faithmom
I'm gonna walk by faith.
- Jul 19, 2006
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Good luck (and a prayer for you too).
Don't give up, something as simple as atypical weather can wipe out all efforts. (we live in a hail storm area here, so it isn't unusual for me to have to "redo" my gardens some years, same with drought or intense rain, or a flukey cold night.)
Here are a couple of basics.
Merrygolds are a great starter plant for flowers. They are easy to grow, easy to revive if you've nearly killed them, and they have bright splashy colors. Look for the "dwarf" or "miniature" kind, and use them to creat boarders around flowers that might not make it to dress up the place. I will also transplant them out of the boarder when I thin them, and replace things that have died in pots and containers.
Zinnias are similar, but taller, so they are fun to plant in flower beds that may not take off as you had planned.
Neither is a perennial (they don't come back next year), but once they have stopped blooming and totally dried out in the fall, you can collect the seeds out of the pods where the flower was, keep them in a baggie (with a paper towel inside so they don't get moldy or musty), and replant them the next year. Saves money.
Irises are a great bulb to plant that comes back every year, and rabbits and deer don't like the way they taste (unlike Hasta's, tulips, and lillies...they see those and come running!)
All of these unforunately lack pretty smell.
For perennials with fragrance, try Peonnies (so easy), Flox, Daisy, Sweet Pea, Carnation and Columbines. Buy them already started at the store. If you do them from seeds, you have to start really early, and be ever SO gentle, and harden them up before you put them outside (that means to set them out in sun, wind and cooler nights).
Lilac bushes area really rewarding hedges too.
THAT's just the flowers! (for starters)
Easy Veggies.
Peas, as long as frost is gone, they are ready to go in the ground. If you have a fense, or anything they can vine on, find the sugar-snap/snow peapod varieties (less bending to pick), and you can eat the pods (avoid shelling, and more healthy for you)
Lettuce and spinache are also good to plant right after frost is gone, but be careful to keep them watered. If you forget a day with peas, no big deal, but some lettuces and spinache are realy touchy about heat and water. Read the seed packets carefully on these to see if the desired climate matches where you are.
Squash
Zuccinni and yellow summer squash can be started indoors or in the ground and grow fast and easy. BE SURE TO BUY THE BUSH VARIETIES or they will sprawl all over your garden. Save the sprawling space for other squashes, melons and cukes...though those are a little less hardy, need a little more attention, but are not too bad to grow. Do those last ones only if you have space. There are some bush varieties of cucumber now too, come to think of it!
If you get zuccinni going, PM me later to ask me the Zuccinni baby story.
Tomatoes:
Don't start them from seed, it takes too long, buy ones that are thick unwilted plants, no taller than a foot for cherry, pear and grape tomatoes and no taller than a foot and a half for others including Roma. All those I mentioned, plus BIG BOY, EARLY GIRL and FIRST LADY are pretty solid in giving you back tomatoes. Just enjoy them the first year, then do some reading on how to produce more tomatoes over time on how to tend to them if you really get into it. NOTE they love fertilizer and water.
Beans and corn can grow fine, but you need to be on top of them for thinning, weeding, watering and harvesting to avoid them getting tough, wimpy or eaten by critters. Potatoes are also easy, but find out if you need to mound them or make indentations for your climate.
Carrots radishes and parsnips are fun to put in the ground together, they have different growing rates, and the radishes can actually thin the other two for you in some ways. You can leave the carrots and parsnips in the ground PAST the first frost, and they get sweeter, but they take some work over the summer.
PERENNIALS in your veggie garden:
Rhubarb, chives and dill are fun to see come back dill can tought to get going, but once it is there, it is nice to have.
Asperagus is also one that comes back, but it takes 2 to 3 years to mature to the point that you can eat it! Just plan on planting a new round each year, so in three years, you have a steady supply going (about 16 plants can give you some joy).
LAST, FERTILIZER: (NOT FOR PEPPERS, they want you to be mean to them!) I compost all my leftover scraps (no meat or dairy...bacteria an pest issues) and use the runnoff from it, but I also use Miracle grow...especially on my flowers. BUT a really cheap fertilizer is in most people's kitchens. When you empty out your leftover coffee and coffee grounds, just put both together, add water, swirl it around, and dump it on some plant that needs love. GREAT fertilizer that doesn't burn out the plant.
O.K. I threw a lot out there, you may know some of it already. Anyway have fun, and PM me to let me know how it goes!
P.S. If your climate is hot, work weed and water in the early AM or late PM... the plants get to drink without the sun evaporating it before it reaches the roots. If you have a cooler climate that stays around 70 degrees most summer days, water in the day to avoid mildew, mold and root rot at night.
