Heavy clay soil is slow to warm up, wet in rainy weather and cracks in summer. These perennials grow in it.
69 plants from our verified database, by name. A plant is only listed when the data this list relies on is not in doubt. How our data is made
Stachys monieri 55 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A long-lived perennial that makes a dense cushion of glossy, dark green, scalloped leaves, above which tight rosy-purple flower spikes stand for weeks…
Mentha suaveolens 60 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A mint with soft, woolly, rounded leaves whose mild, fruity, apple-like scent is good in teas, lemonade, salads and on desserts. The cultivar…
Astilbe × arendsii 90 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A splash of colour for shady, damp corners: feathery plumes in white, pink, red or purple rise above ferny foliage in early summer. Plant it only…
Actaea simplex 1.5 m × 80 cm after 10 years
A tall perennial for shade that carries long, white, strongly scented bottlebrush spikes from late summer into mid autumn, when most shade plants have…
Acanthus mollis 1.5 m × 90 cm after 10 years
An architectural perennial with large, glossy, deeply lobed leaves and tall summer spikes of white and purple flowers held in spiny bracts. Give it…
Monarda didyma 1 m × 90 cm after 10 years
In summer its shaggy red, pink or purple flower heads draw bees and butterflies, and the leaves smell spicy and minty when rubbed. It belongs in…
Rudbeckia fulgida 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A dependable, long-flowering perennial with golden yellow, dark-centred daisies from midsummer into autumn, popular with bees and butterflies. It does…
Liatris spicata 90 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A cormous perennial that sends stiff, upright stems out of a tuft of grassy leaves, with purple, pink or white bottlebrush spikes that open from the…
Dicentra spectabilis 80 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
An old cottage garden favourite: in late spring its arching stems carry rows of pink and white heart-shaped flowers. Plant it in part shade or…
Geranium sanguineum 30 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A tough ground-covering perennial that forms a low mound of finely cut leaves, dotted with magenta-pink flowers from late spring into summer, and…
Baptisia australis 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A shrub-like, very long-lived perennial that carries lupin-like spikes of indigo blue flowers in late spring above blue-green, clover-like foliage,…
Aster dumosus 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, cushion-forming perennial that is smothered in purple, pink, blue or white yellow-centred daisies from late summer to mid-autumn, when…
Nepeta × faassenii 'Walker's Low' 75 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
This grey-green catmint brings lavender-blue flowers and plenty of pollinators to sunny borders, path edges and rose plantings. Once established it…
Anemone hupehensis 75 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A perennial that flowers in pink or white from late summer until the first frosts, bringing colour when most of the border has finished. It does…
Astilbe chinensis 60 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A perennial with ferny, dark green leaves that sends up stiff, feathery pink or lilac plumes from midsummer, later than the garden hybrid astilbes. It…
Thalictrum delavayi 1.5 m × 60 cm after 10 years
A tall, airy perennial: above columbine-like, finely divided foliage it lifts a cloud of tiny lilac flowers on thin purplish stems about 1.5 m high…
Paeonia lactiflora 90 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A long-lived, bushy perennial with large, scented flowers in late spring and foliage that makes a good backdrop in the border until autumn. Plant it…
Allium schoenoprasum 45 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A kitchen garden perennial that forms dense, grassy clumps: you can cut its hollow, onion-flavoured leaves from spring to autumn, and the purple globe…
Primula veris 25 cm × 20 cm after 10 years
A low, rosette-forming perennial of meadows and wood edges that opens nodding, fragrant, egg-yellow flowers in April on stems held above the leaves.…
Veronicastrum virginicum 1.5 m × 75 cm after 10 years
A tall, slender perennial with whorls of leaves on strong, straight stems, topped in summer by thin, candelabra-like spikes of white, pale pink or…
Hemerocallis × hybrida 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Garden daylilies are almost indestructible, long-lived perennials: above a clump of arching, grassy leaves they carry trumpet-shaped flowers for weeks…
Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro' 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, dense daylily that keeps producing lightly scented golden yellow flowers in flushes from early summer to autumn, so it is rewarding as an…
