I am after a list of perennials for next year, I do not think I will be able to manage to work all my garden with young plants/seeds. I am doing it this year but I feel I need something that is going to take a lot less effort in future.
I will have rhubarb, chard, leaf beet, blackcurrant, hopefully cordon apple and pear and maybe a cordon cherry or plum, herbs, JA's.
Are there any more apart from asparagus that would suit?
chard and leaf beet are biennials. Maybe they might produce little offsets to carry on, but i've never left them to find out.
Globe Artichoke? also Broccoli 'Nine Star Perennial'. Strawberries?
You can crop from Cavolo Nero for a pretty extended period
Permaculture enthusiasts are always on the look out for perennial food plants - maybe look into their books?
There are lots of soft fruits out there: Black/White/red currants, Blackberries/Tayberries/Jostberries, Raspberries, Gooseberries, Cranberry Cowberry, etc
Nuts too (Hazel is easy).
Good King Henry, Horseradish, Chives, and lots of other herbs.
Elephant Garlic, Babington Leek and some other relatives are almost perrenial too.
If you look here, there are quite a number of perennials:
http://www.thevga.co.uk/the_shed/sindex.cgi
Sorrel... if you want some Babbington Leeks I have about a thousand offsets and bulbils!
;D
Thank you all,
I dont mind too much about the biennials, they give a very long cropping season. And OH can help with them ;)
I have bookmarked the link GR, it has some good info on there :D
I haven't heard of Babbington leeks, I would love to try some thanks Saddad. I'll have a google and read up on them.
I have quite a few herbs :D
Sea Kale hasn't been mentioned yet, nor welsh onions, nor potato onions - although I haven't been able to find a source for these outside the US. I know that the HDSL have stocks but they won't supply because of the difficulty in distributing them - they should be split and planted in the Autumn.
Any chance of a few Babbingtons? I've never heard of them before, but they sound interesting.
Thank you Vortex,
I didn't think of sea kale, and I will look into the welsh onions.
I found this link if anyone is interested in something different
http://www.pfaf.org/leaflets/whyperen.php
:D
The herb Good King Henry is a perennial we have.
Although I've never tried doing it, earthing up the new shoots is supposed to produce an asparagus-like veg.
What we use it for are the leaves, which are very much like spinach, and you can cut-and-come-again. It does quite (well very, actually) readily self seed. It is tasty, and would recommend it. It can be grown from seed very easily.
valmarg
I would love to grow that, I must look out for garlic mustard when it goes to seed as well :)
Globe artichokes for sure,and if you do grow Sea Kale-remember where it is,the times I have dug it up beggars belief
Welsh onions are available from the organic garden catalogue (http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=827) amongst other places.
Asparagus, Cassava, Ceylon spinach, chillies, moringa, Okinawan spinach, pepinos, peppers, Sissoo spinach, Taro, Tomato would be a few others although obviously things like chillies, pepinos, peppers & tomatoes need to kept frost free in winter.
so pleased that someone mentioned seakale - not to be missed, easy germination just needs forcing when it is old enough
what about runner beans, they are perennial (but we tend to treat them as annuals), mitsuba (japanese parsley), sorrel, jerusalem artichokes, some chicories have a perennial nature
there is a book, maybe more than one, available on this subject
If elephant garlic is a perennial, how does this work? Surely if you take the bulb out that is it and if you leave it in, how do you get a crop?
What I do is save the biggest bulbs, then plant the cloves from these.
No problem Robert... just pm me your Addy and I'll send you some!
;D
The Babbingtons arrived today, thanks. How do I propagate them?
I got mine as well today Robert, Saddad said to split the bulbs and pot on. Mine are in the cold frame till they establish a good root. Then I'll plant out later, possibly end May, unless Im told different :D
Im sure Saddad will give us more info later ;)
There are cultivation instructions for babbington's leeks here:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Allium+ampeloprasum+babbingtonii
Quote from: star on March 14, 2008, 18:49:22
I will look into the welsh onions.
Are these the same are perpetual onions? If so, we have them growing on our plot. They are sort of like spring onions that grow in a bunch. The bunch keeps growing and expanding. We eat the white bits of the onion. They are like a strong onion flavour with a hint of garlic.
I honestly don't know Sparkly, it will be nice if someone can say what they are from your description.
Here's something about them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_onion
Perpetual onions don't produce flowers welsh onions do they can be difficult to tell apart as they are very similar in most other respects.
Can you define the culinary difference if there is one, Like is it bulbs for eating, or the leaves?
Had a bit of a google. Yes, they are not the same. I do have some welsh onions in a pot in the garden. They are more like large chives with hollow leaves. They are definately perpetual. I bought them labelled as 'garlic chives', but looking at that link mine look more like welsh onions than garlic chives. I use the welsh onions for the leaves and the perpetual onions for the white parts (it doesn't really bulb).
Oh thank you Sparkly, thats great.
I will keep my eyes open for some now ;)
PM star, I will dig you up some perpetual onions from our plot, they would be okay in the post...
Your an angel........I'll pm you now ;D
That was a good link on Babington Leeks Baccyman thanks!
;D
hi, is perpetual spinnach really everlasting or does it loose it's " energy" after a couple of seasons ?
pete
You could also look at self-seeding things like rocket.
Thanks. Mine are now in a seed tray in the mini greenhouse. I gather from that page they produce bulbils, so I assume it's a case of lifting some and taking the bulbils, or maybe allowing clumps to develop and then splitting.
They smell very strong dont they? Im looking forward to eating them ;D
I hadn't noticed the smell, but then I rarely do. I look forward to eating them though; they should hopefully produce after the normal leeks have finished.
Did anyone mention Egyptian onions (walking onions) that get the bulbs on top of the stem?
Purslane.
I cant remember GA, but another one certainly worth looking out for........Thank you ;)
Are Cardoons perennial? I know you eat the stems after blanching them, do they re-grow from the stumps left?
I have plenty of seeds if you would like some.
Weed-Digga
Yes they are XX Jeannine
I planted four last year; one survived the floods. It produced two slips, so I've now got a small clump out of the way in a flowerbed. They're very big and impressive plants; I'm basically growing them as ornamentals, but I may put one in the site show at some point.
Quote from: Weed-Digga on March 29, 2008, 23:43:27
Are Cardoons perennial? I know you eat the stems after blanching them, do they re-grow from the stumps left?
I have plenty of seeds if you would like some.
Weed-Digga
Thank you for your kind offer Weed Digga, I have just googled them and they sound really lovely. I will decline though as my garden is not that big and they are quite invasive from what Ive read. ;)