What is your favorite garden planting?

[honeycomb]

Hello Everyone,

I am in the process of revamping the gardens in my yard. I recently moved to a house with a large yard that was slightly neglected, and the planting areas were over- or under-grown.

I live in Southwest Ohio, zone 6.

My plans are to:
- Put in a foundation garden along the North side of the house, where it is shaded most of the day.
- Clean up & add to a small herb garden and a cutting garden on the South side that gets sun almost all day.
- Make additions to garden areas and a tiny pond at the front of the house, which faces West and gets full afternoon & early evening sun.
- Tidy up & plant items of interest in the woods at the back of the house, which is very shaded and has a deck. (The deer are plentiful back there, too.)

My question to all of you is: If you live near me, or are in a similar zone, what is your favorite planting in your garden or yard? What would you recommend that is beautiful to look at, but easy to care for? What have you had success with?

Also, what would you suggest for me to avoid planting? (I know mint can overtake a garden. I heard that Star of Bethlehem can also. Are there some plants that are simply more trouble than they are worth?)

In many of my yard areas I am starting from scratch, and I tell you- I am overwhelmed by all the choices. I have invested in many garden books that I ADORE reading. ( I enjoy reading a book about roses or perennials as much as most people enjoy reading mystery novels.) I have also begun sketching out garden schematics or blueprints. That is fun.

I simply can't make up my mind. It might help for me to mention that my home is orange-clay-colored brick with some cream siding & dark rust-colored shutters. I think blues or purples would be quite attractive next to the orange tones of the house, but hey, I'm open for any of your suggestions.

I look forward to your responses.

hon3ycomb

[lilkanyon]

I am no expert but I live in a similar zone and I know Sweet William does well and reseeds itself but may get carried away if not watched. You didn't say whether you preferred perennials or annuals but iris, daffadil, and tulip bulbs do well too. I like Cosmos as they are very tall and showy (but need protection from wind). I also like Alyssum as quick showy ground cover but its another that reseeds and could become a menace (though a very pretty one if your not that picky about where your flowers grow). I am still working out what works well in my own yard and choose plants that are easy maintaince. I hate roses (we have a few inherited bushes). They are more work and expense than they are worth in my eyes. Good luck and let us know what you choose.

We are on the north side of a hill so don't get a lot of sun in the yard. It's frustrating that everyone else is enjoying daffodils and tulips on their south facing beds and I've still got snow on my east and north facing beds. But I've had a few successes for shady spots. I love my ostrich ferns that were here when we moved in - they get NO sun at all and in spring are just two dry looking mounds - then suddenly they unfurl and are so lush and green and require absolutely no attention from me - my favorite kind of plant!
Daylilies are hardy, too, and have some brilliant oranges and yellows that would look nice with your color of house. I divided the daylilies about 4 years ago and the extra roots I just threw in the trees at the edge of the yard - to my surprise they are still growing and blooming!
And Daisies are hardy, though they prefer more sun.

[Newt]

Hi Honeycomb,

Congratulations on your new home! I don't know why I didn't see your post a long time ago. Are you still looking for ideas? Here's a couple of search engines that should be helpful. The first one also has a plant encyclopedia.
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/
http://bestplants.chicago-botanic.org/query_simple.htm

As for your wooded area, consider natives. They will be more carefree and won't take over the world. I just love Celedine poppy - wood poppy with Virginia Bluebells. For your other shady areas as well as the woods, consider lungwort, hostas, ferns, tiarella - foam flower, heuchera - so many with wonderfully colored leaves, bergenia and lobelia cardinalis - cardinal flower. For a damp shady spot consider ligularia. There are a few different ones, one that has a spiked flower, another with a flower that looks like a black eyed susan and one with sploched leaves. It will wilt in the heat of the day, but a damp and shady spot will keep this clumper happy. It's a large plant.

These search engines let you search by bloom time, color, etc.
http://www.main.nc.us/naturenotebook/plantindex.html
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/...leryindex.html
http://www.perennials.com/

As for plants that are easy, if a description says it forms a clump then you can pretty well figure it isn't going to run all over the garden. On the other hand, if it says 'vigorous' you can figure it will be in your neighbor's yard soon. Stay away from chameleon plant - Houttuynia cordata and 'ditch' lilies. Those are the orange ones you see growing by the roadside. Ajuga can get out of hand easily as well. Japanese honeysuckle, aka Hall's honeysuckle is another invasive pest as well as trumpet vine - campsis radicans. Yarrow can seed around and be a pest and so can Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldstrum', a variety of black eyed susan.

For your sunny areas think about those daylilies that Edart mentioned. There are several varieties that rebloom, some that are everblooming and even fragrant. For part sun or sun think about hardy geraniums. One that is fantastic is Geranium 'Rozanne'. It starts blooming in May or June in my zone 7 garden and blooms it's head off until hard frost. One plant will spread to a 3' clump and take your breath away. Fillipendula is lovely in a sunny border as are many of the salivas and penstemon. Another fun plant is balloon flower - Platycodon grandiflorus. Kids love the balloon looking buds and it behaves in the garden.

Newt

[Murph]

I like to start with small quantities of a variety of plants, so I can see what thrives in a particular spot and what doesn't. When I hit on a good one, I use it as a theme and find varieties of that type to collect. For example, I have a partly shady spot I had hoped to fill with daffodils, but tested a few first and found they just don't like it there. A sampling of daylilies thrived there though, and now I can confidently adopt as many daylilies as I like, knowing they will have a happy place.

You might enjoy having enough variety to keep something growing all year. Some spring bulbs, some evergreens etc. My mom's front bed is beautiful during the Summer, but the rest of the year it's a patch of dirt. She likes it though, because it's easy to clean up at the end of the season. To each his own

As for some favorites, I like any tuber or bulb because they are easy to move and I'm always nitpicking their placement. Tulips, crocuses, daffodils, irises, lilies, hosta. I like my roses but they are indeed high maintenace and I wouldn't want more than 3 to care for. Lithodora is a non-invasive ground cover which blooms in a brilliant electric-blue. Dianthus blooms profusely each Summer and has a warm, spicy fragrance. I love lavender, but it is short lived and doesn't like our wet winters. A sheared ornamental rosemary bush would make a neat focal point for your herb garden. Oh, and sweet peas are my favorite climber; they need a sunny spot where their feet can stay cool. My favorite for baskets: petunias in sun and impatiens in shade.

For high performance and low maintenace, I'd choose heaths, hardy geranium, wildflowers, daisies and anything native. Vinca makes a beautiful cover for damp, shady problem spots. It takes over every square inch of bare soil, but stops at the lawn's edge... I would consider it borderline invasive, but it doesn't jump barriers or reseed around the property.

I used to live with deer, and could NOT grow irises. The deer would wait just until the flowers were ready to open and then eat them. They also stripped my snowball bush.

Some woodland recommendations... columbine, trillium (smells like a peace lily or easter lily, and blooms in total shade) and of course hosta. Not sure what deer would do to any of those.

You'll have much less work and expense in the long run if you use mainly perennials, and use annuals as filler. You'll also save work by avoiding plants that need to be sheltered during winter (fancy geraniums, dahlias, some glads, fuschias).

Have fun!