KEW GARDENER'S GUIDE TO GROWING PERENNIALS

Wilford explores the science, history and practical cultivation of perennial plants, revealing why these long-lived species remain popular to gardeners, designers and botanists alike as they offer magnificent diversity for every soil, season and light condition. Blending botanical insight from root systems and life cycles to soil chemistry, climate and plant partnerships, he examines the mechanics of dormancy, division and renewal, demystifying propagation, planting and maintenance with clarity and authority. Structured around both plant families and practical application, the book guides readers through key botanical orders including Ranunculales, Asparagales, Caryophyllales and Asterales, grounding theory firmly in recognisable garden favourites. Plants such as Helleborus, Geranium, Salvia, Echinacea, Achillea and Hosta, together with splendid names like bear's breeches, monkshood, lady's mantle, false indigo, elephant's ears, plume thistle, Foxglove, Japanese anemone, spurge, sneezeweed, coral bells, scabious, blazing star, lobelia and lupin, plume poppy and bergamot, catmint, peony, poppy, primula and lung wort, red hot poker and Solomon's seal, black-eyed Susan, sage, globe flower and many more. There is line art in beautiful colour, key facts about family, height, spacing, flowering time and hardiness, culinary uses, and which are best for your particular balcony, patio or garden. Wilford shows how perennials can be selected and combined for specific garden settings: structural species such as Peony and Iris for borders; ground-covering stalwarts like Alchemilla mollis and Epimedium for shade; drought-tolerant plants including Sedum, Nepeta and Verbena for gravel and Mediterranean-style gardens; and moisture-loving species such as Ligularia and Rodgersia for damp or woodland sites. Throughout, he addresses seasonality, colour succession and texture. Step-by-step colour photographs and artworks. 144 pages.