Lysimachia punctata 90 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A vigorous, upright perennial covered in bright yellow flowers for weeks in summer and asking for almost no care. It looks best in sun or part shade…
Primula denticulata 30 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
An early spring perennial that carries lilac, white or ruby flower globes on stout stems from March to April, before the leaves are fully grown. Plant…
Amsonia tabernaemontana 90 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A long-lived perennial that builds a dense, bushy clump: pale blue starry flowers in late spring, then narrow leaves that turn golden yellow in…
Penstemon digitalis 1 m × 50 cm after 10 years
In early summer stiff, upright stems rise from a low rosette of leaves, carrying loose spikes of white tubular flowers that bees and bumblebees…
Phlox paniculata 1 m × 80 cm after 10 years
A classic of the summer border: stiff stems carry large, scented flower heads in white, pink, purple or red that butterflies love. Plant it in sun…
Rudbeckia hirta 70 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A fast-growing, bristly-leaved coneflower with large golden yellow, orange, rusty red or two-tone flowers around a dark centre, which open in the very…
Aruncus dioicus 1.8 m × 1 m after 10 years
A big, bushy woodland perennial native to the region that lights up shady corners in early summer with head-high plumes of creamy white flowers. Plant…
Dryopteris affinis 1 m × 90 cm after 10 years
Golden male fern is a big, sturdy, shuttlecock-shaped fern: the fronds unfurl yellowish green in spring with stalks covered in golden-brown scales,…
Muscari armeniacum 20 cm × 10 cm after 10 years
A low spring bulb with small grape-like clusters of mostly cobalt blue flowers (pale blue, white or pink in some cultivars) from late March to May;…
Camassia leichtlinii 1 m × 40 cm after 10 years
A late-spring bulb that carries starry blue, purple or creamy white flowers on waist-high stems, just in the gap between tulips and the summer…
Astrantia major 70 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Great masterwort is a loosely bushy perennial for cool part shade: its white, pink or wine-red flower heads, each ringed by papery bracts, last for…
Bergenia cordifolia 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
Its large, round, leathery, glossy leaves stay all year and flush burgundy and bronze in the cold, and in early spring it carries clusters of pink…
Aster ericoides 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A densely branched aster from the North American prairies with tiny, heather-like leaves, covered in September and October by clouds of very small…
Hosta sieboldiana 'Elegans' 90 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
Its large, corrugated blue-green leaves fill shady borders nicely, and it also works as a specimen or in a large container. Give it humus-rich,…
Lobelia × speciosa 80 cm × 35 cm after 10 years
An upright perennial with dense flower spikes in red, pink, purple or blue from midsummer into autumn, and many forms have bronze foliage too. It…
Anemone × hybrida 1 m × 1 m after 10 years
A perennial that flowers from late summer into autumn, when most borders are winding down: white or pink blooms float on slender stems and look best…
Aster ageratoides 70 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A very tough, late-flowering aster: from late summer until the frosts it is covered in a haze of pale lilac, white or pinkish flowers, in sun or…
Alchemilla mollis 45 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
You will know it by its soft, hairy, rounded leaves that hold raindrops and dew like beads, topped by a haze of yellow-green flowers in early…
Melissa officinalis 60 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
A bushy, lemon-scented kitchen and tea herb: pick the fresh leaves for salads, syrups and tea, and leave the tiny flowers for the bees that love them.…
Helleborus orientalis 45 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, shade-tolerant perennial that carries nodding white, pink, plum or speckled flowers from late winter into spring, when little else is in…
Doronicum orientale 50 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
One of the earliest yellow daisy-flowered perennials: it blooms in spring alongside tulips, above fresh green heart-shaped leaves. It suits part shade…
Levisticum officinale 1.8 m × 90 cm after 10 years
A huge, long-lived kitchen herb that can reach two metres, with leaves that give soups and stews a strong celery, stock-cube flavour. One plant is…
Dryopteris filix-mas 1 m × 90 cm after 10 years
A large, shuttlecock-shaped woodland fern that also grows wild in the region, and one of the least demanding ferns for shade and part shade. Use it…
Caltha palustris 40 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A perennial for pond margins, stream sides and permanently wet, boggy ground that opens glossy golden-yellow flowers in early spring above round,…
