My husband and I spent a lot of money on flowers/bushes, etc last year and spent an entire weekend planting them ourselves. They looked really pretty for about one month and then everything just started to die for some reason. I'm not sure if we didn't water them enough or if I watered them too much or if there wasn't enough sunlight. (We have a pretty big tree that provides some good shade near where we planted the flowers).
We would like to try again. I definitely do not have a green thumb, so can anyone recommend some really hardy and low-maintenance plants we could try? I would like something colorful and something that would survive the winter and come back each year and last most of the spring and summer. Maybe we also need something that can thrive with only a little sunlight in case the shade from the tree is what killed everything last year.
After experimenting with different annuals for about the past 17 years my favorite are begonias. They come in white, pale pink, deep pink & red so I mix them up for plenty of color. They are very hardy & forgiving if they get too much sun & if I forget to water them. They are pretty & I find them the best value.
Hostas! Not really too colorful, but by far the hardiest of plants. Perfect for the shade. Easy to split and transfer. They do come in different varigations (white/green, green/white, all green). Acutally, come to think of it they do have a little purple flower for awhile. I am FAR from a green thumb and we planted 6 small plants split from a co-worker's garden last summer. They are already coming back up this spring with more sprouts..Good luck!
First, when you choose plants, make sure you choose for the area you will place them in and group plants according to need whehter it be amount of sun or water. My husband would buy plants last year according to the way they look. For annual plants that have to be planted every year, impatiens are great. They really take the neglect. Small boxwood hedges are good for foundation plants. Triming keeps them small. Hostas are great for shade or semi shade. I would talk to the nursery staff and let them know what you have as to space and ask for suggestions. Even Home Depot staff can assist with choosing the right stuff. Another source is hgtv.com
I know it depends on your yard, but you usually can't go wrong with hostas and daylilies; at least I never have! They are both perennials and will keep coming back. Daylillies will spread slowly but surely and you can always thin them out. Our have bright orange flowers that last a few weeks mid-summer, but there are other kinds as well. There are also all kinds of hostas in all shades of greens; ours flower later in the summer and have little purple flowers.
If you want some annuals for more color, impatients and marigolds do well, depending on the sun in your area.
There's also a great magazine called Chicagoland Gardening that is specific to our zone. I find it really helpful as it has info for amateurs and pros.
Hope that helps a bit! If you're on the northside of Chicago, I will be pulling a bunch of daylilies over the next few weekends you are welcome to have.
Jen
Black-Eye Susans, hostas, ferns, lilies, decorative grasses, lilac bushes(I have one that no matter how I try to let it die it keeps on going),marigolds, impatians. Have fun!!
J.,
My husband got me a book one year called the "Illinois Gardeners Guide" by James A. Fizzell. I suggest borrowing it from the library or buying one for yourself. It is an excellent resource for all kinds of gardening - shrubs, trees, perennials, annuals, etc. that all do well in Illinois. Plus, since they do well in our climate, they usually seem to propagate/split easily over time. So you can buy some at a garden supply/nurseries or even at an upcoming Library/garden club sale for relatively cheap.
The greatest part of all of the suggestions in this book is that not only can it handle our extremes in temperatures, but the recommendations are based on our drought conditions too. The book tells you how heat/drought tolerant the plants can be, as well as if they should be in shade/moist soil. I really love this book and refer to it often BEFORE investing in plants since I too have spent money on what I liked at nurseries only to find them too hard to maintain or only not to return the following Spring.
Since you mentioned shade/partial sun, Vinca is a good ground cover with pretty little flowers, Impatients can be very colorful in large groupings and Daylilies are very easy too.
Best of luck!
Sara
I have a sunny yard and a shady side garden. I don't know of anything that flowers all summer, but my forget-me-nots are close - they flower much of the summer, they spread on their own, and they're forgiving of part-shade. Coral Bell is also pretty even when not blooming, and they deal with shade well. But neither have giant flowers.
You won't find any perennial that's super-colorful and shade-tolerant, I don't think. Have you thought about mixing perennials and annuals in your garden bed? Annuals are inexpensive and deal well with being ignored (I'm a pretty lazy gardener!)
But I agree that you need to figure out what's killing off the plants first. Maybe ask some of your gardening neighbors if they have any thoughts?
Hi J.,
Every year I buy, plant, water and then they would die. Until last year. I spent $200 and had a "design" done for around my house. I was completely honest and let the woman know that I only wanted the design because I wanted to do it myself over time. She was GREAT! She came out to the house and meet with me and my husband and ask a lot of questions. Any plants we liked/didn't like, maintance level, colors, etc. Now, I have the design that will work in my yard with the amount of sun/shade we get and a project. The yard is yearly starting to come together!
Good Luck on your project!
PS. Grasses, sedum (live-forever), hosta, fern, boxwood, lillies, vibrnum, hydrangea, pygmy barberry, vinca groundcover, knock-out roses, magic carpet spirea, garden phlox, siberian iris, "moonbeam" coreopsis, coralbells are in 'our' plan. I can give you exact names if you would like them.
