Spring-2016 Gardening anyone? What do you plant? or not?

@DreamerRose    The grafted tomatoes and peppers that I have grown have greatly outproduced non-grafted plants.  Hundreds of varieties of disease resistant tomato rootstock have been developed.   There are also many rootstocks for curcubits (melons and squash.)

This NY Times article has good information.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/garden/in-defense-of-grafting-tomatoes.html?_r=0

The first time I tried them two years ago, two grafted tomato plants out produced the other eight tomato plants.  I had 23 4+ inch  Cherokee Purples on one plant at once!  Some of them do better than others.  I've had really good results with Cherokee Purple.  Brandywine has been the least productive.

They can be bought at Burpees, Territorial Seeds, Totally Tomatoes and other places.  They are not cheap, but I have room for other plants because I grow fewer of the grafted plants.  And everything is so healthy!

Shipping live plants is usually expensive, so with shipping, expect to pay from $8.50 to $12.50 each.

Amazing!

Last year I spent WEEKS planting and a ton of money to boot. Unfortunately, I planted mostly annuals so there's no lasting benefit there. They were pretty, but hundreds of dollars for 3 months of pretty is too much. This year, I'm not planting any annuals in the ground. It's going to be all perennials! I can't do this every year. lol. I've dug up and split around 20 hostas so far, so those are coming up everywhere. Planning on buying 5-8 more in fun varieties also. My front yard is full shade so hostas are about the only thing that do well. I also purchased some tall garden phlox since they seem to do well in my back garden and spread. I also purchased some campanula because apparently they do well in sun or mostly shade, bloom all summer, and the variety I bought are rabbit resistant. I'm putting those suckers everywhere. 

The only place I'll do annuals is in a couple flower pots. I can deal with those yearly. Of course, in my veggie garden tomatoes and peas are annuals as well. But I can't live without tomatoes. I'm hoping they'll do well in the giant raised beds that I'm building next week. 

you can get seeds out of the annuals. I let the petunias go to seed-save them then plant them the next year=I had a hanging basket I left on the ground in the rocks and the next year I got petunias growing..its been seven years. the colors are usually only dark pink rather than the orange originally but you can get annuals to come back but sometimes its a pain..petunias are the only ones I pull seeds off. that and morning glories.

Beautiful flowers all!!

Weather's been so crappy here lately, I haven't even gotten the chance to weed and clean up my little plots. I am getting eager to garden already! I have no idea what I want to do yet

Draco said:

 
Beautiful flowers all!!

Weather's been so crappy here lately, I haven't even gotten the chance to weed and clean up my little plots. I am getting eager to garden already! I have no idea what I want to do yet

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That's for sure=more rain today in NH. I have tried to clear off junk out of the gardens but its just too muddy to do anything=if I try to pull out old leaves=the whole plant comes up and I have to replant it. And the mud..ugg..nothing worse than muddy knees and shoes...and its been cold! 40s~

It's supposed to freeze tonight here, so I'm going to attempt to cover up some of my baby perennials and hope the hostas fend for themselves. 

foxxycat said:

 
That's for sure=more rain today in NH. I have tried to clear off junk out of the gardens but its just too muddy to do anything=if I try to pull out old leaves=the whole plant comes up and I have to replant it. And the mud..ugg..nothing worse than muddy knees and shoes...and its been cold! 40s~

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I'm glad I am not the only one. I am getting severe cabin fever now!

Pretty pictures!   I finally went down & weeded my garden a couple of Saturdays ago. We had what should have been our last cold snap last weekend.  I plan on starting to buy some flowers at the end of this week. It looks like lows at night will only be in the mid to upper 40's this week, then 50's next week, & 60's the next. (according to The Weather Channel app). I usually plant annuals. Sunflowers every year for sure. I usually do marigolds too. I didn't know they helped keep pest away, until reading this thread, so that's good, I may do more of those, but I usually don't have much of a problem w/ that. I bought a pot of lavender last year, but it didn't last, so I may try that again. I have had luck with a "mixed pkt" & got pretty results, so will probably do that again as well, maybe 2!  After I weeded, I put some tulip bulbs in the center around a sculpture I have down there. (old fountain top) .  They were from a pot a client gave me after Angel passed. They were yellow, & pretty, so hopefully next year they will come back. I have done basil up on the porch, love it! So will do that again, as well as try some tomatoes. I tried tomatoes  last year.  I did some from seed & they grew big & tall, but didn't even flower, much less produce any tomatoes! This year, I will but some already started!  I have basil buds/seeds from a year or two ago when I had some, so will try to plant those.   

Here are some pictures from a few years ago & up to last year.                                                                         This was from a mixed packet!  

 
  
 
I call this one, "Sunflower for two!" 

  

Pretty. Marigolds won't keep the bugs and rabbits away anymore. Marigolds used to stink,but Burpee's, the main breeder of marigolds, bred the stink out of them. I emailed them and told them they were missing a major marketing opportunity, but I haven't seen any of the stinky marigolds back on the market.

DreamerRose said:

Pretty. Marigolds won't keep the bugs and rabbits away anymore. Marigolds used to stink,but Burpee's, the main breeder of marigolds, bred the stink out of them. I emailed them and told them they were missing a major marketing opportunity, but I haven't seen any of the stinky marigolds back on the market.

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I ordered the ones that repel nematodes and also the Mexican variety.  The Mexican variety is supposed to be more pungent.  I am still hoping to get some old time marigold seeds from a friend, but It hasn't worked out.

