A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2006 Tips for flower gardens

I was wondering if anyone has any tips for the kinds of plants/flowers I can plant so I have something flowering throughout the gardening season. I live in zone 5b (I think) and have limited space to plant, maybe 6sq'. I am new to outdoor gardening so please use layman's terms so I don't get overwhelmed.

Thank you!

Three season planting can definitely be overwhelming. Is your space shade or sun? And how is the water situation. Is the ground boggy or fast draining? There are a number of considerations when planting different things near one another. I learned that last year. One is how aggressive the plants are. The nastrium just about strangled the marigolds that started growing down the side of the pots I had them in because the canna wanted the entire pot for themselves lol. I had a lot of color but it was a mess lol. I didn't take into consideration what it might mean when it said that canna can divide 6 times in one year. And that's about exactly what mine did lol.

I'm trying to do that with my garden. I have a sunny drought type heavy clay area that I am trying to reclaim. I've choosen the miniature snapdragons for spring and fall blooms (more spring than fall) Decorative Onions and Gladiolus for summer and dusty miller for year around attractive foliage. I also have some chinese houses as fillers for that area. This will be the first year with all the plants in place so I don't know how it will work yet.

Good luck with your planting.

The area I will be planting in gets a lot of morning and early afternoon sunlight. The drainage isn't too quick but it's definitely not boggy, unless it rains A LOT. I also meant to ask can I use the cheapo wal-mart potting soil that $0.97 for about 5-10lbs or should I use topsoil? If I should use topsoil could anyone recommend a good but fairly cheap one? Also I want to do a lot from seeds, so when should I start them and when are they ready to go into the ground?

Today i got lots of seeds. I tried to get a lot of perennials, but did get some annuals, thinking that if I don't care for the layout I make this year I won't have to dig up or kill a lot of my plants. I got Shasta Daisy, Canterbury Bells, Carnations, a Hummingbird Wild flower mix for perennials. Annuals I got Morning Glories, Sunflowers, and Snapgragons. I looked at miniature rose bushes, but didn't see any I liked, ran out of money and figured I have plenty of time before I can actually plant anything. I am so anxious but won't be able to start indoor seeding for another 6-8 weeks and outdoor planting won't be for another 3.5-4 months.

Becky,
Now others may disagree with me and that's okay because I'm a lot more into vegetable gardening than flowers but I do keep my yard tidy and colourful. I like to start my flower seeds before I start my vegetables. Now I don't know this for sure but from learning experience it always worked better for me this way. I started my flowers mid Feb. last year and they did wonderfully in the house under the appropriate care. By time I got them in the garden late May, they were all blooming within a couple weeks. I grew Sunflowers that were already 3 feet tall before I put them in the ground..they bloomed much earlier than any others I saw all summer. Same thing with the daisies and my cosmos. I had colour before my neighbours!! Not that it's a contest, but it made me feel good because like I mentioned...I'm much more into the vegetable gardening. Good Luck!

Christina

Ok it sounds like your space would qualify as sunny and maybe alittle on the clay side as far as soil goes. You may want to add some sand to the soil to help with drainage. It will also help keep the soil loose so it doesn't smother some of the seedlings.

I believe Cantabury Bells have to be pre-chilled or planted in the fall and they require light to germinate.

Carnations require two years to bloom so all you will get the first year is foliage.

Morning Glories you will need to nick and then soak before starting to improve germination They can also strangle other plants that they are around so you have to keep an eye on them.

Snapdragons you can start indoors now without a problem. That is if you can start hardening them off in Mid April.

Let me give you the table that I am building to make my choices for location and types of plants

Column Headings are as follows:

Bloom time flower Color Height

Now keeping in mind since your area is small that all of the flowers you choose have to be zone 5, sunny, regular water, and at least average soil you have a good chance of picking the right flowers. You want to choose flowers that will keep the garden pretty all year. Snapdragons are early spring to late spring and early to late fall and they can range in size depending on if you got the standards or the miniature.

You might want to try some Hollyhocks. They should work well interspersed with the snapdragons and bloom in summer. The first year they produce foliage only but the snapdragons will make up for that.

Larkspur (pink, blue, purple, violet, rose and white) blooms spring, summer and fall and should be started inside soon since it takes about 12 weeks inside to get them large enough to be transplanted outside.

Lunaria (Purple or White) Blooms in late spring but the seed pods that come out in the late fall and stay through the winter add interest at a time when pretty much everything else is gone so it's a good plant to have. It can spread so you have to keep an eye on it. But with the small space you have I don't think that will be a problem. The Chinese Lanterns will go really well mixed around the luminaria. They too can be agressive but for the winter interest they are well worth it in my opinion.

Cypress Vine (Red, Pink, White) again aggressive but really pretty climb about 5 feet in one year and bloom during the summer. They have a fuller foliage then the morning glories which is what attracts me to them.

Cleome (pink, purple & white) also are summer bloomers and get around the 3 to 4 foot range in height.

I would definitely look into the ornamental kale for your fall planting as it just gets prettier and prettyier as the days get colder until a cold snap finally kills them.


These are just a few ideas. I've been working on mapping out my area and have run into these for that area of my garden that fits your description. But I am zone 7a so you would have to check these to see if they would handle your cooler weather.

Christina,
I just wanted to ask a couple questions about this post. Did you start your seeds in those little peet pots and then have to plant those in bigger pots the bigger the plants/flowers got? Also, did the fact that they bloomed earlier mean that they stopped blooming sooner in the season or did they continue to bloom as long as your neighbors flowers?

I didn't use the peet pots..I don't like those..I find they dry up too fast. I used starter soil and the trays. I potted them up as the flowers grew. The sunflowers bloomed all summer. They will continute to grow and bloom throughout the season. The shasta daisies and cosmos do the same thing. They will bloom all summer....in my experience anyway.