Don't give up, something as simple as atypical weather can wipe out all efforts. (we live in a hail storm area here, so it isn't unusual for me to have to "redo" my gardens some years, same with drought or intense rain, or a flukey cold night.)
Here are a couple of basics.
Merrygolds are a great starter plant for flowers. They are easy to grow, easy to revive if you've nearly killed them, and they have bright splashy colors. Look for the "dwarf" or "miniature" kind, and use them to creat boarders around flowers that might not make it to dress up the place. I will also transplant them out of the boarder when I thin them, and replace things that have died in pots and containers.
Zinnias are similar, but taller, so they are fun to plant in flower beds that may not take off as you had planned.
Neither is a perennial (they don't come back next year), but once they have stopped blooming and totally dried out in the fall, you can collect the seeds out of the pods where the flower was, keep them in a baggie (with a paper towel inside so they don't get moldy or musty), and replant them the next year. Saves money.
Irises are a great bulb to plant that comes back every year, and rabbits and deer don't like the way they taste (unlike Hasta's, tulips, and lillies...they see those and come running!)
All of these unforunately lack pretty smell.
For perennials with fragrance, try Peonnies (so easy), Flox, Daisy, Sweet Pea, Carnation and Columbines. Buy them already started at the store. If you do them from seeds, you have to start really early, and be ever SO gentle, and harden them up before you put them outside (that means to set them out in sun, wind and cooler nights).
Lilac bushes area really rewarding hedges too.
THAT's just the flowers! (for starters)
Easy Veggies.
Peas, as long as frost is gone, they are ready to go in the ground. If you have a fense, or anything they can vine on, find the sugar-snap/snow peapod varieties (less bending to pick), and you can eat the pods (avoid shelling, and more healthy for you)
Lettuce and spinache are also good to plant right after frost is gone, but be careful to keep them watered. If you forget a day with peas, no big deal, but some lettuces and spinache are realy touchy about heat and water. Read the seed packets carefully on these to see if the desired climate matches where you are.
Squash
Zuccinni and yellow summer squash can be started indoors or in the ground and grow fast and easy. BE SURE TO BUY THE BUSH VARIETIES or they will sprawl all over your garden. Save the sprawling space for other squashes, melons and cukes...though those are a little less hardy, need a little more attention, but are not too bad to grow. Do those last ones only if you have space. There are some bush varieties of cucumber now too, come to think of it!
If you get zuccinni going, PM me later to ask me the Zuccinni baby story.
Tomatoes:
Don't start them from seed, it takes too long, buy ones that are thick unwilted plants, no taller than a foot for cherry, pear and grape tomatoes and no taller than a foot and a half for others including Roma. All those I mentioned, plus BIG BOY, EARLY GIRL and FIRST LADY are pretty solid in giving you back tomatoes. Just enjoy them the first year, then do some reading on how to produce more tomatoes over time on how to tend to them if you really get into it. NOTE they love fertilizer and water.
Beans and corn can grow fine, but you need to be on top of them for thinning, weeding, watering and harvesting to avoid them getting tough, wimpy or eaten by critters. Potatoes are also easy, but find out if you need to mound them or make indentations for your climate.
Carrots radishes and parsnips are fun to put in the ground together, they have different growing rates, and the radishes can actually thin the other two for you in some ways. You can leave the carrots and parsnips in the ground PAST the first frost, and they get sweeter, but they take some work over the summer.
PERENNIALS in your veggie garden:
Rhubarb, chives and dill are fun to see come back dill can tought to get going, but once it is there, it is nice to have.
Asperagus is also one that comes back, but it takes 2 to 3 years to mature to the point that you can eat it! Just plan on planting a new round each year, so in three years, you have a steady supply going (about 16 plants can give you some joy).
LAST, FERTILIZER: (NOT FOR PEPPERS, they want you to be mean to them!) I compost all my leftover scraps (no meat or dairy...bacteria an pest issues) and use the runnoff from it, but I also use Miracle grow...especially on my flowers. BUT a really cheap fertilizer is in most people's kitchens. When you empty out your leftover coffee and coffee grounds, just put both together, add water, swirl it around, and dump it on some plant that needs love. GREAT fertilizer that doesn't burn out the plant.
O.K. I threw a lot out there, you may know some of it already. Anyway have fun, and PM me to let me know how it goes!
P.S. If your climate is hot, work weed and water in the early AM or late PM... the plants get to drink without the sun evaporating it before it reaches the roots. If you have a cooler climate that stays around 70 degrees most summer days, water in the day to avoid mildew, mold and root rot at night.
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you are. 
I'm from the desert . . . not sure I know what one them things is. I think -- if memory serves me correctly -- it is something you put over your head when it rains. Am I correct? It's been awhile 