Paiger8 said:

 
Last year I spent WEEKS planting and a ton of money to boot. Unfortunately, I planted mostly annuals so there's no lasting benefit there. They were pretty, but hundreds of dollars for 3 months of pretty is too much. This year, I'm not planting any annuals in the ground. It's going to be all perennials! I can't do this every year. lol. I've dug up and split around 20 hostas so far, so those are coming up everywhere. Planning on buying 5-8 more in fun varieties also. My front yard is full shade so hostas are about the only thing that do well. I also purchased some tall garden phlox since they seem to do well in my back garden and spread. I also purchased some campanula because apparently they do well in sun or mostly shade, bloom all summer, and the variety I bought are rabbit resistant. I'm putting those suckers everywhere. 

The only place I'll do annuals is in a couple flower pots. I can deal with those yearly. Of course, in my veggie garden tomatoes and peas are annuals as well. But I can't live without tomatoes. I'm hoping they'll do well in the giant raised beds that I'm building next week. 

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You've given me a few idea Paiger8.

Hostas and campanula. I'm going to the garden center tomorrow, see if they have any. How cold are your winters? I guess you get a lot of snow?

Yesterday I planted 4 planted with sunflower seeds and two with cat grass. I'm going to move them around to make the most of the sun, hopefully I'll get some flowers this year.

@Norachan  - Yep, we're zone 5 (US), so it's not uncommon for it to snow up into April. (Or May very rarely) November - April is it super common to get snow. Hostas are wonderful for full shade or partial shade. I also love that you can split them every 3 years, so quite a few of my hostas came from friends/relatives that split them for me. Free plants! And it's impossible to kill them! My kind of plant.

And they're all so different. I love trying to collect different varieties. I have a bunch of solid green, and variegated green with a white border on them. A few with skinny leaves, some with curly leaves. My new ones this year are called "Fire & Ice" hostas and they're mostly white. I think it will be a nice contrast to all the green. 

There are 2 newer varieties of campanula if you can find them. They are supposed to do well in any condition. The only difference between them really is the "Birch Hybrid" is rabbit resistant (HUGE issue in my yard) and a teeny bit shorter. But both have the same sun or shade requirements. I bought the Birch Hybrid because it was what my greenhouse carried.  I have a retaining wall of rocks around my tree (with mulch covering the roots) and I'm hoping to have these as my "spill over" on the edges. 

https://shar.es/1YNe6T  - Campanula Portenschlagiana  - Common name: Dalmation Bellflower - Portenschlagiana sports light blue, bell-shaped flowers from late spring through summer. Rounded leaves are crinkled and irregularly toothed. Free flowering - a carpet of color. This Campanula variety is best trailing over walls, rock gardens, and between stepping stones. Vigorous sprawling star covered beauty.

https://shar.es/1YNe7Y  - Campanula Birch Hybrid  - Common name: Siberian Bellflower - Profuse blooming with nodding cup shaped flowers of purple blue. Excellent for walls and crevices this poscharskyana and garganica cross (hybrid) will bloom all summer long. Campanula Birch Hybrid provides a striking contrast when planted with Coreopsis 'Moonbeam.’ Rabbit resistant.

In my very wooded setting, I do not have a spot with enough sun to vegetable garden. I do a few cayenne in my flower beds and a few herbs in pots. Been having fun growing hops the last couple years. Should be it's first year of maturity this year. Another thing I like to interplant in my flower beds is brite lights swiss chard. Great color and edible as well. There are many things about grass I dislike (manicured lawns). I am always expanding flower beds to reduce grass cutting. I have parts of my open spaces I treat as a wild flower meadow, only mowing once or twice a year. In this pic is a nice combination of lousiana iris, coreopsis and yarrow.

Anyone know what this might be? I can't remember if I planted bulbs or not last year

It looks like a daylily to me. Blooms in June.

DreamerRose said:

It looks like a daylily to me. Blooms in June.

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thanks! If that's the case, I'll plant around it

Don't plant too close to it. The foliage will cover a foot on each side.

Well I didn't have the extra money I thought I'd have this week to get my garden started, so I just got a few things to make the porch pretty, but still want to add more when I can.

Here is what I did yesterday. I got everything from Lowes. Purple, pink, & white petunias in the front boxes. (that squirrel was making it's get away after it saw me. It was eating the bird seed)

In the pots are blue eyed daisies, which I never had seen or heard of, but are so pretty! bluish purple flowers are something that starts with O I think. I'd have to look. I also put some petunias in the front of it.


 
and here's my garden, (almost all of it anyway) weeded & ready. There are a couple of things coming up from last year, I'm not sure but think it's gladiolas. Also alums, but they look yellow & done already before even sprouting up this year. maybe they will later. ..??

I've been getting new perennials for the last few years, so hopefully they all survived the winter.  I have a lot of hostas and day lilies.  Plus Rudebeckias and Shasta Daisies and Sedums. And some other various ones.

I also buy annuals to put in pots on my deck.

I've grown peas up my fence before. And tomatoes in pots.  Last year, however, I designated a whole garden to veggies. I grew green peppers, carrots, yellow and green beans, cucumbers and corn.  The cucumbers went crazy and grew into my neighbours yard.  The corn was too close together, so I only got a couple well-formed ones.  The beans did well.  The pepper took forever to grow - not hot enough in that part of the garden. The tops of the carrots died for some reason, so I ended up pulling them all out early.

This year I'm going to try veggies again.  Not sure which ones though.  Still got lots of time to ponder though, as it won't be planting season here for a while yet.