Do you plant all out color or do a color scheme?

[annielinz]

Reading one of the other posts I became curious.

Do you plant all over color, do you stick with warm or cool shades or plant in a theme like all white?

Why I ask is, I was perusing thru some old mags last night and I came upon a picture of a dark painted house like mine and they did shades of white which just popped against the house. I loved the look.

For me I seem to stick with the warmer shades but have seen houses with pinks,purples, blues and lavenders and I just drool.

The problem is I just get overwhelmed when I'm at the nursery(my an@l side takes over) and I become psychotic trying to pick out flowers and plants.

Would love to hear your ideas or see inspiration pics of your gardens.

[Lisa S]

Honestly, I just pick what I love. I have a very hodge podge garden, but it's beautiful in it's own unplanned way.

After all these years, I'm re-thinking the whole perennial garden thing anyway. I'm leaning towards more shrubs and less flowers. The upkeep is just too huge. It takes me 3 hours a day just to water, deadhead, rake and weed. When my kids were small, I would happily spend the time outside while they napped. Now, I'd rather be at the pool!

[Gigi]

I am NOT the gardener except I know what I love~ is flowers or budding trees through the season.

[rubyslippers]

I think the choice about color scheme depends on a lot of factors. I recognize quite a few of the trees in my front yard. They will bloom in white (and possibly shades of pink) ... then, I am hoping for some surprises. Anyway, I believe that the more you learn about gardening the more you learn exactly when things bloom. So, you can let your garden / yard / flower area change with the seasons. I tend to be partial to purple/blue, pink, and white.

I have a very small yard. I actual may even have less "sunny-space" than that - - so, if you have a big yard, then I think you can plant anything you want because you have much more "area" to treat like different rooms. Also, you can always dig it up and start again. Don't stress yourself out at the nursery. It just isn't worth it. That part should be fun. If it isn't, then you might want to ask for help and/or do some on-line looking. I find it helpful to go to the nursery with one goal like just searching for hanging baskets or just searching for one shady spot. It is easier to shop for all the ingredients for one meal than it is to shop for a week or a month. When you garden, you are shopping for all seasons and it can get overwhelming. I'd love to know about your plans (and see pictures as well).

Good luck!

[Lynzee]

I tend to stay with whites, pinks, blues and purples, also. To me, those colors are very soothing.

[Zuzu's Garden]

Good morning, annielinz!

I agree with everyone else - grow what you love!

The all-white gardens are sometimes called Moon Gardens. Here is a little article that I bookmarked about them that you might enjoy reading: http://www.dominomag.com/howtos/gardens/2007/05/moongarden

My Tiny House garden is just getting started. It has a mix of native strawberries, wild flowers, and grasses that grow on the property that I've brought up to enjoy near the house. The colors are a range of whites, yellows, blues, purples, pinks, and silver-leafed plants, that bloom between May and September.

:)
Zuzu

[shabbychick]

The new issue of Martha Stewart Living is all about gardening. I hit the jackpot because she's got an article in there on growing tomatoes in containers, which is what I've done with only partial success the last couple of years. I finally have a good idea what kinds of tomatoes to look for for salads and for canning. This year I want to make the tomato butter that my dad used to make. I loved that stuff...it's a great savory spread to use instead of jelly, and I think if I use Splenda instead of sugar, it'll work fine on my South Beach Diet.

I'm more about scent than color, so in addition to the vegetables I hope to grow, I'm probably going to try to revive my lavender plant and maybe grow a container rose of some kind if I can find a low maintenance, highly scented variety that thrives on benign neglect. I'd like to try my hand at gerbera daisies, but I don't know the first thing about them. I tried doing one-color gardening at one time, but before I got out of the nursery, all those plants in other colors were calling my name, and I couldn't leave without them.

Does anyone know what kinds of berries one can grow successfully in pots (other than strawberries)? I'd love to have a raspberry or a marionberry bush if I could grow it successfully in a pot. I'm thinking about putting a small water feature of some kind out there, too, like a combination birdbath/fountain.

[annielinz]

Thank you for all your replies.

Shabby I'm the same way. I try to go with one color then the others start calling my name too and before you know it I've got a cornucopia of plants in my basket.:D I'm going to look for the MS mag. I really don't have room for a veg. garden but there is nothing like home grown tomatoes. I would love to give container veggie gardening a try.

Zuzu a few summers back I "tried" to do a moon garden in my small backyard patch. It really was beautiful altho small. I still have a few remnants left. I can't wait to read the article you linked.

This years planting may be hindered by talk of "drought" around here :(.
I'm doing the happy dance with the rain we've been getting this week. But in reality my dreams of a lush garden may be nipped in the bud-;)

Between the rain yesterday I looked out and saw my little daffy popping up, it was a gift DH gave me last Valentines day and I put it in the ground.I was so excited to see it, I told him its the gift that keeps on giving.
So heres a pic of my little gift and one from my moon garden a few years back in its infancy.

[rubyslippers]

A couple of years ago I planted bare-root raspberries in my container garden. They did pretty well. The great thing about container gardening involves the fact that you can put the "perfect" soil for each plant in the container.

