Herbaceous as long living plants. Herbaceous plants can live longer if the Gardner does not neglect them

The life of an herbaceous plant is entirely dependent on:

  • The conditions in which the plant is subjected to

  • The health of the plant

  • The capacity of the plant for growing vigorously

  • The species of the individual plant

Herbaceous plants that are looked after well tend to live longer than those that are neglected. Some have reached 20 years while others have only survived for less than 5 years. Rejuvenation extends survival periods of the herbaceous plants. There are some species which are very short lived and others being long lived.

Short lifespan:

These only live for 4 years only. The flower heads should be left to ripen into seed heads which are self sowing. The seedlings of the short lived herbaceous plants look somewhat different from the parent plants. Columbine (Aquilegia) and flax (Linum) are perfect examples of short lived herbaceous plants.

Long-living plants

There can survive up to 60 years. They are slow-growing plants and take a very long time for them to flower. Examples include day lilies (Hemerocallis) and peony (Paeonia).

Position

Herbaceous plants have different needs when it comes to light, soil, temperature and humidity (air and soil). If an herbaceous plant is placed in the right position i.e. that which has the perfect above factors it will flourish and grow well.

Light

Sunlight is a vital part of a herbaceous plants. If you place a herbaceous plant that prefers shade in a position that has too much sunlight then the plant will surely die. Likewise a sunlight loving herbaceous plant will not flourish when it's placed in a shady position.

Temperature

Herbaceous plants are generally tolerant to normal temperature conditions. However temperatures that are too low will result in the death of the plant.

Soil consistency

The majority of the bedding herbaceous plants will flourish when propagated on normal garden soils.

Soil humidity

Herbaceous plants prefer soil that is relatively moist, has good drainage and perfect aeration.

Climate

Frost sensitive herbaceous plants need to be protected from the harsh low winter temperatures. Alpine and Mediterranean herbaceous plants can be classified as frost-sensitive. Examples include kniphofia, autumn anemone (Anemone) and Ceratostigma.

Warm loving herbaceous plants they flourish in positions that receive plenty of sunlight and protected from draught. Warm loving plants require soil that is not too moist. Examples of warm-loving herbaceous plants include the silver-grey-leaved herbaceous plants, Aster amellus, poppy (Papaver orientale) and scabious (Scabiosa)

Types of garden environment

Herbaceous plants generally thrive in various garden settings, depending on the requirements of the individual species and varieties. Common settings in a garden are beds, as a border to a shrubby or stand of trees, in a rockery or along the bank of a pond or stream.