Some perennial plants are just extremely difficult to grow from seed and some others take years of care to get them to flowering stage, but fortunately there are numerous affordable options that require little effort.
Mostly these come in the form of bare roots and bulbs, and now, as we near the end of spring and start of summer, is a brilliant time to get some bargains at the local garden centre or online. As a bonus they’ll probably come with shoots formed giving you a head-start.
At the time of writing, numerous companies have up to 60% off a wide range of their summer and autumn flowering plants, and I’ve picked up a few bare roots in shops and garden centres. I’ve also received a couple of orders I placed online with the very reasonable Farmer Gracy and with an amazing Irish family-run facility, Caherhurley Nursery in County Clare which is selling off already potted up perennial plants for the bargain price of £5 or €5 which can then be either planted or grown on in pots for a few weeks before planting.
There are many garden centres, shops and companies out there offering value for money but these are the two I’ve bought from online and can verify that their plants came in pristine condition.