Everyone loves flowers. But not everyone loves to garden. It takes a certain personality to love digging and weeding and transplanting. Most garden experts cannot fathom this, and as a result, give the beginning gardener all sorts of advice about different types of fertilizers and plants, when all the person really wants is some flowers outside to look at.

Easy Flowers
The “easiest” flowers to grow are on shrubs and bulbs. Some perennials are easy, and can be used with the other two. Drive around your area and take pictures of what you like. If they grow well in your area, then they should be easy.

Many flowering shrubs only bloom in the spring or summer. That’s fine: just make sure you have different types that bloom different times of the year. Some shrub roses bloom throughout the year. Be careful when selecting roses! “Hybrid Tea” roses are NOT easy and require lots of care. If you want roses, choose easy-care shrub roses like Knockout and Belinda’s Dream.

Bulbs are the easiest flowers, and quite satisfying for the beginning gardener. You dig a hole, drop them in, cover them up with dirt, and then they later appear like magic! There are types that bloom at different times of the year. Choose at least one type that blooms in the early spring, late spring, summer, and fall.

Perennial flowers are so-called because they return year after year. That means you only have to plant them once, and that is what makes them easy. Like roses, there are fussy ones and easy ones. Different flowers do well in different areas, so what is fussy in my area may be easy in yours. Taking a look at what does well in all the neighbors’ yards will help you determine which to plant. Also, ask for advice at a small nursery where the workers know about plants.

Buying the Flowers
If you intend to buy plants at a big box store or large nursery you must know your zone, whether the bed tends to be wet or dry, and if it is sunny or shady. If you go to a small nursery that has helpful employees, all you need to know is if the bed is sunny or shady. At large nurseries and big box stores, the workers tend to be less knowledgeable and less likely to be able to answer your questions. And national chains stock plants that do well nation-wide, but not necessarily where you live!

Bring the pictures you took of the flowering shrubs and perennials you liked. Even at a big box store, someone should be able to point you towards the plant. Realize that most plants are only available at certain times of the year. Flowering shrubs and perennials tend to be in the stores when they are in bloom, so you will need to buy your spring bloomers in the spring and your summer bloomers in the summer. Read the labels, and select ones that will not get too big for your flower bed. Also pay attention to wet/dry, sunny/shady, and zone (this tells you whether the plant can stand the coldest weather where you live.) Most flowering plants prefer sun, but if your flower bed has to be placed where it is mostly shady, there are many flowering shrubs that do well in shade.

Bulbs are not available when they bloom, because they need to be planted a couple months ahead. Spring blooming bulbs are available in the fall, fall bloomers in the spring, and summer bloomers in the spring or fall. The package should have a picture of the flower, and information: bloom time, shady or sunny, wet or dry, and zones. Select bulbs that will do well in your flower bed.

Planting the Flowers (more…)

As we were speeding by on the highway, we passed a section of “forest” that was behind iron fencing. My daughter remarked that that wasn’t very “friendly” of them to keep all those trees for themselves behind a fence. We then passed a subdivision entrance that was planted with sweeping lawn and trimmed shrubbery. This looks much more friendly. But is it really?

What is a “friendly” landscape? One that looks inviting, or one that actually is?

No one can actually use the expanse of lawn at the entrance to that upscale subdivision. If they did, I’m sure the police would ask them what they thought they were doing and how they got there. No sidewalks lead to it. Bound on one side by a freeway, on another by a major thoroughfare, and on the third by one of those decorative walls, it is completely inaccessible to pedestrians. Perfectly manicured lawn and exotic plants are of no use to wildlife. No butterflies pause there, no animals find shelter. And the chemicals used on that bit of “inviting landscape” no doubt kill birds and butterflies galore!

The fence bound “forest” can actually be used. It is home to many little wild critters and birds. And it can be accessed on the other side by people. No one needs to access it from the freeway: it isn’t as though there are any pedestrians there! So as unfriendly as it looks, it is in reality the real inviting landscape!

When we design a space, such as our own yard, we need to think about whether it is a “friendly” space. A front yard needs to look inviting, yes, but more importantly it needs to be inviting.

Personal Finance Advice has a great post on How To Reuse Items In Your Garden Rather Than Throwing Them Into The Trash.

As you all know by now, I’m a big fan of reuse and recycling in the garden, so I was rather excited about this!

The tip about putting crushed soda cans in the bottom of containers was particularly neat. I’m always looking for ways to fill up the bottom of pots so they aren’t as heavy. I tend to use styrofoam packing material (I try to avoid it, but sometimes I get a package with some.)

Also see Compost happens…and if it doesn’t consult an expert.