Here is a pic of what I am talking about..again, I can't stress enough that I'm a lot more into veggie gardens but like I said, I do enjoy the colour of flowers and try to make my yard somewhat neat. This pic was takin' in June and look at the size of the sunflower already! The blooms will eventually die off but at the same time, new blooms are developing, hence, blooms all summer long!



Here's another one of my mom and I taken before the first one..I don't like postin' pics of myself but you can see the height of another sunflower and the cosmos right behind it. The cosmos had just started to bloom and then they didnt stop all summer.



BTW..please ignore my brown grass...we had an extremely dry summer and I can't afford to water every evening.

Christina

I wouldn't have even noticed if you hadn't said anything.
From the pics it looks like you're pretty good with flowers. They are beautiful! I'm just a beginner, this is my very first attempt at outdoor gardening so I am looking for any suggestions I get. I plan to try some here and there and see what works best for me and where I live, then next spring I'll know a little more about what works and what doesn't.
The only problem I may have is with sunflowers. I love then and plan to have my kitchen motif in sunflowers. The problem is that I get a lot of morning to early afternoon sun in front then late afternoon to evening sun in back. So I will need more advice and suggestions in that aspect.

I'm new to flowers as well. We just bought this house last April and there was NOTHING planted. I had little time to throw something together. Here is the pic from last April.



About the sunflowers...they turn with the sun as the days go on..I think they'll be okay.

I can't stand those peat pots.... :p Like you said Christina they dry out SO fast! More of a pain in the rear than anything....

Cosmos are my absolute favorite flower....I love their simplicity, the foliage, and the colors!

I know what you mean!! I plan to have my kitchen in daisies one of these days. Money is an usual...as usual! But I do collect many daisy things..I just love them. I have towels, sheets, soaps, cups, pens, notepads, underwear , etc, etc, etc...all with daisies. I even have a daisy tatoo on my right arm. My dad nicknamed me DaisyMaeSunshine when I was born and it just stuck. I just love them!!

Sunflowers are my second fave. I'm addicted to white and yellow!!!

I meant to say money is an issue. I've been drinkin'...it's the weekend.

Thanks for the tips on the peet pots. Should I return them and get those plastic pots instead? I got the peet pots cause it said I could plant the whole thing w/o disturbing the roots. Like I said I'm brand spankin new at this.

If you can return them...I would. I gotta laugh at myself that I'm giving advise on growing flowers because, like you, I'm new with flowers. But after reading many posts, I've heard that the peat moss doesn't always decompose...the trays seems so much easier!!!

At least you have some gardening experience. The last thing I planted outside was a rosebush 15 years ago. I don't know if it ever grew up. Before that my brother and I planted a vegetable garden when we about 9 and 8 respectively. I don't even remember if anything ever grew. I do remember we did have some pumpkin vines, can't remember if there were any pumpkins though.

This post is especially for Christina!

I did get some seeds planted. I planted Sunflowers, Shasta Daisies, Lavender, Canterbury bells (I don't know if anything will come of those cause one of the kitties dumped the tray) and Snapdragons. I still have Morning Glories and Carnations to sow. I also have a Hummingbird Mix, but I'm going to wait til after the last frost and just scatter them outside. Does anyone know af any specific flowers that will attract hummingbirds and that could be grown in a container?
Christina, I'll let you know how the seeds turn out.
I'm thinking of planting some carrots for little man Jack.
My aunt said that I could grow a carrot fern by cutting the tob off a carrot and planting that. Anyone ever hear of doing that? I think I will try it though and let you all know how it turns out.

Aloe are pollinated by hummingbirds but they only bloom for a little while so probably not the best bet. I'll bet you well get a lot of information on that in the bird section if you post up there. The hummingbird vine might be something to look into and you would definitely want to keep it in a container because it can be aggressive from what I've heard. When I had foxglove growing the hummingbirds would go to it but it is a biennial so again maybe not a great choice. Although I would definitely throw some of the seeds around with your hummingbird mix when you do that.

I will definitely be interested to hear about the carrot fern. That sounds interesting. I have some of the Queen Anne's Lace that is a forerunner of the modern carrot. I haven't planted it yet but I will later on in the spring.

Actually, if I keep the flowers in a container it really wouldn't matter to me if they were annuals, biennials, or perennials. Thanks for the tip and I will definitely post in the birds section.

I am planning to try the carrot fern soon and will post what happens.

How long ago did you plant the seeds Becky? Any signs of sprouts yet? In my opinion, sunflower sprouts are the coolest...already seem so big and strong as soon they peep out of the soil...you'll see.

As I mentioned several times previously, I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to flowers so I can't help you with the hummingbird flowers or the carrot fern. I'm uselss. Good luck..keep us updated!

Christina

We all have grass like that at certain times . . . it's depressing to look at it, I know.

I'm always tempted to cover it up with stones, but it's best to stick it out and let it green up as you rake it often, which titillates it and pray for a lotta' rain.

I just planted some of my seeds on Saturday and I already have sunflower sprouts!

hi everyone,

i planted some sun flower seed the other day and they were the first up and look great, its amazing that after 2 days i had sprouts, now if only i can remember what kind i planted
penny

Those grow fast - I'll have to get mine into the ground at the beginning of April, methinks. Or into a big pot.

I'm looking forward to them.

Carly,
I'm going to have to upsize the pots for my sunflower sprouts soon!
They do grow so quick!

I have more exciting news: my Shasta Daisies and Snapdragons are sprouting now too!


Does anyone know how long it may take for Canterbury Bells and Lavender to sprout?
My CBs might not do anything, that was the tray one of my cats dumped.