Are we planning for next year's garden?  

Thanks for the response!

I like zinnias as well, so pretty and so undemanding.

I have limited shady area, but do have some hosta underneath the pine tree in my back yard, it does very well there.

I usually have several sunflowers and hundreds of cockscombs ranging in every color from light pink to yellow to orange to ruby red.

Have a great night!

Thanks You as well.

What a great idea about the beans. Im trying that this next season. Wish I could do a seed exchange with you. But I dont think customs would let them through.

I think the seeds I buy come mostly from other parts of the world, probably most of them from the US. That´s globalzation. LOL. But they are very unexpensive.
If you liked the bean idea, another favourite of mine is basil. They are not as hardy as beans as you can´t water them with full sun. But when I have my crop I make pesto for all year. It takes minutes to do it and children love it with spaguetti. I have a friend living in Houson and she was able to grow basil there.

Oh yes, atacamaval, I have put marigolds with tomatoes in the garden, they help keep the bugs off the tomato plants. And sunflowers in the garden do really well too.

I've never had much luck with snapdragons here, it gets too hot to quickly and we have drought problems in the summer too; last year was horrible---we weren't even allowed to water our gardens because there was a water shortage. But, the snapdragons usually only do well in the early summer, when it's still cool, kind of like pansies, and I don't have much luck with them.

Marigolds are just as pretty, and can tolerate drought up to a point, as can zinnias. I do like to mix the easy ones with a few that require a little more work, but are worth it in the end.

Good luck with your planting season this year---it'll be spring for me some time, and I'm so looking forward to it.

Thanks for your response, and have a wonderful night!

Thank you Prettyviolet.
We had drought problems one year and my husband bought a very inexpensive hose that went from plant to plant. We made little holes near each plant so that the drop would get to the roots and not lose any of it.
We have over 100 degrees Fahrnheit now and my snapdradons are doing fine. Pansies I have put them in shady spots in early spring but find them too difficult to care when the sun starts hitting the ground.
Take care

Dig away. Im planting Gords again this next year. They were so pretty in the raised beds we made from tractor tires.

Wish I coulda used tractor tires! I'm using cement builders blocks that I traded an old rider mower for. I'm having to dig them in since the ground is not level, and it's part of an old riverbed and LOADED with stones, rocks, and boulders!

And by the way, this project was a result of a long cold winter's planning! I had measured and drawn in all the plants I was going to grow in them... it was a lovely illustration and I couldn't wait to see it in the garden! Like I said though, little did I know I would still be working on it 3 years later!

I planted gourds last year, including loofah, but not one plant came up! The only think I can think of is not enough sun or the seeds were too old. I was so disappointed. I hope you post pictures of yours!

Hmmm, just noticed it wasn't PrettyViolet I was responding to! Oh well, that post is for both of you then!

I have made raised beds too because my soil is full of clay here in Tennessee. I have some made up with four-by-fours and some with cement blocks, and some made of old tires that have been cut and turned inside-out, so that they look like flowers themselves. They can be spray-painted, and if you put some gunny-sacking (like grain comes in) in the bottom, you can keep the dirt inside if you have to move them. Your idea of clover in the paths sounds good, but probably wouldn't work for me, as my paths get trampled way too much. I used some old boards to make my path, although next year I'm going to have to put plastic down underneath the boards to keep the weeds from growing up between them. That's all part of next years' plan...LOL

I never had luck with dahlias either, mine died the first year. But my irises are lovely in the spring, and my daylillies are doing wonderfully as well.

Thank you both for responding to my conversation, and both of you have a lovely night!

Have you heard of mulch tea? Buy an enzime and follow directions. Cheap and very good for soil. All natural. Loosens the soil to.

I am also a "shovel gardener". AND I plant veggies along with flowers. They look very nice, the vegetables giving the green background. I don´t use insecticides and the only thing I buy once in a while are seeds.
There are a lot of places in Internet where they will show you how to improve your soil without spending. Compost is one of them, the other is to mix "companion" plants. Peas are great helpers of mother earth. And they taste wonderful when you pick them while they are little and sweet.

