Question
Jamie's flower bed
Hey!
I have a 100 yr old home which has a large porch. Im in search of suggestions on the types of flowers to plant around my porch which has boxwood shrubs. When I planted the shrubs several years ago, i mistakenly planted them too far apart. There are about 1 to 2 ft spaces between them except on the corner of the porch. I planted those 2 shrubs closer together to hide some ugly bricks. I usually plant marigolds or Vinca. Last year I put Zinnias (I grew from seed inside)back behind and between the shrubs. I planted marigolds(I grew from seed inside)in front of the shrubs and Vinca in front of the marigolds. It was beautiful but the zinnias didnt fill in good enough and eventually hung over the plants in front, so i had to stake them which was a task because of all the plants in front of them. I also ended up removing the vinca because the marigolds grew so huge in the fall and were covering the vinca in front. Ive never had marigolds grow so big. After I moved the vinca, most of them died..:o(...so I guess my questions are...1.Do you have any better suggestions for placing plants and the appropriate kinds to have there? I love bright plants, flowers, foliage, etc. Im up for anything! I would really like something spectacular regarding colors and design...but dont want to spend a lot of money. 2.I also have a partial shaded area that starts a few feet down from the porch by my wooden fence. Any suggestions on making my full sun bed flow over to that area with the appropriate plants/flowers?
FYI- I collected seeds from the marigolds and Zinnias from last year. The marigolds were orange, yellow and some hybrid orange/red. The Zinnias were mixed colors. Ive attached a picture from last fall.
Thanks in advance!
Jamie
-Mississippi
-full sun
-well drained soil
AnswerDear Jamie,
You've been busy! In addition to the Marigolds and Dahlias you already have on hand, I think Echinecea would be lovely - particularly the Tiki Torch variety which is a wonderful orange accompaniment to the colors you already have. Also Daylily, Campanulas (I love 'glomerata Montana'), etc. For the shadier areas, you can certainly try Toad Lily, Astilbe, Hosta and Dicentra.
Good luck, can't wait to see the photos!
