Helful hints for us want to be gardeners

[mac78]

I love planting flowers and all, just not good at it.

Do any of you experts have any suggestions for us that are want to be's.

I saw in one post Black eyed susans were easy to grow. Any other suggestions in getting started? Easy things to grow, etc. Thanks.

[shabbychick]

Sweet peas are pretty much no-fail plants for me. And I have a dianthus that comes back every single year no matter how badly I treat it.

[yarborough house]

Coneflowers- they also reseed themselves and come back so you don't have much to do at all.

Lantana - large shrub like with flowers..drought tolerant so if you forget to water does well. The one called Ham and Eggs sometimes comes back up north..

Gomphrena- comes in pink, white and purple and very easy.

Impatients in the shade are so easy..

[yarborough house]

oh and another couple that are very easy to do in pots that get big and look awesome are
Sweet Potato plant..it comes in a dark purpley/black and bright green. Wonderful in a pot as it cascades down the side and gets huge..It also looks good in a bed.

and bacopa- is a wonderful trailing plant with white flowers for pots.

Geraniums are easy too- just cut off dead heads and it keeps blooming all summer long.

[vintage girl]

Hubs is the gardener in our family. He loves the sweet potatoe plant that Tammy mentioned, and we have a very large rose garden (over 30 plants). I would assume the roses are easy to grow because I also help take care of them, and even with my black thumb, I have not killed any yet:rolleyes:

[Heather]

Marie, I just go visit the nursery (by myself - no little "helpers") and see what they've got and what's on sale. I find that the packages of seeds show their very best photos and you might not get the same look as in those pictures, know what I mean?

[Carrie]

Do you live in a sunny area or shady? Hot or cool?
I live in a hot sunny area so I have to find plants that are heat and drought tollerant. Roses will grow almost anywhere. They do love sun, but partial shade and sun will work. Blackeyed susans and coneflowers love sun and sunflowers do too. Lavendar loves sun. Zinnias and carnations love sun, and you can rig a garden up to grow wildflowers. Wildflower gardens require little weeding because they choke out most of the weeds and it's hard to tell what a wildflower and a weed are in this type of garden. They are wild. I have moss rose in one garden and dianthus, they grow like weeds, but are pretty groundcover. Mums are hearty and will come back year after year, blooming in fall, looking like greenery in the meantime.
Gardens don't have to be in ground either. Find some pretty containers, flower pots, repurposed buckets and watering cans, whatever will hold soil allow drainage and not fall apart eventually. Plants herbs, pansies if you have some shade, flowers, tomatoes and if you have a really big deep pot, potatoes. It looks like a pretty green plant and you get good eats in the end. I have kale in my front pots, mixed with sage and mint, and it looks nice, even though the kale isn't cabage shaped anymore. You can mix decorative but edible plants with herbs and get pretty arrangements. Hang up hanging baskets around your porch or deck. The create a garden atmosphere and don't take much to grow.

[shabbychick]

I second you, Carrie, on the container garden idea. Almost all my plants are grown in containers. They're a lot easier to take care of, don't grow weeds, and if something doesn't work it's easy to dig it out and replace it. The soil around my place is rocky no more than a couple of inches below the dirt, so containers are a perfect option. Plus I can move them around to take advantage of the shifting light.