How to grow a garden that flowers all year

My list of Perth plants for a garden that is never without colour

Today’s newsletter is one I’ve been working on for a while - it includes a downloadable list of every flower I’ve enjoyed in my garden over the last year, split into months, seasons and plant types. If you are a Perth gardener longing for more flowers, this is for you!

If you find it useful, please hit the ❤️ button on this post to remind other gardeners whose yards are bereft of colour that you really can have a rainbow garden all year round.

To access the full newsletter (and to download my EXTENSIVE plant list (possibly the most organised thing I’ve ever done) you can upgrade your subscription below. And thank you to everyone who has already subscribed - your support means I can put more time and energy into creating Perth-specific garden guides just like this one!

So. When last we spoke I was lamenting the fact that I haven’t yet achieved a garden that looks impeccably beautiful all year round. A high bar to set, I admit. But, I remain convinced that it is possible, if only I use the right plants and tactics.

I have now become a little obsessed with this mission.

Perth doesn’t get snow, we don’t have months of bare trees, we can grow plants all year round, so surely it stands to reason that we can grow beautiful gardens all year round too.

Let me say from the offset, I am fully aware that my whole garden schtick is one of being lazy, haphazard and a bit fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-y. This is because, for the most part, when I’m in the garden I’m focused on one of two things: having fun, or being fast. Neither of those things, in my experience, pairs very well with extensive excel spreadsheets and Latin plant names. Lest you think I’ve lost myself in a pile of compost and emerged stinky and anally retentive, let me be clear: making this spreadsheet was HEAPS OF FUN!! And I’m still disorganised.

The thing about being somewhat disorganised by nature is that it can take decades to actually notice the recurring patters in your garden. I struggle to know what day of the week it is and how old I am, so what chance would I ever have of remembering which month my Jerusalem artichokes bloom and planting my garden accordingly?

The answer is zero, zip, zilch.

Fortunately, what I am good at is obsessively taking photos of my garden, with the result that I now have accumulated quite a lot of good objective data on what is going on at different times of the year. So, I’ve just gone through every photo on my phone for the last two years and written down what was flowering, and when.

As a result, the spreadsheet I’ve made (for you - for us!) isn’t a perfect and definitive resource. It’s not a list of absolutely every plant that can thrive in a Perth garden. What it IS is a list of the (easiest) plants I have grown and loved, and I intend to keep adding more to it every month from now on.

So far, it has already been so informative. It paints a far clearer picture of what is going on in my garden in any given month than my shonky memory ever could, and it helps me step back and think about what is working, what is lacking and what to try next. I hope it helps you in your quest for eternal colour too!

Understanding the guide

Before you download my guide, I want to say a few quick things about the headings. In my last newsletter, I introduced the idea (adapted from garden design legend Piet Oudolf) of plants for year-round structure and plants for transient colour. I’ve incorporated those categories (and a couple of others) into my guide. So let’s unpack the categories first.

My year-round colour guide: an excerpt

Plants for structure

I’m only just realising how important structural plants are for creating a garden that doesn’t fall apart every autumn. The areas of my garden that still look good now, at the start of winter, are those with woody, perennial shrubs that hold their form and don’t die back. They keep the garden feeling full and interesting. In the guide below, I list the plants that provide permanent structure in the garden and flower too.