Best Garden Resource

If You Like Flowers

If you like flowers, then let’s talk about different kinds of flower beds. There is the shady garden bed, either under shade trees or on the north or east side of your house. There is the sunny flower bed, usually having a southern or western exposure. You can find plants or flowers that do well in both, but always read the labels to determine the best planting area, so your flowers will bloom and flourish.
In the shady garden, you can plant ferns, impatiens, begonias, hostas, pansies, and many more. Some do well in summer and others can be planted in the fall/winter months. I usually plant impatiens and begonias in the spring and pansies and iceland poppies in the fall. they are complimentary to the ferns, that are the staple in my shade garden. In the winter, my ferns usually get frost bitten, sometimes even when they’re under cover. I wait until all danger of frost is over, and then I cut back all the damaged fronds. Usually the time is right if underneath you see lots of new green growth coming out. Of course, if there was a deep freeze, there’s always the chance that the fern didn’t make it. Hasn’t happened too often for me, but I live in California and we don’t get the low temperatures of the East.
The sunny garden is a good place for perennials (come back every year) and there are many different kinds. You can mix in some annuals (one season)for extra color. I have deer in my yard, so I’m limited, as they eat many of the flowers I love. If you don’t have that problem, you can go wild with color and mixtures of plants. Just remember to note the height that the plant will be and keep taller ones toward the background and shorter in the front. Groupings also look better than straight lines.
Some people like to stay with a certain color scheme, which is great. You just have to research your plants to find the right ones. There are books that deal with certain flowers for color schemes. The all white garden is very cool, and the yellow, red and orange are hot. Some examples are: calendula, marigolds, daylilies, and many varieties of chrysanthemum. However, some people like a blue garden, which is a little harder to find. Salvia , some lantanas, delphiniums, plumbago, buddleia are some. There’s a post in the right colmn that describes in detail, a blue garden. 

Don’t forget to under plant with some bulbs and tubers. When they come up in the spring, it’s a welcome sight after a long winter. Daffodils, tulips, narcissus, are the most common. Iris are also very beautiful. They bloom a little later. Also, gladiolus, and dahlias. Dahlias come in miniature all the way up to huge dinner plate dahlias that win prizes at the county fair. I’ve always had dahlias in my garden. They bloom in the summer and into the fall. I love the big ones, although they need to be staked and tied often to prevent them from falling over. If you check out some of my nursery links, you will see all the different varieties. The good thing about these sites is, they show plants full grown and blooming, whereas the home improvement stores don’t always have what you want, or the plants aren’t blooming yet.