Help with flower Garden?

April 23, 2009 7:32 AM

I am planting my flower garden this weekend, and looking for suggestions. It gets no sun in the morning, and FULL sun from about 11am/12pm until sunset. I live in DC Area. I would like to find some stuff that is low maintainence. Any help would be great?
posted by fozzie33 to home & garden (5 comments total)

Throw a package of zinnia seeds out there. They are low maintenance, and usually produce enough flowers that you can cut plenty for inside too.
posted by sulaine at 8:04 AM on April 23

How about petunias? I've read they do best in full sunlight, but can manage with at least 6 hours of sunlight per day.

I'm no gardener by any stretch of the imagination, but I've been looking into flowers and bushes for landscaping lately. I've found GardenGuides.com provides good information about soil type, watering and sunlight needs for lots of different flowers (like petunias). You could start with their Garden Basics (perennials here) section to read up on some of the more popular flowers. You might find their Garden Planning section useful too.
posted by geeky at 8:07 AM on April 23

If cut flowers aren't a dead requirement, I really, really enjoy Walker's Low catmint.

It gets about 1.5 feet tall, has pretty (but small) purple flowers and attractive silver-gray foliage, is tough as nails, but doesn't self-seed or go berserk like a lot of the other catmint, and is maintenance free to the point where even in a drought, I've left it go unwatered on a south-facing slope, and it gets along just fine TYVM. (I live in 7B, about 150 miles north of you, but it's zoned down to 9.) If it gets a bit vigorous during the season, just trim it back as hard as you feel like, and you'll get a pretty second flush of flowers. Otherwise, just let it be, and all summer long, it'll throw up low spikes of flowers that bumblebees adore.

And despite the name, cats really don't bother it very much. I have a couple active neighborhood kitties, and they leave it strictly alone.

Walker's Low was one of the Perennial Plant Association's Plants of the Year a while back, so it should be available your local nursery.
posted by joyceanmachine at 8:52 AM on April 23 [1 favorite]

Seconding petunias. We plant them every year and they thrive in shade, partial sun, full sun, and all combinations thereof. They come in all colors and they spread out just enough to nicely fill a space without taking it over. Best of all, they're cheap.
posted by amyms at 10:58 AM on April 23

Zinnias, Cosmos, bachelor button, sweet peas and dianthus all make nice cut flowers and are low maintenance. Dianthus comes back a 2nd year. Petunias come in lots of colors and are easy. Marigolds come in yellows and oranges, are insanely cheery, and also easy.
posted by theora55 at 2:18 PM on April 23 [1 favorite]