New to gardening

[Ekatherina]

Hi everyone, I'm Ekatherina :)

I'm about to move into a new apartment where I will have a small deck, and I plan on having planter boxes along the railings of the deck.* I have never gardened before and I have absolutely no clue at all what I'm getting myself into!* I found this on google and figured maybe this will get me acquainted with gardening :)*

Anyways, I'd like to have bright, colorful flowers in the planter boxes... and the deck faces West so my plants would get full afternoon sunshine.* I love peonies but I'm not sure if they'd bode well in a planter box.* Also, I'm moving in mid-June, so I'm not sure what to get if I want to have flowers before the summers end.* Any suggestions would be great :) or if anyone knows of any flower books I could check out that would be handy too.*

Thanks :)

[Newt]

Hi Ekatherina,

Welcome to the wonderful world of gardening!* It will be helpful to you to know your plant hardiness zone. To find your zone, here's a zip code zone finder.
http://www.gardenweb.com/zones/zip.cgi

Some things that are handy for new gardeners to know:

An annual grows from seed, flowers and sets seed and dies in one year.* For folks in colder zones, some plants that would grow year round in warm zones are treated as annuals since they don't survive colder winters.* Annuals tend to bloom most or all of the summer.

A perennial will sprout from seed, by runners, offshoots, bulbs or by propagating itself by rooting along the stems. It will usually only form green growth the first year while developing a strong root system (for some plants it might do this for 2 or more years) and will live for many years, even after setting seed it will resprout from the root system.* Perennials generally bloom for 1 to 3 weeks.

A biennial will grow from seed the first year and grow only green growth while developing roots. The second year it will flower, set seed and die.

Most people use annuals in their planters. Potting soil can be purchased in bags, but be very careful as most now contain slow release fertilizer.* If you use potting soil with slow release fertilizer already in it, do not fertilize for at least 2 months or you risk burning the roots of your plants.

Bugs are necessary to pollinate and even clean plants (ex: peonies always have ants on them and keep other bad bugs away). Don't get out the pesticides when you see a bug. Usually there is a good bug predator for most bad bugs. Know thine enemy. There are sites where you can look up which bug is which.

And since you mentioned peonies, these are hardy perennials and will need something larger then the average planter for long term growth.* They often don't bloom for a year or two, sometimes longer, after transplanting.* They aren't a good candidate for a planter. Being a perennial you will only have blooms in the spring for about 2 weeks.* Since most hardy perennials need a dormant cold period, the roots will become very bound up in a planter and they won't thrive.* You will need to seek out annuals so you can have color all summer.

Knowing where you live and your hardiness zone would be most helpful in helping to recommend plants to use. Different areas often have different plants available.

Here's some sites on planting in containers.* At the last site you can click on the links on the left near the top for more info.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07238.html
http://www.backyardgardener.com/annu...uallist18.html
http://www.windowbox.com/gardenadvic...en+Design.html
http://www.backyardgardener.com/annual/index.html
http://www.ourgardengang.com/containerrules.htm

Newt

[Ekatherina]

Thanks for the info!* I am in zone 6 (southeastern Massachusetts).* I actually had no idea what was meant by annual and perrenial either, so thanks for that info :) I suppose I should be more interested in annuals since I don't expect much of anything to survive a long Massachusetts winter.*

[Newt]

You are very welcome!* Yes, annuals would be the way to go with your location.* I sometimes have plants survive in a large whiskey half barrel planter and I'm in zone 7.

Don't hesitate to ask more questions once you've finished reading all those links!

You might want to add your state and hardiness zone to your profile.* That way folks won't have to ask your location when you have questions.

Newt

[Allison1888]

Welcome to the world of gardening. I suggest going to a local garden center -- one that has helpful associates -- and asking questions about what will grow well in your conditions. I would not put peonies in a container,as they can become large and they need room for their roots to grow. Otherwise, you'll find a lot of plants to choose from. Good luck!

[Sweetpea]

Check at your local bookstore for* 'Easy Container Gardening'. Author Pamela Crawford. This is a basic step by step book for container gardening. Information on choosing containers, soil, fertilizer and a list of easy to start with annuals. My one bit of advise is plan to be vigilant about watering.**Consider a*pot of cherry tomatoes, a container of leaf lettuce and some basil or parsely. Talk about dinner on the deck!:D

[backyardgardener]

Another zone URL is on the left,

http://backyardgardener.com/zone/