A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Two questions....

Ok, first question:

I am in the process of digging new flowerbeds right now. Would it be a good idea to mix some mulch/compost/whatever into the soil now as I'm doing it? Or is that something that should "age" before planting?

Second Question:

One of the beds I am working on is actually expanding an existing bed. I have cannas established on one side of this bed. Now, I had planned on adding more cannas (in the fall) to fill the expansion and I wondered if I could scatter daffodils amoung the cannas, to give some color before cannas come up and bloom. Would the cannas eventually choke out the daffodils? Or should I stick to planting daffodils around the edge of the bed? I had also thought of maybe putting an elephant ear in one corner of the bed, are they compatiable with the cannas?

Personally, I would plant the daffodils on the edge because cannas reproduce quickly and may end up pushing your dafs out. A good way to hide daffodil foliage after they've bloomed is to plant them near daylilies. The dafs come up first and bloom, then the daylilies grow and hide the yellowing foliage. Elephant ears prefer evening shade while cannas prefer full sun. The more sun an elephant ear gets the more water it will need.

I use the prepackaged mushroom compost and/or composted manure from Lowe's or Home Depot. By the way, where in TN do you live? If you are near Oak Ridge there is a place called Natural Resource Recovery that makes good compost and mulch if you need it by the truck load. I get my mulch there and I've also gotten compost when I replanted all of my raised beds. You wouldn't believe how much healthier and happier my plants are now.

I have a bed with yellow cannas that also has iris' in it. The color contrast is pretty.

I'm in Madisonville, about an hour south of Knoxville. Guess I will be borrowing my brother's truck to haul some mulch!
My sons have finished up two of the beds so far, just three more to go! Yes, I am a firm believer in child labor.
Ok, so this fall I will put in daffodils around the edges and fill in the rest with more cannas and maybe seperate the two with a row of daylilies? The cannas are red, with yellow daffodils and some orange daylilies, it will look like a sunrise! Ooooh, I can't wait!