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Hi, as my kids all fly the coup our need for veg from the plot has lessened. Next year I'm planing a flowering perennial border, I've never really grown flowers apart from dahlias before. I have two questions and I would be greatful of any advice offered. Firstly are the prayed upon by slugs etc and once the flowering is over do you cut the back. 

Hi Marlborough,  I should think it depends on whether you already have a slug problem - also the aspect would also be important (slugs love moist shady places!!)
I find the odd handful of snails & slugs which I lob over the fence into the school field.
I don't have a snail munching problem in the garden & I have a  lovely border of perennials/ annuals which are mainly wildlife/ bee/butterfly friendly
I grow Malva, Thalictrum dipterocarpum, lobelia, dianthus, ox eye daisy, poppies, teasel, cornflower, clematis, canary creeper, various geranium & more besides ...

Debs 

You may find this article useful:

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Slug%20resistant%20plants/Slug%20Resistant%20Plants.htm

As I'm working my way round the garden clearing beds of invasive weeds - two years lost to double foot and neck surgeries so major invasions - I have had to use our longest veggie bed as a nursery for rescued plants while I deal with persistent bindweed, nettles and so on.    I deal with slugs by putting down wildlife friendly slug pellets.  I start on Valentine's Day as it's easy to remember and scatter a few lightly around susceptible plants in the veg plot and ornamental beds.  i repeat on a weekly basis thru spring but very sparingly and whenever I plant anything new and young and juicy.

The trick is to get the perishers as they hatch from eggs or emerge from hibernation and before they munch on my treasures.   This way I have whole lettuces, cabbages, potatoes, hostas, clematis and other gourmet slug plants.   Any slug or snail big enough to pick up gets lobbed in the road for passing traffic to squish.  Lobbing them over the fence into the fields just means they come back even hungrier as they have homing instincts.

Thanks everyone for some good and amusing advice

Mostly, it depends on what you plan to grow.   Some plants are slug and snail magnets - dahlias, hostas, day lilies etc - others are poisonous to them - foxglove, aconitum - or have tough or hairy foliage and stems which they don't like.

Perennials die down for winter and usually need to have their stems and spent foliage cleared away to reduce shelter for pests and make a good compost heap.  Others are left to provide winter interest or seeds for birds - frosted stems of phlomis russeliana, poppy seed heads, aquilegias, echinops etc - and some so the dead material protects the crowns of the plants from frost - verbena bonariensis, gunnera and so on.

Are you planning to grow for fun, cut flowers, biodiversity?   That will make a difference to your choices and growing methods too.

For fun mainly, I have a 12ft x 4ft bed earmarked for the border. My favourite flower colours are yellow and white, any ideas what I could fill it with?

It depends on what kind of soil you have, how exposed you are and what aspect the bed has but I would have thought the place to start was bulbs - snowdrops, crocuses, daffs, hyacinths and tulips.

If you want year round herbaceous colour you'll need to look at things like winter aconitum, hellebores, primulas, aquilegias, echinaceas, rudbeckias, geums, hardy geraniums, Japanese anemones, ligularias - all of which have white or yellow forms.   Try the RHS website.  The Plants section has a Plant Finder facility that lets you enter site details such as soil, aspect, drainage, exposure and then the colour, size and hardiness of plants that may suit.

Thanks Obbelix for the advice, sorry I had to rush off to work before I could give details of my soil. This is free draining and has had lots of humus dug in from previous veg growing. The border will be subject to a little crosswind but nothing to severe.