The price of perennial plants seems a bit higher this year depending on where you shop for them. If you’re gardening on a budget, it doesn’t take long to max it out. So I thought I’d share with you my number one perennial to get that will spread as long as you let it.
And that plant is…
perennial bachelor buttons!
Bachelor Buttons come in a number of colors in the purple family. Bees and butterflies love them and they’re pretty easy to take care of. Deadheading (removing spent blooms) will keep the plant blooming most of the summer.
But they do spread and fairly quickly. What started out in our garden as one or two plants, is now almost an entire garden in and of itself.
As you can see, there’s the main garden bed and then at about 10 o’clock, there’s another clump that’s surrounded a blueberry blush. That’s at least doubled in size since last year. The garden the white ones are in, jumped ship to about another garden about 10-12 feet away. So they’re a great plant for the money, as you’ll get many, many more plants in just a few short years. So be sure to plant them where they can take over (of course, you can always dig them up to give away or just pull them up and toss them!).
Perennial bachelor buttons are a bit different form their annual counterparts, which are smaller with fuller petals, come in more colors and are sometimes called cornflowers. They might reseed themselves in warmer clients but don’t spread like their perennial cousins.
What do you think? Would you plant perennial bachelor buttons in your garden?
~Carey
