Five Long‑Flowering Plants for Your Garden
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Having a few really long‑flowering plants in your garden is a handy, low‑maintenance way to keeping your garden looking good.
I find these five plants brilliant because they are:
Long flowering
Reliable
Low maintenance
Tend not to be eaten by slugs or snails!
Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’
This geum has pretty apricot flowers from April to October, and sometimes longer. It has sterile flowers, which means its energy is not spent on producing seed.
A bonus: you can split it every few years and spread it around your garden or give it away. I first bought this plant from Jimi Blake and have probably produced about 30 new plants from it over the years!
Tips:
Sun or part shade
Remove stems after they have flowered. I cut back the spent flower stems twice a year, mid‑summer and again in autumn
Salvia ‘Red Bumble’
This salvia is a small evergreen shrub which flowers from May to November in a beautiful shade of red.
I find it slightly hardier than other salvias, but it is still best suited to milder areas of Ireland, such as Dublin.
It also works well in pots.
Tips:
Does best in full sun
Prune once a year in March to about 30–40 cm
Geranium ‘Rozanne’
Hardy geraniums (not to be confused with Pelargoniums) are among the most reliable and hard‑working plants.
Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is one of the longest flowering geraniums, flowering from June to October. Like the Geum 'Totally Tangerine, it has sterile flowers.
Its bright purple blooms are gorgeous in the front borders, softening the edges. And bees love it!
Tips:
Sun or light shade
Dies back in November; the only maintenance required is removing dead leaves
Optional: you can cut it back once in mid‑summer for a fresh flush of flowers (I don’t actually do this, but doing so makes the plant look tidier and fresher in late summer)
Erysimum ‘Bowles’ Mauve’
This wallflower can bloom from March to November in Irish gardens, sometimes even throughout winter. Its purple flowers pair beautifully with grasses and roses.
The only downside is that it tends to become woody and may need replacing every 3 to 5 years. It will last longer, nearer 5 years, if you prune it annually.
Tips:
Full sun
Cut back in March to about 20cm
Anisodontea ‘El Rayo’
In milder parts of Ireland, this South African shrub can flower for 10 to 12 months of the year. It has soft pink, hibiscus‑like flowers, sometimes even in mild winter.
It’s a great choice for sheltered gardens needing long‑lasting colour.
Unfortunately Anisodontea ‘El Rayo’ is a little harder to find for sale in Ireland. So if you know someone who has it, try propagating some by taking stem cuttings.
Tips:
Full sun, sheltered
Prune in spring to about 50cm (don’t let it get too large unless your garden is extremely sheltered)
Optional: once established, remove about a quarter of the thicker, older branches each year