Thalictrum aquilegiifolium 1 m × 50 cm after 10 years
An airy, tall perennial with blue-green, columbine-like leaves and clouds of fluffy lilac flowers in early summer. It suits part shade and…
Aster novae-angliae 1.3 m × 80 cm after 10 years
A tall, stiff-stemmed autumn perennial that carries masses of purple, pink or carmine flowers with yellow centres from late August to October, just…
Matteuccia struthiopteris 1.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
With its fresh green fronds standing in a shuttlecock shape like ostrich plumes, the ostrich fern is one of the most striking plants for damp, shady…
Mentha × piperita 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A tea and kitchen herb with a strong menthol scent: the dark green, toothed leaves are good fresh or dried in tea, lemonade and baking, and its…
Echinacea purpurea 1.2 m × 60 cm after 10 years
Plant it in a sunny perennial border, preferably in a small group, for pink-purple summer flowers that attract bees and butterflies. Established…
Lythrum salicaria 1.2 m × 90 cm after 10 years
A native perennial of watersides and wet meadows: from midsummer into autumn its stiff, upright stems carry long, vivid purple-magenta flower spikes…
Aster pyrenaeus 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A European aster that makes a low, broad, loose mound, covered for weeks from late summer into autumn with large, pale lilac, narrow-rayed daisies…
Lychnis flos-cuculi 60 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A slender, airy wildflower whose pink (rarely white) petals are each cut into four narrow strips, giving the flowers their ragged look from May to…
Persicaria amplexicaulis 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
Red bistort is one of the longest-flowering perennials: from early summer until the frosts its dense, leafy mound keeps producing slender spikes of…
Rheum rhabarbarum 1 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A long-lived perennial vegetable grown for its fleshy, tart leaf stalks, which you pull from April to the end of June and then leave the crown to…
Rodgersia pinnata 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A bold foliage plant for moist part shade, with large, horse-chestnut-like, bronze-tinted leaves and pink flower plumes in early summer. Plant it by a…
Lychnis coronaria 80 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Above rosettes of silver-grey, felted leaves it opens vivid magenta (in some forms white) flowers on branching grey stems in early summer. It is…
Primula rosea 20 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A small Himalayan primrose that opens its vivid pink, yellow-eyed flowers in March and April, before the leaves have developed; nurseries mostly…
Geranium 'Rozanne' 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
'Rozanne' is useful for covering the ground beneath roses or softening the front of a perennial border, with violet-blue, white-centred flowers from…
Sedum spectabile 50 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A succulent perennial forming a neat clump of fleshy, blue-green leaves, with flat, hand-sized flower heads from late summer into autumn that are…
Brunnera macrophylla 45 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A shade-loving perennial with large, rough, heart-shaped leaves that carries a haze of tiny sky-blue, forget-me-not-like flowers above the foliage…
Iris sibirica 90 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
A graceful iris with grassy leaves that carries blue, purple or white flowers on tall stems in May and June, and keeps a handsome, grass-like clump of…
Helenium × hybridum 1 m × 60 cm after 10 years
Garden heleniums are upright, clump-forming perennials that pour out yellow, orange, copper-red and brownish-red daisies with a domed centre from…
Mentha spicata 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
One of the best-flavoured kitchen mints: its fresh, sweet-scented leaves go into tea, cold drinks, salads and meat dishes, and bees and butterflies…
Inula ensifolia 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, dome-shaped perennial with narrow sword-like leaves, covered for weeks in summer with golden yellow daisies. It suits sunny, dry, even…
Chelone obliqua 90 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A stiffly upright perennial that flowers in late summer and autumn when little else does, with pink to purplish, turtle-head shaped blooms at the stem…
Lythrum virgatum 1 m × 45 cm after 10 years
A slender, clump-forming perennial with wand-like stems that carries loose spikes of purplish pink flowers for many weeks in summer and draws bees and…
Aster divaricatus 70 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
One of the few asters that flowers in shade: from late summer into autumn its dark, wiry, zigzag stems carry clouds of small white daisies above…
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