding occasionally) for a couple of years, they keep coming back. Big primulas are also good - colourful and cheery, I just leave those in too.

[flowersun]

Thanks all for your expertise. I will certainly look into buying a clematis.