A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Gardener's Chat You are inspiring!

Hi everyone,

I joined the forum a couple of weeks ago and have been lurking around reading posts and looking at pictures.

I just have to say that your gardening is inspiring to me! I've made a list of some plants to try in my garden this year, based on what I've seen from your gardens.

Thanks for posting the great stuff!

By the way - are there instructions somewhere on the site for posting pictures?

New Jersey Ivy

Hi Ivy,, We're glad your here and Have been "lurking" Jump right on in and join us
You can post pictures 480X640 px (forum size) thru a picture site such as Photobucket,< most of us use (free) , or a similar photo site By Uploading from your computer then copy and pasting the image line into your post!

Welcome back Ivy!

Diane is correct about posting the pictures. The most important thing to remember is the size - if they are too big it makes it difficult to view.

Would you share with us which plants in particular you are going to try in your gardens? We love to talk about how our specific plants are doing in certain areas of the country/world. It helps others make their decisions as well.

Hi again--sorry for such a slow reply. I can't always get on to the computer for a long enough time to type anything significant. I have a little guy constantly tugging on my sleeve.

Anyway, I made a trip to a local nursery and picked up a bunch of plants, most of which are supposedly deer and rabbit resistant. I have planted:

Veronica
Coreopsis (moonbeam)
Digitalis
Sea Holly (blue amethyst)
Gaillardia (goblin)

I also planted some vinca, which looks a lot like impatiens but is supposedly deer and rabbit resistant, along with a sprinkling of little yellow marigolds for some color among the shrubs in the front of my house.

My dad brought me a rhododendron for my birthday. Its blooms are a deep color--almost burgundy. I've never seen that variety before. It's quite pretty and is going in front as well.

I had good luck with black eyed susans on the side of my house last year, so I got another plant. I tried to plant those from the seeds of my own surviving plant, but nothing came up. Last year's plant is growing beautifully, and the new one looks happy so far.

In addition to the black eyed susans, coming back up from last year are my balloon flower (not looking so happy in the ground) and three coral bells. I moved one of the coral bells plants to join the other two, b/c they looked happy and it did not. Hopefully it will do a little better in its new spot. I also have some tiger lillies (I think they are the wild type), but I'm afraid I might have put them where they are not getting enough sun. I thought I'd picked a really good sunny place, but as I'm watching the light move around the yard I'm realizing I goofed.

I will try to plant from seed some sunflowers (I got a really pretty mix that includes reds, oranges, and yellows). I understand the critters like to eat these, but I'm trying anyway, repellant ready! Also I have some echinacea seeds.

I have one flower bed that is overgrown with weeds and is a hideous mess. I'm going to try to clean it out and till it up a bit, and then sprinkle it with a packet of mixed wildflower seeds that I picked up. I may just be making a banquet for some furry friends, but what the heck.

One of my goals is to eventually have lots of variety of flowers good for cutting. I'm excited this year that I'll have the black eyed susans, coreopsis, and sea holly to make a bouquet or two.

By the way, the woman who helped me at the garden center talked to me a little bit about critter repellants. I'm using liquid fence right now and it's working so far. She said that one trick she learned is to have two or three types around. If the plants that have been left alone all season start getting nibbled, change products. She said that the animals "get wise" sometimes after they get used to the smell of one repellant, but turn away when something new is thrown at them. That seemed to make sense to me so I thought I'd share it.

I have window boxes on my shed, but they sit in shade with only about two hours of sun per day. Can anyone suggest something the deer don't like for my boxes that will flower in the shade? I asked a different person at the garden center, and she suggested the vinca, but when I got it home and read the label it said full to part sun. My location is definitely shade.

So that's my garden so far! I'm excited to see how things grow this year.

Sounds like a wonderful garden, Ivy. Can't wait for you to be able to post pics. Your rhododendron sounds pretty. I don't have one but every other house around here does. I just don't have room for one. When I first came to this site I was just doing house plants. I got so motivated from all the pictures and reading that I just had to have an outdoor garden. I asked my landlord if I could cut back some of the grass to make room to plant some flowers and I ended up digging up all of the grass. He didn't seem to happy at first but now I think he likes not having to mow or do anything to take care of our side of the property. It's been almost 3 years now that I've had my outdoor garden and it grows and changes every year. Glad you found us and could join in our fun!

I just wanted to mention that foxglove is very toxic even a nibble (hence the deer won't eat it). Be sure that it's at the back of your garden or somewhere where your little one can't get to it. Welcome! You can try lasagna gardening if you want to do a veggie bed. It can save your from back breaking digging but the only thing is you'll have to look at a pile of dirt until next year (you can plant shallow rooted things like impatiens, etc. if you want right after making your bed).

Sounds like you've got some good stuff there. I love foxglove. It's so pretty.

What about impatients for your shady window boxes? Even if the tag says they need sun they do pretty good in almost total shade. Or Begonias?