I try to plant green manure to dig in the soil in the spring time. I also want to put plenty of organic manure (no insecticides or other poisons to help the bacteria grow and feed to earthworms that help dig through the soil. I have only been working this soil for two years so it need a lot of help. I try to eat plenty of fruit and will throw the leftovers out onto the garden. These will be incorporated into the soil by the actions of bacteria and earthworms.

We have raised vegetables in past years, but my husband got disgusted with the drought this year and has vowed not to plant any next year...that's all right, I can have tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers right along with my flowers, and those are the main vegetables I like to eat fresh in the summer. I mostly dig my beds by hand as well, although my husband does have a rototiller that he offers to use for me. I usually turn him down, because part of the joy of gardening for me is the work involved; it gives me a sense of accomplishment that nothing else ever will. LOL

I use rabbit manure from our pet rabbits, also make a "rabbit tea" in a bucket with manure and water, then water my pots with that---less harsh and won't burn plants like commercial fertilizers will. Miracle Grow is also a staple for my flowers and vegetables alike.

I've wanted to do a compost pile, but am unsure how to begin, and am afraid I would end up with a stinking pile of garbage that the neighbors might complain about (I live in a trailor park) and I can't afford one of the enclosed barrel things for making compost.

Thank you both for replying to my conversation and have a lovely night!

related resource: fresh flowers

In a case like yours I would dig a hole when yo have some compostable material and cover it up. Maybe abut a small bucket full at a time and let nature take its course. Just make sure to add NO animal fat or bones or other things that will attract flies or rodents. In the forest do you smell anything foul? Yet the leaves are rotting and making leaf mold, which is a type of compost for plants to use. In one of my previous gardens I had semi raised gardens when I dug walkways between the planting areas and during the growing season I would put any organic plant materials in to decompose during the rest of the year until the next growing season. By having s much organic material in the soil you do not have to water nearly as much as if you only use chemicals. The compost acts somewhat like a sponge where it will soak up water and release it slowly. That is one great reason to have organic gardens during drought and it does not hurt at any other time either.

That sounds like a good idea for me...should I do this now? In the late fall/early winter? Would it be ready to plant in by next spring? Also, should I do this inside a bed, or outside, and then dig it back up when I wanted to use the composted material? I do have a hole or two already dug out that I dug to put my bigger pots into, because the plants were so big that when the wind would blow extra hard, sometimes they would tip over, and putting the pots into the holes stabilized them and also helped to hold in moisture...these were also the plants I needed to bring in for the winter (brugmansia, Angel's Trumpet), and so now I have these holes in the ground next to my flower garden. Would that be a good spot to try this type of composting project over the winter? Thanks for responding to me, I'm having so much fun here at myLot!

There is no time better than the present to start. Why throw out things that can be good for your garden. As far as in the growing season, I would "plant" the material in the walk ways and let it rot during the summer or if you have put something in the fall/winter you could plant something right in it. If you mulch your garden with straw (not hay which has weed seeds) you can put thin layers under the straw to decompose, the worms will grow and if you go fishing you will be able to get them with out having to dig much. Even corn stalks can be put in the garden but they will take longer to decompose so you need to cut them into smaller pieces so that there will be more surface area for the bacteria to work from. If you have lots of tree leaves then run them over with your lawn mower to break them up into small pieces and use this as a mulch on your garden or if you want to you can dig them in .

I wish you all the luck in the world selling your house and finding a new one with all the garden space you could ever dream of!

We are on rented land, but the landlord doesn't mind the "improvements" I make with my flowers and gardens. However, I do have most of my perennials in pots so that if I move, I can take them with me...even my rose bushes are in giant pots! LOL

Thanks for the response, and have a happy Thanksgiving!