TENDER LOVIN’ CARE

Words by Jessica Peace

SCHOOL ROOM: TENDER PERENNIALS

You what? A ‘perennial’ is a plant that comes back every year - even if it looks a bit dead over winter. If you’ve got a ‘tender’ perennial it’s got its roots in a hotter climate, so whilst it can hang out with us in our shorts and bikinis during the summer, it won’t be so happy now it’s a bit nippy. To get the numbers out, a tender perennial can’t stick it below 5°C.

WHO ARE THEY?

Tender perennials you might have outside your gaff include: pelargonium (the scented geraniums we keep bangin’ on about), tree ferns, citrus, gaura, salvia, lobelia and datura.

HOW NOT TO KILL’EM?

Make room in your gaff, find them a home with enough light but not too close to your central heating  - don’t kill’em that way either! If they are big like your tree ferns and citrus then get your hands on some horticultural fleece (bubble wrap works too) and wrap’em up good.