Almost every year I have tried something new in the garden; the world is too full of beautiful and incredible flowers to not. My passion for seeds is no secret from those who know me and this time of year is the most exciting and full of promise of all. Indeed I think my seed wish list has been longer in 2023 than any time I can remember.

Why? Because everything changes.

On starting out as a flower farmer, there are generally two recommendations. Firstly, get some shrubs in early for foliage. Secondly, grow annuals. Annuals are easy and they are abundant. You put them in, grow them on, pull them out, and start all over again. With a bit of commitment and in the right climate, many better growers than me could get three crops out of the same bit of ground. I never was that organised.  And there are some crops that still need the annual approach. Salad leaves and most food crops will need to be dug in and dug out, but what if there was a better way for flowers?

The principle of keeping living roots in the soil is crucial for the microbiome to stay strong and healthy, and for the structure of the soil to manage the challenges this increasingly wet and then hot climate is going to throw it with it and us. The good news is that the more I looked the more I found; perennial plants with beautiful flowers. Sow them once and they last forever. Okay maybe not forever, these are not oak trees. But certainly, they come with the promise of seasons and seasons, years and years, of abundance and beauty.

Here are top five I am trying for the first time this year.

Clematis

I have tried to grow clematis from seed before and I will confess to have failed every single time. There seem to be such contradictions about whether to chill or to not chill. It doesn’t help that you never get that many seeds in a packet either. I am determined this year to achieve some plants of this beautiful vase vine. Polly Nicholson has an incredible clematis with soft brown outer petals and a golden inner. The closest I could find was Clematis ladakhiana, a rather more muted turn version of the usual sharp yellow C. tangutica.

I also ordered lots of different varieties from Linden Grove in Ukraine, although whether they will get here I have no idea.

places to try for interesting clematis seed:

Linden Grove Gardens in Ukraine, http://lindengrovegardens.tilda.ws. Also have a look at their beautiful instagram here.

I find Chiltern seeds sell out quite quickly for clematis seed, so try Plant World Seeds for their collections.

If you just can’t wait and you would like plants, Taylor’s are the specialists. As ever, less range than if you are growing from seed, but you are at least guaranteed some flowers.

 Catanache caerulea var. alba  – White Cupid’s Dart

The usual variety of Cupid’s dart is a rather lilacy blue. Not my favourite colour. However, the habit of this plant, all wiry stems and lovely toothed flowers, not unlike a chicory, meant that when I discovered that there was a white version, it went to the top of my list. I know that Aesme use this a lot too, although my seed came from the ever-wonderful Rachel from Green & Gorgeous.

I can’t wait for Rachel to come and talk to us in Gather in March just before her new book comes out. It is all about growing perennials for cut flowers and I know that many of us are absolutely agog. Expect this list to get a lot longer…

Recommended sources of interesting perennial seed:

As you would expect, Rachel has saved seed in her shop and if you want a bit of Green and Gorgeous magic, I highly recommend.

For a bigger range and some really interesting varieties, check out Jelitto. It is less overwhelming to go in with a list and see if they have them, rather than try and shop from their website. You will end up with everything and it is very tricky to see scale from their images, but great for new and interesting things.

 Echinacea pallida

Inspired by the new perennial movement, I have been experimenting with Echinacea is for a while. However, I kept accidentally growing the rather stiff lumpy ones. Indeed, have a horrible feeling that I have just planted lots of orange ones, shorts and dumpy with round flowers. It has taken me this long to work out which variety I truly adore and that is E. Pallida. This is the one with those beautiful fine pink petals that come out in a sort of eyelash fashion and then reflects towards the end of the season to look like the prettiest of skirts. I know some of you will question why I am growing pink flowers and I often talk about how much I don’t like pink. But I defy anyone to find this sort of pink offensive.

Aruncus dioicus

Goat's beard. When you go through your seed box you absolutely must ensure that you have texture and interest, foliage and fillers, as well as your big focal flowers. This filler plant comes highly recommended by Beth Chatto. It looks very much like in astilbe although I can’t grow astilbes because they need more moisture then I can give them.

I have high hopes of this as both a great filler but also it promises to have glorious seedheads. Seed also available from Chiltern seeds. It will take some time to get from seed to plant (these are not first-year flowering perennials) so if you are impatient, Beth Chatto has some plants online.

Photos by Chiltern Seeds

Scabious

You have to offer me something very special to tempt me away from my beloved annual scabious. They grow triffids here with the most beautiful textured flowers and the most wonderful seed heads. The colours simply cannot be beaten and I was especially thrilled to grow the summer fruits collection from Chiltern seeds which are already to be planted out after this next cold snap has gone by. However, I am slowly opening up to some of the perennial scabious. Not your classic Fama series, I have never had much success with them - they just seem to fade away. But S. ochroleuca and the delicate, wild S. columbaria…

Just beautiful.