Suggestions for low cost perennials and edibles?

I rent a back to back with a tiny front garden. I can't do much landscaping wise, so my idea was to basically fill the bare borders. I'm a beginner at all this.

It wasn't in too bad a shape when I moved in, although the borders were pretty empty. But what with this summer, slugs and next door's children my plans to take up two sides of the borders with edibles grown from seed have all gone awry. Anything planted in the ground that's young pretty much gets eaten. So I'm thinking I need to put in slightly older plants to give them a chance.

The aim is cottagey packed borders with room for some edibles in too. I like herbs, I cook and I'm interested in plants that are difficult to buy, like sorrel or decent lettuce (still trying with the sorrel and endive seedlings).

Colour wise I'm trying to go for blue, white, silver, mauve. But i just put in rose campion which has lovely pops of bright pink so I'm happy to go a bit off plan.

The soil is that northern toward clay but decent.

I don't have a lot of money so I'm aware that I'll have to be patient for my desire to see a nice packed messy ish border. The lawn is pretty horrible, I'm trying to improve it but if it were my house there would be some landscaping going on. It's not very sunny but this has improved with neighbour's hedge being cut

Here is a pic looking left



And right



So far I have put in:

Set of herbaceous perennials, can't remember all but only a couple have survived. Campanula , maybe a delphinium, maybe another.
Sage (indestructible!)
Oregano
Chives
Thyme
Beetroot (obliterated)
Snakeshead fritillerie
Allium - massive, early, purple
Snowdrops
Sweet woodruff
Applemint
Mint (in container)
Parsley
Mangetout, climbing up my washing line pole
Rose campion
Mystery plant from my gardener aunt in Cornwall which looks a bit like fern but isn't
Seedlings not dared put in soil after first two sowings wiped out: endive, sorrel, dill, spring onion

Hydrangeas, a pretty pink flowering plant by the airvent and a fern were in when I arrived.

I would like to get:

A rose (from a cutting maybe?). A compact one, highly scented, maybe white.
Pinks, but not sure if they will grow in my soil?
Brunnera macrophylla
Jasminum officinale, but not sure if in container and growing up a trellis by my door is a good idea...

If anyone has any good plant suggestions to add, or could advise on roses/pinks/jasmine I'm all ears!

 

Almost, but not quite. If its the bog standard common sage, which I think is the toughest, then the only think you need to look out for is the dreaded grey mould that infects the leaves. Just make sure the sage gets good air circulation around it. The mould doesn't seem to kill it, but it doesn't have make it ugly.

I didn't see rosemary in your list, unless I missed it. That one really is indestructible, as long as the ground its in doesn't get waterlogged. That fits right in with your blue/mauve scheme too, as it flowers abundantly once established, with blue/mauve flowers, and of course if you like cooking, you wont need me to tell you how fantastic rosemary is as a culinary herb.

 

Perennial geraniums, come in a good range of colours, will grow in most soils and form a clump quite quickly, cheap to buy, in my garden slugs don't go for them.
Sounds as if you need to grow your seedlings inside if possible, try to get them to a bigger size before putting out as you say, this does work.

 

Thankyou all! Rosemary, how could I have missed it! Not sure how much I love geraniums but I'm going to look into it. And plough through that list...brilliant.

 

Ooo irises. I love irises too.

 

i was going to suggest Rosemary as well as it has pretty blue flowers in spring ,supposed to be the colour of "Virgin Marys`" cloak, For the atheists` among you

 

The only problem I'm having with growing it from seed is that the slugs will destroy anything young I put in the ground. Despite pellets and a regular slug round. Even anything I put in a pot. It really has to be quite mature to have a chance at the moment. So I'm now thinking to spend a little more to get plants which are established enough the slugs won't shear them off completely.

 

I think some of those might be in the perennials that have survived! Result. I still don't love them completely but the mature plants look pretty as part of a border.

 

Phlox, where have you been all my life and why didn't I know about you! Definitely getting some phlox. Seems like it will be able to handle my garden's challenges too.

 

Found 6 plugs of isotoma axillaris (blue star creeper?) for 50p. Labelled as white? But flowers clearly blue/lavender. Can't figure out whether will last a winter, but still, pretty little plants and for 50p even a couple of months is good mileage.

 

They may ,they are perennial but not fully hardy, if you can plant where they get some protection ,sheltered from the winds you may get them through.

 

This seems a good place to keep track of what's gone in the garden. Well with the isotoma I should have worried more about the slugs than the weather...5 out of 6 gone. :( I hate them so.

I picked up a mystery 50p plant from morrisons, labelled first 'hardy perennial' then 'osteospermum'. Must be a hybrid. It seems to be settling in well, no flowers, time will tell. Also a dianthus 'cranmere pool'. Love love dianthus, was worried my garden wasn't right for it but it's going really well. And the slugs haven't touched it.

found a little stall at the market selling incredibly cheap low cost plants that are in good shape. Picked up this a few weeks ago - a campanula of some type?



And a lovely caryopteris 'heavenly blue' for £2 which I think might be my favourite purchase along with the dianthus.

My mum also has a whole box of little random plants for me, which I may need to put in the Id section as she can't remember what they are, apart from the yarrow.