A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 gravesites

New to the site, but I'm looking for some help. I would like to clean up my great-grandparents graves and plant some nice flowers this spring, since my grandmother loved flowers, but I don't want to plant the wrong ones and have them die!

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what flowers grow well on grave sites, that are either in partial or full sun, in Northeast Ohio?

I really want nice color... my grandmother has done the graves in the past, and while I loved her, the flowers she had planted had been... well, ugly. I tried to help her pick out nicer flowers, but she always said if she was paying, it was her choice. Well, I'll be paying this year and doing it on my own, so now I need a little help... please?

My Mother planted a Yellow rose (for Texas) and a white rose on my dad and sister's grave. White and yellow roses were my dads favorite. This is in New Mexico desert. I have no idea what would grow good in Ohio. Welcome to the forum I am sure someone will come by have better idea then I do.
Jimmy

Hi, I'm really glad to have you here with us all!!!

I'm moving this post to the landscape trials and triumphs---I think that's probably the best place for your post, where you'll get the most answers.

Welcome to the forum!

hi there, i agree with jimmy, i think roses would be very pretty for that use, or maybe some small shrubs, but thats no good if you want color though, some small annuals would be nice,
good luck

Hello Granddaughter,
Welcome, we are very glad you found us...

And first, I wanna say, enjoy that Grandma I miss the heck out of mine, and wish she was here...We used to have so much fun together....

And second, got a quick question for you....
Do you know if you are allowed to plant in the dirt at the gravesite or just in pots/containers??

If you are allowed to plant I would suggest a variety of seasonal bulbs. You may not have an abundance of flowers at one time but would be guaranteed a series of colorful blooms.

I know we can actually plant flowers directly into the soil, so I don't have to worry about anything potted... and I love my grandmother dearly. We do have a lot of fun together, she just likes ugly flowers! hehe... I've told her that and she just laughs. She said if I can find flowers I like that will survive, she'll help me out. It's just picking flowers that will survive that's the problem. But thanks for all the feedback!

I am going to go a different route here and suggest Sedum. In our zone we have some pretty adverse weather conditions. Hot summers and no rain then comes our nasty winters. That is why flowers on the graves do not look good. We have trouble keeping roses alive with constant weekly care.

Sedum will survive without constant water many are evergreen and they flower.

.

You can add the bulbs as suggested. and have flowers coming up almost all summer.

Bulbs blooming times...
April - May - Tulips, Daffs, Hyacinths
June - Allium,
June - July - Asiatic lillies,
July - LA lilies
August - Oriental lilies

Sedum for year round color....
- Frosty Morn - white and green leaf - White flowers late summer
- Sedum tricolor - is a ground cover with pink and white/green leaves
-Dragon Blood - ground cover red leaves and it is evergreen it will look good even in the winter.

OR
Sempervivium - you could plant them in the shape of a heart and plant your flower bulbs above the heart. This is another evergreen plant that would be alive in the winter and never look bad.

I think roses would take too much care. I really like the idea of sedums with bulbs.

More bulbs- crocus, squill, glory in the snow, snowdrops, eranthis are all very early and can be placed in the lawn. They bloom and have enough time for foilage to age before getting mown down.

I have a suggestion.....how about Azaleas or Rhododenrons? They bloom at different times and you can keep them shaped up. After blooming, they stay green. Good Luck. You are a "special" Grandaughter!!!

i would try some type of wildflowers maybe.they can be very pretty and they come back every year.i planted a box in my front yard last year and they are starting to sprout now!

Sedum and bulbs sounds good to me also. I was going to suggest ground cover like creeping phlox it spreads and comes in several colors and comes back each year, bulbs could also be planted too. I have seen some of the prettiest tulips at cemeteries, I have also seen quite a few peonies in cemeteries.

Thank you to everyone. I am working on getting everything together. When I know exactly what I'm doing, I'll let everyone know. But thanks again, I couldn't have done it without you!

Why don't you ask the cemetery caretaker? Some cemetery mowers mow the flowers down unless they are surrounded by some kind of border. For example, my grandfather's favorite flower was moss rose. I sprinkled some seed on his grave. They were beautiful when they bloomed, but the cemetery mowed them down.

Ours up here, we're not even allowed to plant anything...
We are allowed pots/containers/urns..
but I want's sooooooo bad to make a rectangled shape rock garden on top of my dad's....
he llllllloooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeedddddd
rock gardens... and thought that would be very fitting for him...... but... it was a bigggg NO!

This has been an interesting thread. I too have been thinking what kind of flowers would be good for a gravesite. Both of my parents are gone and I would like to do something nice. I haven't checked with anyone as to what we are ALLOWED to do yet, but I am glad I ran across this!

It the same way here Weezie, In fact my husband and I have already had the discussion that if he cant find a grave yard that will allow flowers planted with me, he is to put me in the back yard! lol I want to be surrounded by flowers for all eternity. My family and flowers have brought me so much joy in life. I think its great you get to honor your family that way granddaughter. Glad your takeing the time to do so.....And how lucky you still have granny there to anoy ya with ugly flowers. Wish I did!