Gardening??

Fool♥in♥the♥Rain: Gardening??
So my mom & I want to start gardening this year..well she always used to and does know a lot about it.but i want to know some things for myself too.
like when is the best time to start planting flowers..even ones to come up in the spring if i were to just plant them this coming spring? is that even possible.
and we were going to do vegatalbes and things too. whens the best time to plant those

any ideas on what sorts of flowers or foods to plant this year..
i want flowers that come back every year too.

for foods we planned on ..
potatoes
tomatoes
peppers
green beans
Cucumbers
peas maybe
Oh and huge pumpkins for fall!!!

anything you would suggest..i know im forgetting some things!
thanks!

Answers and Views:

Answer by Cat
Flowers that come back every year are called “prerennials”. I recommend visiting your local garden center or nursery this spring and summer and seeing what they have that you like. Different plants do well in different areas – you didn’t say where you live.

I recommend Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbekia), as they are easy to grow, spread, and flower non-stop from July through the first frost. Most perennials are much more stingy in their bloom time.

potatoes – plant 8 weeks before your last expected frost date.
tomatoes – plant small plants when danger of frost is past.
peppers – ditto

green beans – seed directly in the ground after last frost date. If you plant them before the ground is really warm, they may rot. But once it’s warm they sprout and grow REALLY fast!

Cucumbers – seed directly in the ground after last frost date

peas – you can seed directly in the ground 6-8 weeks before last frost.

pumpkins – same as cucumbers

For immediate spring flowers – primrose and pansies should be available now. They are cool weather flowers, and are the first to show up in garden centers.

And the “best time” to plant flowers depends on what flowers they are. You can plant bulbs in the fall for spring flowers, spring bulbs for summer flowers (available now), annuals are available from early spring through early summer – and can be planted 2-3 weeks before last frost – except the cold-loving ones mentioned earlier, which can go in much sooner. Then in late spring through summer, all manner of perennials are available, and can be planted whenever you buy them. Any that are offered locally should do well in your area. If you live in the south, there will most likely be stock available well into fall, whereas around here, starting in September, all you can get are fall bulbs, ornamental cabbage, pansies and mums (all of which can deal with frosts)

Answer by Dawn F
I like what Cat said, but would like to add a few things.

First, flowers that grow from bulbs: I never thought much about bulbs, but my stepmom just LOVES them, and has them planted so that once they start blooming in the spring, there’s an ongoing and dynamic display in the flowerbeds! Crocus’ are the first to peek through the snow, so when we see them, we know we’re past winter! There are lots of different bulbs, and some will do better in various parts of the country than others. (We’re in Texas, so we have to make sure our bulbs are out pleny early or we miss the cool weather bloomers.) You can plant them so you get a variety blooming simultaneously, with shorter plants in front and taller in the back. There are also a lot of bulb plants you can put out for color and foliage, like caladiums and elephant ears.

Perennials are great, but don’t shy away from annuals or biennials!! I’ve let many of my annuals “go to seed” in the garden, and then just let them come back the next year. This doesn’t always work exactly like I want it to, but I usually end up with plenty of the flowers from the previous year.

And don’t forget edible flowers!!! I can’t remember them all now, but there ARE flowers you can actually eat! My favorite are nasturtiums–both flowers and leaves are are edible, and have a bit of a “peppery” taste. They can really dress up a summer salad, in more ways than one! And they prefer soil that isn’t very good, although I’ve heard others say their nasturtiums grow in rich soil I haven’t had luck with that. I can’t remember right now all the flowers that you can eat, but there are quite a few. Start with nasturtiums, and you can expand from there.

When you plant vegetables, plant lots of marigolds with them!! I don’t know for sure if they drive the bugs (bad ones, that is) off, or if they attract them away from the vegetables, but wherever I’ve seen or planted marigolds with vegetables, I’ve seen and/or had very few but problems. And if you grow tomatoes and hot peppers, make sure they’re not close to each other! We planted them side by side one year, and ended up with tomatoes that burned like the peppers! (Trust me, I was NOT expecting that when I popped those cherry tomatoes into my mouth!)

We’re planning on growing pumpkins ourselves this year, because my boys want to grow their own jack-o-lanterns. I know they take a lot of room, and you’ll need to make sure they stay well watered so the skins don’t split.

Something else to consider is container gardening. One thing I did a couple years ago was planting kitchen herbs (basil, chives, thyme, rosemary, etc.) in a strawberry pot. That’s a pot that has little “pockets” on the sides, and most people use them to grow strawberries, but I really enjoyed my “kitchen herb garden”! Unfortunately, I didn’t have anywhere inside that got enough light when I brought it in for the winter, but you might!

Like Cat said, your local garden center or nursery can help you know when to plant in your area, and a lot of seed packets have a zone map on the back to help you out. Also, you can start some seeds indoors before the last freeze of the season in your area.

Good luck and happy gardening!!

Answer by ellisoncolette007
potatoes- only plant the seed potatoes wher you from garden centres
tomatoes- dont plant in the ground you can get bags to plant them in you can get them in garden centres
peppers
green beans
Cucumbers
peas maybe
Oh and huge pumpkins for fall!!!
all seed packits tell you when to plat them

Answer by jt c
Peas and potatoes can be planted now. The other plants need to be planted after danger of frost is passed.
The most reliable perennials are iris, day lily and peony. They can be planted now.
Annuals are planted after the frost season as well which depends on the ares you live in.