Spring Gardening...

Sunkist, I used to have a friend who loved succulents, he had something like 20 of them! I'm not really a non-flowering plant kinda gal... I feel like all this hard work needs to produce something colorful I guess...hehee! But I do know about having to deal with whatever your environment deals you...it will be so much fun when you have more room or a garden of your own in the future with flowers. It's so easy to get hooked on certain plants too. I'm a bulb and rose whore with companion plantings for under the roses...I don't like to see an inch of bare soil! It can be messy.

Here's a link to the fall garden thread which has some pictures of my roses from September of last year (2005)....

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"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein

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Piece of cake and a candle.
**ng gift**

Here are catalog images of three of the new roses I got this year....they may look a little different in my own garden.

Top is Louise Clements; then Star of the Nile; then Special Occasion.

Golden Celebration looks basically like LC in shape, but is a really buttery bright golden yellow...it's just got great color and exceptional scent.

All of these are very or exceptionally fragrant. Can't wait!

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"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein

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A deal is only a deal if you are getting exactly what you want.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." Henry David Thoreau

Monarch, why are roses out of the question?? You know that roses are sun plants and prefer hours of sunlight per day? There are also alot of perennials that love full sun as well as annuals...you can do a mix and match.

Our patio gets hot beating sun most of the day (from about 12 to 7pm in the summer months!) and I can grow roses, perennials and annuals in containers with no issues, I just have to keep up the watering...sometimes I water twice a day. But you can put in a drip system, it's not expensive (just tubing and little watering valves basically!) and you can drip water your plants for something like 4 hours very slowly and it's a more consistent watering than doing a mass watering 2ce a day...I had one in my old old place and the roses loved it.

Anyway the bottom line is that many sun-loving plants (like roses!) will do just fine in beating hot sun as long as they have a strong root system and plenty of water to drink.

Part of why it would be hard for me to leave a warm climate like where we are and move to the EC or something is the horribly short growing season, how depressing to start planting stuff in April or May!?!?!! and then put it all to bed in what? October? I think I would die of depression!

Oh and I wanted to add, one of my favorite sites online for perennials is www.bluestoneperennials.com ... I have used them for many years and they offer many unusual things you can't find elsewhere (aka they don't just sell stuff you can get at Home Depot!) ... and they may even have something like a full sun perennial garden collection you can buy to see how it goes! But I would definitely suggest doing something like a mix of annuals and perennials for the most bloom, perennials are great because they come back year after year but annuals give you the massive constant bloom explosion and then basically bloom themselves to death.

Edited to add yet again, they have a starter garden with full sun to mostly sunny and it comes with the 'layout' if you want to use it and make it a no-brainer planting kind of thing:

http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/STARTER.html

and here is the types of plants you get as well as the # of them:
The layout includes:
1 Achillea Coronation Gold
3 Arabis Alpina Snowcap
3 Armeria Laucheana
3 Aster Alma Potschke
3 Campanula Glomerata Superba
3 Shasta Daisy Alaska
3 Coreopsis Early Sunrise
3 Dianthus Agatha
1 Filipendula Hex. florepleno
3 Nepeta Walker's Low
3 Echinacea Magnus
3 Heuchera Bressingham
3 Lamium White Nancy
1 Liatris Kobold
3 Veronica Sunny Border Blue
1 Achillea Angel's Breath
3 Rudbeckia Goldsturm
3 Salvia East Friesland
1 Veronica Goodness Grows
1 Sedum Autumn Joy
3 Veronica Crater Lake Blue

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"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." Henry David Thoreau

Girl... roses are actually quite HARDY...sure maybe not so much in the cold midwest winters but there are ways to help them out during that time too...

I mentioned that I bought some roses that were own-root, they actually have the best chance of thriving in the cold midwest and east coast winters because their roots their own, rather than than them being budded onto rootstock that then grows in the ground BUT if the top of the rose dies back in winter, then all you have left are the rootstock roots under the ground, icky stuff rootstock, kind of like a very non-ideal diamond!! But with own root roses, you have the act root of the rose you want to grow (not roostock) under the earth so even if the top dies back, you may still be okay with the roots.

It's funny because I think people tend to think roses are delicate or need alot of care. Surely some of them do, but others can pretty much grow on their own! I mentioned previously that there are some very old roses that have been found in cemetaries that are hundreds of years old with NO MAINTENANCE or anything and these roses have grown and thrived there year after year with no one to take care of them. Just because you had two sickly ones a few years ago doesn't mean that you can't grow good roses now.

