Calling all Green Thumbs- -Favorite Flowers

[Chris W.]

Iris's!!!!!

I love Iris's!
I picked a HUGE boquet of them from my MIL's garden for my bridal boquet. (Pict in gallery with them) Once she found out I loved them so much, and she decided to remove one of her beds, she gave me HUNDREDS of them. I spent hours and hours planting them year before last, and last summer, only 3 bloomed. I'm hoping it was only transplant shock, so I get hundreds of blooms this year.

 

[Holden's Mom]

The prairie garden

I noticed you were from OK. You are either zone 5 or 6, so you have great choices. Daffodils are the most hardy and longest lasting of the spring bulbs and are varmint proof. They now come in so many varieties and the bulbs multiply and can be divided every two or three years. I planted 500 bulbs several years ago and usually had a couple of thousand blooms. I just dig big holes and put the bulbs in fairly close. I like the look of clusters and do not want my flowers lined up like little soldiers. Add a few red tulips, some grape hyacinths and you will wow yoour neighbors in the spring.

I love a prarie garden in the summer and you have the ideal condittions in OK for that look. I use different ornamental grasses, daisies, black eyed susans and beard tongue(Husker's Red). All the flowers are great cut flowers. Combine with some low maintance annuals such as begonias or vinca and the look is fantastic. Add Japanese Anemone for fall color. A true perriiinial, unlike mums.

Can't beat hostas in the shade. My ultimate favorite is blue elegans. Looks good with gold standard and golden tiara. Most of these are available at a Frank's or WalMart. Maybe you can get a friend to share starts.

The peony is our state flower and lives as long as 50- 100 years. They take a while to produce, but are great foundation plantings. Get a freebie start in the fall.

And finally, mulch and more mulch. Saves labor and water.

Can't wait to start the planting. Have fun.

 

[Holden's Mom]

Oops! Forgot the roses.

Must have at least one rose bush for cutting. Tea roses are a lot of work. The most productive rose I have is Jackson's Perkins Don Juan. It is a climber, deep red and very prolilfic with lots of petals and very resistant to disease. A must have.

 

[Trish727]

I love snap dragons..they are beautiful!!!!!

 

[alygator]

I love to plant bulbs like that. I usually go and pull them apart, they get so think. Iris's do that, and at our old place we had to dig them up....they grew on top of the ground. I just love being in the garden....I can't wait to get pics up, I will try and make sure kiki is in them and do a before and after. Peony- - Where can I get a free starter? I am unsure of the meaning? I love, love HOSTAS!! I have an area that will be ideal for them. I just can't wait, yes this cold weather has got me wishing I was somewhere warm with loads of soft petals around me. um like say Hawaii!!

 

[Debbie Magon]

"What is fairer than a rose?"

I have about 1 acre in various gardens.
My favourite would have to be the roses.
Any and all, but mostly the David Austin series.
I would have 200+ odd roses, standards, bush, climbers, ground and ramblers growing here now and still planting.
I havnt counted them now for a while but I do know they take a while to prune and spray, but are worth every stabbed thumb or sore back

Other plants I like are camelias, hydrangers, lavenders, hebes, lilacs and rhododendrons.

Best climbers here are jasmin and clematis. They come in so many beautiful forms nowdays.

All the bulbs stay in the ground and daffodils, bluebells and crocus do very well.

But like George Herbert once said:

What is fairer than a rose?
What is sweeter?

 

[dkay]

I tend to stick with plants that come back every year weather they are periannals or annuals that reseed...I agree Hosta has to be at the top of my list. For summer I have to include 4 O'clocks and morning glories. My 4 O'clocks have reseeded themselves the last couple of years and were one of the most drought tolerant plants in the yard last year. I had some beautiful results last year with Moon Flowers, they are in the morning glory family but have 5-6 white flowers that open at night. And Sun loving Colus, they get like big bushes. Mexican Heather is a must for fill in and is easy to root from cuttings. Lantana...I have lantana everywhere and it is another easy rooter from cuttings. I have been working with a form of gardening called Lasagna Gardening, where you layer ( mulched leaves, peat, hay, cow manure, bone and add bone meal and blood meal, there is more but that is what I mostly use.) on top of a thin layer of newspaper ( 3-4 pages) and have had great results. The idea is
(1) the newspaper holds mositure and helps prevent grass from coming up. This also creates a great environment for worms ( or greatest natural resourse for tilling the soil. If you dont have any worms in your yard, go buy some at the nearest fishing shop add them to your flower beds and enjoy the results. (2) the mixture of leaves etc also holds moisture and can be planted in the same day without a bunch of hard digging and can be replaced in the fall and also gives me something to do with all my leaves other than bag them up. This really does work, wonderful concept, almost no weeding and no digging ( tilling) see if you can find a copy of " Lasagna Gardening" .

 

[alygator]

Wow, I have gotten a lot of neet ideas from this!!

 

[Linda/NJ]

Re: "What is fairer than a rose?"

Originally posted by Debbie Magon
I have about 1 acre in various gardens.
My favourite would have to be the roses.
Any and all, but mostly the David Austin series.
I would have 200+ odd roses, standards, bush, climbers, ground and ramblers growing here now and still planting.
I havnt counted them now for a while but I do know they take a while to prune and spray, but are worth every stabbed thumb or sore back

Wow, Debbie that is my dream garden, full of roses! Your's sounds beautiful.

Linda

 

[alygator]

Ditto to that Debbie!! Your place just sounds wonderful. You could even do my dream garden at your place. I love beautiful hedges and mazes. I would love to go to Callaway Gardens in GA.