Most perennials spend their first year after sprouting just establishing themselves, building some roots and setting the stage for their mature performance. Many will bloom in their second year, although some herbaceous perennials, and even more of the woody ones, will wait even longer to display their flowers. The list below is for impatient gardeners (aren't we all?) who like to get at least a preview of ultimate performance earlier. Each of the plants in the table below has bloomed for me in its first year of life. In most cases, the blooms are not nearly as abundant or large as they will be in years to follow. Note that I start most of my perennials indoors, starting in early winter. Many of the plants listed would not bloom if started outdoors in spring, or if wintersown to sprout when temperatures warm up - at least not in our zone 6 garden. Some of the plants are show-offs that start blooming already under the growlights in my basement (no doubt because of the artificial 14-hour days that those lights provide). Others are tender perennials that are grown as annuals in our climate - they'd better bloom in their first year, or they'd be rather useless as ornamental flowering plants! The list below is sorted in order of botanical name. Click on the plant's
name to go to page for that plant. Plant portraits (where I have photos on the
page) are indicated with the
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Last modified:
November 24, 2006 |
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