I grow my roses in containers, but when you say shallow, what size are you speaking of? I'd prefer to grow them in large containers, alot of people like those 1/2 whiskey barrels they sell at your local hardware store? Great size for a full grown rose. I actually use those fiberglass containers that are etched to look like old fashioned vintage containers...if that makes any sense, they are like $30 at Orchard and they fit a full size rose just fine for up to about 5 years probably.

I think personally that nothing is lovelier than a perennial and annual garden growing up and around and in between some beautiful fragrant roses. I love doing companions for my own roses even in pots (die-hard rose growers say that's a no no as the other plants STEAL the nutrients and space that the rose roots would love to inhabit...but somehow I manage to make it work...compromise!)...nothing like a beautiful soft pink rose with blue forget-me-nots growing up through the blooms! My faves are apricots and pinks for the roses and then pinks, purples (tons of purples!!) and whites for the companion plants...I even throw some bulbs in there sometimes to get some additional bursts of color when I least expect it (I typically forget I planted bulbs a few months ago..hee hee).

Anyway, I could ramble on for days about this! But you know what, really you don't know til you try it. But I bet you could grow more than you'd expect with the right soil (you may have to mix in some fertilizers, manure, and compost into your own soil), enough water and enough light/sun etc. You can even use taller plants to 'shade' smaller plants that maybe are not AS sun hardy. There's lots of tricks.

I also have a bunch of gardening books, some on perennials if you want any recommendations I can dig them out and see what I can find. But I love Bluestone, you can always go to your local hardware store and then supplement with some additional plants from online. Oh and Bluestone sells plants in groups of 3...before you get excited the plants are tiny...like when you get pansies at the hardware store, those 6 packs? These are like that but in a 3 pack basically. The first time I ordered here I was thinking I was getting some big 3 plants and they were tiny...but they do grow very fast!!

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"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein

"I don't feel enjoyment watching films that evoke passivity. If you need that kind of comfort, I don't understand why you wouldn't go to a spa." Chan-wook Park

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"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." Henry David Thoreau

MZ that is just a stunning iris!! I have never been a huge bearded iris fan but I know that people get addicted to them just like I am addicted to my roses...gardening can be as much of a sickness as diamond loving!

Monarch, yay!! I would try something that is very disease resistant and tolerant of cold winters. There are so many different styles and shapes...

I bought my own-root roses this year from www.heirloomroses.com and they are guaranteed virus free which means that they will be stronger, healthier plants regardless. It's easy to get seduced by pictures but for a beginner I would just say pay attention to zone hardiness to find out how the plant will do in your area, and also disease resistance...you do not want to be dealing with blackspot and mildew your first year!

If you plant in a container, it actually is quite easy to get going, you need a large ~20" container, the rose, and good potting soil (aka make sure it's one with fertilizers already mixed in...aka manure, compost materials etc). Sometimes people put other things in the container/hole as well but most of the time I just start pure with good soil and then see what the rose needs as it grows. Just put it all together and water very well and keep out of direct sunlight for a few days. If you get a budded rose (not own root), make sure to plant the bud (the big knobby joint thing where the rootstock joins the cultivar you bought) UNDER the soil. This will help with overwintering, but also the perk of a container rose is that you can bring it into your garage on the super cold nights so that it doesn't freeze...roses in the soil outside need to be covered and overwintered (mulched and then covered).

Anyway, I can't wait to hear about your progress...keep us posted...though I just realized that you won't be able to do any of this til when, MAY??! Wah! I will say that if you buy from Heirloom or any of the online places, they know when to ship for your area OR you can specify when you want them to ship, so you can order now and then your order arrives ready to plant when the time comes. I love that part.

________________________________

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein

"I don't feel enjoyment watching films that evoke passivity. If you need that kind of comfort, I don't understand why you wouldn't go to a spa." Chan-wook Park

Ana "The greatest experts are only as good as the sum total of what they have seen." [Souren Melikian]

________________________________

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein

________________________________

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein

"I don't feel enjoyment watching films that evoke passivity. If you need that kind of comfort, I don't understand why you wouldn't go to a spa." Chan-wook Park

Ana "The greatest experts are only as good as the sum total of what they have seen." [Souren Melikian]

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." Henry David Thoreau

________________________________

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein

________________________________

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein