Four Seasons of Garden Plants
Pick the herbs and vegetables your family likes to eat. Consider growing vegetables that grow in shade, such as kale and spinach.
Learn about the differences between plants in the same family by learning their botanical names. Understanding their life cycle will aid you in planning and caring for your garden.
Small Ornamental Trees
Trees add a sense of the size of a garden and can provide visual interest throughout the year. They are a great source of beautiful spring blooms, vibrant autumn foliage as well as berries and seeds. They can also provide privacy screening and shade to a patio or entranceway. Ornamental trees can be grown as a focal point on their own or grouping them together to create a small grove or planted as part of a mixed plant and flower border. You can buy smaller ornamental trees pre-pruned into tree forms at nurseries, or buy the trees bare-root. Viburnums and winged euonymus and late lilacs are large shrubs that can be pruned into small ornamental trees.
If your garden is situated in an area that is hot and sunny with well-drained soil, flowering ornamental trees are a great choice to draw butterflies and other pollinators into the landscape. For example, the crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) is a favorite in the south due to its long bloom time of pinks and purples that last from summer until fall. Its leaves turn from yellow to red in autumn and its bark is attractive in winter. This plant is hardy from zones 5 to 9.
The heptacodium microonioides or seven-sons tree produces small white flowers from late summer until early fall. It is tolerant of full sun. It's an excellent option for adding height to an uninspiring deck and is drought-tolerant once established. This plant is hardy from USDA zones 5 to 9.
The golden Irish yew is a great choice to add some color to the shaded corners of your garden, thanks to its blue-green to green leaves. It is slow-growing, takes pruning with care and can thrive in full shade or partial shade. The compact, fastigiate form of this plant makes it the ideal choice for planting in tight areas.
Flowering Vines
Flowersing vines can be annuals for a single season or perennial plants that offer color in the landscape over many years. Some of these plants require a sturdy trellis to climb. Others can simply sprawl out on the ground. Most quickly, they fill in vertical spaces creating beauty and a sense of interest to a garden. Vines are available in a broad range of colors and bloom times, and are suitable for every USDA Hardiness Zone. There are many varieties of vines, from woody to clinging vines like English ivy to non-woody and herbaceous vines like morning glory and nasturtium.
Certain kinds of flowers provide flowering vines with additional appeal. The black-eyed Susan vine produces a variety of bright orange, yellow or white flowers with dark centers. This quick-growing annual is an excellent option for a sunny trellis and is great for containers too. It is also a favorite for hanging baskets, as it can be twisted around the supports.
Try clematis if starting a garden want something more robust than black-eyed Susan. This popular perennial is available in a variety of colors including yellow, pink and white. Some clematis, like Duchess Edinburgh and Josephine have large, fragrant flowers that bloom in the early spring. Others, such as Sweet Autumn, bloom all through the summer and into the autumn.
Another evergreen flowering vine is Carolina jessamine (Jasmine wrightii). This native to the southern United States is a lovely option for a garden or a container with its golden yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers. It will reach towering heights with the right support and if it is not cut back. This makes it a great plant to screen a view, or a shaded corner in the garden.
Container Plants
Container plants can provide instant colour to your garden without the commitment of planting plants in raised beds or on the ground. They can also serve as a focal point at the entrance to a house. They are also a great way to plant flowers, herbs or vegetables at eye level to make it easy to pick and cook. Containers can be almost anything such as barrels (even half-barrels of wood) and baskets, buckets, boxes, window troughs and even bathtubs or urns.
The most important thing to succeed in container gardening is knowing your plants and giving them the proper amount of attention. The plants in containers dry out faster than those in the ground, so frequent watering is required. Early morning watering is ideal, as this gives them enough moisture to last the hotter midday hours and keeps leaves dry at night that promotes diseases.
Seek out plants that trail with bright blooms or lively foliage to fill up a container garden. Coleus thrives in pots, and comes in a broad variety of colors as well as dark green and leaf shapes with variegated leaves. Geraniums with ivy blooms are another appealing option. It's a classic flowering plant for sunny pots, and it's self-cleaning which means you don't need to deadhead.
If you're looking to grow taller outdoor potted plant, try Japanese pieris (Pieris japonica and Cvs., Zones 6-8). It blooms in spring and summer with stunning pink, salmon-pink, white, or red flowers. This deer-resistant plant can decorate any space in shade or sun. Papyrus is also a great filler for large containers and its tufts of brightly colored leaves look lovely hanging over the sides. Another option is golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia Numularia 'Aurea' Zones 4-8). It's a fantastic trailing plant that looks stunning in containers with more light. The yellow-colored foliage goes well with most shades.
Mid-Sized Trees
There is space in the garden for flowers that don't grow to heights of a mountain. These beautiful trees add visual interest and form and add interest throughout the year. They also help bring the garden to life with their vibrant colors, flowers and scents. Small trees can be used to create small gardens, front yard or add a touch of color.
Crape myrtles are a species of flowering trees, are the most well-known. Plant breeders have created an array of colors, ranging from the lilac-purple flowers of Muskogee crapemyrtle, the fiery pinks and luscious reds in Dynamite crapemyrtles and the exquisite whites of Natchez crapemyrtles. They are fast growing trees that bloom all summer long and can last up to 40 years provided with proper care and the right conditions.
Another stunning deciduous flowering plant is serviceberry (Melancholia x Lucida). This native tree has gorgeous white flowers in spring. They are followed by delicious dark blue berries and finely toothed leaves. It also has red and yellow fall colors and a lighter brown winter bark. It is easy to grow Serviceberry in full sun and well-drained soil. Once established, it is drought-resistant.
If you're looking for a small tree that will never die, try the swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor). This fast-growing and disease-free tree is able to thrive in wetlands where other trees are not as adaptable. It is able to withstand some flooding, and is a great option for areas that are wet. It will reach 50-60 feet with a rounded shape and is a great choice for clay and wet soils. It is also drought tolerant once established and is resistant to air pollution.
Light Requirements
There are mentions of "full shade," "partial shade," and even "part sun" on plant tags. These terms aren't always clearly defined. Plants that require full sun need at least of six hours of direct sunlight per day. The sun's rays are at their peak between 10 am until 4 pm, which means the garden that is full sun must be protected from the intense afternoon sun.
The majority of vegetable and fruiting vegetables need full sun, but some will do fine in moderate shade. Leafy greens can also be affected by shade, however they might be slower to mature and produce.
Partial sun is an expression used to describe gardens that receive between three and six hours of direct sun every day. For the remainder of the day, these areas are moderately shady or have diffused light from the trees and leaf shadows. The ideal partial sun or partial shade area is located on the east side of your home. This will provide shade in the afternoon and cool morning sun for sun-loving plants such as rhododendrons and azaleas.
Full shade describes very dark locations that seldom get direct sunlight. These areas could be covered by tall evergreens, or overhanging structures or they could be enclosed spaces and gardens in between houses. These sites are hard to establish because of the competition between roots of trees for water and the general lack of sunlight. If you see a plant or vegetable that does not thrive in this type of shade then move it to a different area and add more water as necessary. Shade-loving plants include astilbe and golden Hakone grass goatsbeard, goatsbeard and a range of ferns.