The year I did this, I had container raspberries, tomatoes, and roses as well. My Joseph's Coat rose was beautiful in a container. I also have a mutablis (sp?) rose in a container. The larger the conatainer, the better for the roses. In theory, they should be in the ground within three years, but you will not be "abusing" them otherwise. My raspberries did not put forth quite as much fruit the second year as the first ... some kind of blight got them and I had to cut back everything. It was gross - - I think it ended up getting realy cold and then dry and then humid -- and well, we just had to start from scratch.

Also, I believe the tomato butter recipe alluded to here may need to be shared ... I'm drooling.

Bye,

Ruby

[Deb D]

There are heaps of books about garden design, and color is just one element. A riot of color is the traditional approach to cottage gardening--this is where you plant what you like and let it grow in a jumble. I have one spot in my yard where I do this--it's for all the things that I've found randomly growing in the yard, and plants I'm sentimental about that really don't fit anywhere else, such as the orange daylilies from my old house.

The rest of my yard is segregated into sections, which came about by how the house relates to the property boundaries. I have a structured front bed, where I favor pinks, creams, purply-blues, and yellow. I keep tweaking it so that the colors flow together as the season progresses. In the vegetable garden I also grow annuals for cutting, like zinnias, sweet peas and dahlias. I have two little beds separated by a path where I am nursing along native plants. The shady side is for woodsy plants, and the sunny side is for desert plants--we are in a transition zone here so both kinds will grow. These are yellow and blue and white, with lots of green.

I grow what I like, but also what will grow. A garden is a work in progress, which is one of the charms of gardening. You can always fiddle with it and change it and learn.

Besides color, I like to play with contrasting textures. Here are poppies planted with nepeta and blue oat grass.

[Deb D]

PS--Forgot to mention that some kinds of blueberries do well in containers. See http://www.raintreenursery.com

I am going to try this myself this year. I'm looking at 'North Sky' and 'Top Hat'.

I just bought The Backyard Berry Book by Stella Otto. It's the most comprehensive book about berries that I have seen. Also, Raintree Nursery has a lot of information about growing various fruits.

Raspberries and strawberries are both short-lived. Plan on replacing the plants every two or three years. This is really easy because the are both self-propagating. Strawberries send out runners which you can root, and raspberries creep on rhizomes. They also like plenty of water and mulch.

[rubyslippers]

If it hasn't been mentioned about a dozen times ... WOW ... I missed you. Now I can fix my raspberry problem this year. Okay, I'm dying to ask, what is nepata? Plus, I love your comments about cottage crazy gardening paired with structure. This makes me happy.

I also have some questions. There is a very obvious group of irises rhizoming away in my yard. I despise their location. I may let them come on up and make sure I'm not jumping to conclusions; however, when is the best time to move them? Can I do it now? Next fall?

Inquiring minds want to know ...

Chyna ... didn't we have a big iris discussion last year about when to cut them back? I need a butterfly net to catch these thoughts as they flit through my mind ...

[shabbychick]

Thanks, Deb, for the info on raspberries and strawberries. I see that you and I live in the same state. Which side of the mountains are you on?

Do you know of any berries that grow well in the shade? My backyard (well, tiny courtyard, really) gets very little sun except for a few hours in the afternoon during the summer. It seems to me like there must be some native berries that grew deep in the forests that could tolerate shade, but I'm not sure. I know you can't kill blackberries here, but I'm not sure I want to get something started, even in a pot, that is that invasive. And that prickly!

[Deb D]

Hi shabbychick...I live in a little town off I-90, east of Snoqualmie Pass. I work for the Forest Service.

Berries really like the sun. The natives that can tolerate some shade are huckleberries and the wild trailing blackberry. If you put them in shade, the productivity goes way down. Check out Raintree Nursery for some of the native huckleberries. They need acid soil and can be tricky to grow--I haven't attempted it.

I planted trailing blackberries a couple years ago, and they are crawling all over the place. I don't have enough space to trellis them so need to find some way to get them off the ground. I'm thinking about putting in an old stump for them, just like in the woods. They are so delicious!

Ruby, Nepeta is catmint, and there are numerous varieties. It has a loose shrubby habit, from 12"-36" tall. It likes sun and is drought-tolerant. The foliage is gray-green, and the plant is smothered with blue-purplish flowers all summer. I shear mine back in August for another round of flowering. In the picture I posted, it's the plant blooming behind the poppies. Bees love it, as do cats. Henry is fond of snacking on a leaf, but it grows so well that he can't decimate it. Nepeta reseeds itself. I dig up a few seedlings to move around, but pull up the rest. Avoid siberian catmint at all costs--it spreads aggressively.

Bearded iris do require some maintenance. They need to be divided every few years, or they turn into the gnarly clumps. They are extremely hardy--I dug some up and kept them in a tub of dirt for two years before I figured out where to put them. The two years included summer neglect and occasional watering as well as snow and hard freezing in the winter. If you have too many, they can go in the compost or find new homes with your gardening friends. You can move them in the spring before the leaves get too big. Dig 'em up and separate the rhizomes. Pull off the old dried-up parts, until you have a root with a single eye. This is where the leaves will come out. There should also be some trailing roots. To plant, you want to lay the rhizome on top of the soil, and cover the roots. If you bury irises too deeply, they will rot. So you want that knobby ridged part sticking partly out of the dirt. Leave at least 6-8" between plants, because they will expand. Water, and that's all there is to it. You might need to stake the flowers so they don't flop. I pick off the dead flowers, and after they are done blooming, I cut off the flower stalk. The leaves grow all summer, but towards fall they will start to die back. I shear them off in an inverted V-shape. My gramma did this--I don't know why. Maybe just to tidy up.

All your questions got me going. I can't WAIT for the snow to melt and the dirt to appear!

[rubyslippers]

I can now add catnip to my new container of white clover, dandelion, and the little purple things (asters?) - - anyway, thanks for the iris advice! If I had any time, they could probably be moved now. With that said, I don't think I can do it in the next couple of weeks with work obligations. I appreciate the advice though - - plus, the trailing blackberry sounds fabulous. I'm going to check out those options. This will be a fun year!

[chyna]

I'm sure that there is a professional answer to the question of when you can move iris' but me myself I dig them up whenever and move them. Hasn't seemed to have killed them off yet. :o

You're right we did go thru the cutting back topic and I think I was in trouble because I wanted to take a weed eater to them instaed of cutting that fan shape. :p

[shabbychick]

Thanks for the information on the huckleberries and trailing blackberries, Deb. I don't know if I've ever eaten a huckleberry. I'll check out that nursery.

My niece lives up on the top of Snoqualmie Pass and also works for the forest service. She spends a considerable amount of time hiking the trails, doing trail maintenance work, and camping out. She had a little house built right up by the ski area so has easy access to all the winter sports she could ever want. She's become quite the pioneer, canning vegetables, making bread in her bread machine, stocking up her larder for the winter months when she's snowed in. Luckily she lives right across the street from where they park the snowplow for the ski area, so they always plow her road. She's very happy with her lifestyle, and I'm so pleased that she has found something so fulfilling to do with her life.

[Deb D]

Shabbychick, I might know your niece. I'm working at the Pass on Saturdays and Sundays at the FS visitors center. Sounds like we'd have a lot to talk about--similar lifestyles. You MUST try huckleberries! They are the Food o' the Gods!

Tanya, I remember the weedeater approach to irises. Did you ever try it?

Looking in my seed propagator this morning, I have determined that it's time to move the onion seedlings into bigger pots. And the sun is out, so I am thinking about pruning my fruit trees.

[chyna]

Deb

Didn't get a chance to try the weed wacker. Ran out of line and my dh hasn't replaced the line yet. I'm thinking of getting those blade replacements instead. The bump and go thing frustrates me to no end. Which is why I have too trimmers, I over bumped one and snapped the head off it. :o

[Evelyn]

Hmmm....I guess I mainly use green...:) I think I will work on mixing that up a bit this year!!!

[Lisa S]

Is that a wind surf board in the background?

[chyna]

Depends on which side of the house you are talking about. One the front or public side I mainly stick with pinks and other colors that harmonize with the pinks. Dark pink, some lavender, creams that sort of thing. Restful and serene colors but you hit the back yard and all color hell breaks loose. :eek: That is the fun part, the brighter the better. If funky it goes back there, lime green, speckled. I have a little girl and I feel that every yard should have something fun for the kids. (and I'm not talking about that big pool that has taken over where I would like grass, I'm declaring a truce on that one until she is older). My rose garden is between the public side and the carnival side. :) The fairies live there. :p

[annielinz]

Chyna, I would love to see pics of your garden, both the quiet serene one and the wild and funky.

My big kid (DH) insists on keeping this above ground pool that we have in our back yard. I would love to yank that baby out and in the area put raised beds for flowers and vegetables... sigh, a gal can dream.

Evelyn, the green looks good.

[chyna]

Our backyard was destroyed by the previous owners demon seed children so there wasn't really much grass to speak of and then the pool over the years have pretty much taken the few blades that ventured up. I tried to switch sides of the backyard from year to year just to keep the "grass" but have just decided that the side it is on right now is going to be the permanent location until she outgrows this pool. And since it will be there year after year I'm proposing laying some sand down and leveling it, and hopefully getting some grass to grow around the parameter would be nice. And the other side of the yard I'm giving up on grass seed and going to see if I can buy a pallet of sod. I'm so over the patches from the front yard and mowing weeds. :rolleyes:

[Evelyn]

Lisa, It is a surf kayak. When it is warmish and I am in the mood for the ultimate thrill, I take it out to Westport (Washington coast). I am not really any good at it and spend most of my time in the water since I get thrown out of the boat freqently :p.....And the big waves scare me....

Do you kayak or wind surf?????

Evelyn

[Lisa S]

Not yet! I have a friend who is an avid wind surfer and owns a place in Hood River (a wonderful place for wind surfing). She's going to try to teach me this summer.