major garden help

[TightenUp]

This has nothing to do with tomatoes or veggies.

Need to plant some flower beds around my girlfriends house and Im clueless. Tomatoes are all I know! NJ is the location and will be buying from local nursery. Low maintenance is best. I'll get some time release all purpose ferts and some mulch and call it a day. Recommendations please

[HollyinNNV]

I love petunias, personally. They are easy to grow and there are bright colors to choose from.

[Redbaron]

Marigolds are easy peasy

[MissS]

Perennials are a great way to start. You only need to plant them once. Then just add a few annuals to fill in between the gaps of bloom time.

The hard part of planting perennials is planting both spring and summer plants and placing the tallest plants in the back of the bed. Reading the tags is very important.

For spring: Heuchera or Coral Bells, Siberian Iris, Japanese Iris, Dianthus or Pinks, also Columbine.

Summer: Rudbeckia or Black-eyed Susan, Salvia, Achillea or Yarrow, Echinacea or Coneflower, Gaillardia or Blanket Flower and Monarda or Bee Balm.

There are many, many more to choose from but these are the easiest to care for. Just water them once or twice a week for the first year.

[pauldavid]

Marigold, Zinnia, Sunflower, German Iris, Asiatic Lily, Mirabilis jalapa, Morning Glory, Sedum, Pampas Grass, Lantana, Daylily, Canna, Crepe Myrtle:: These are all tough and carefree once established in the dirty south, not sure about Jersey though.

[Gardeneer]

I personally like Begonia . They come in beautiful colors os foliage and flowers. My other choice is impatients. Both of those can thrive in partial sun/shade

[pauldavid]

I also like Caladium, Hosta, Gardenia, Camelia, Roses, Clematis, Confederate Rose(actually a Hibiscus), Daffodils, Louisiana Iris, Siberian Iris, Hen and Chicks, Tiger Lily, Crinum, Lycoris radiata, Brugmansia, French and Oakleaf Hydrangeas, Azalea, but my favorite are Historic Irises. In your zone, you could read up on Daphne, Lilac, Rhododendron, Hollyhock, tulips. A lot of Iris will do good there, if I am not mistaken.

[clkeiper]

You need to determine whether you are working with shade, partial shade, partial sun or full sun. Then you can start choosing flowers. Perennials are great if you like to work around them every year, divide them and wait on them to bloom once (mostly), annuals add the most color pop you can get. petunias require some dead heading, but in the ground they grow much better than in pots. There are impatiens for shade or sunpatiens for sun/shade, marigolds are just about the easiest, geraniums the hardiest and a lot of color, probably a little more expensive than all other annuals but can't you kill them by neglect... they just keep going and going no matter how dry they get. coleus aren't grown for their flowers, but their foliage in the shade. zinnias are pretty hardy and grow fairly large and tall, snapdragons add a lot of tall color, too if you choose tall ones, but need to stake some of them.

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by TightenUp

This has nothing to do with tomatoes or veggies.

Need to plant some flower beds around my girlfriends house and Im clueless. Tomatoes are all I know! NJ is the location and will be buying from local nursery. Low maintenance is best. I'll get some time release all purpose ferts and some mulch and call it a day. Recommendations please

"Low maintenance is best."

Is that for the flowers or the girlfriend?

I recommend putting the same effort into her flower beds as you do for your tomatoes.

Dr. Lve Apple

[Kikaida]

Big lesson I learned and rule 1 (for me) is to be aware of acid loving plants (Hydrangeas, Camellias, Gardenia) from non-acid loving plants. My poor hydrangea was 4 sticks after a few months with a rotted little root ball...after adding her to an acidic soil with some acid crystals, she came back from the dead and is now lush and blooming like crazy.

[noinwi]

Um, what does she like? What colors? Does she like fragrance(some don't)? Is she going to the nursery with you or is it a surprise?

[bower]

Pulmonaria and certain types of geranium are perennials that bloom for a long time or repeat throughout the season - pulmonaria is really early blooming. They're both pretty manageable as well - spreading but not invasive. Primroses and cowslips and anemones are the earliest perennials here, but the primroses didn't last more than a couple of years for us. The best bet for low maintenance is also to put in some bulbs in the fall that will bloom at different times - crocuses are super early and they multiply. Daffodils a bit later and tulips can be had that bloom different times and return every season. Just give em a generous bit of bone meal when you plant, and they'll be blooming and increasing for years.

If you want something to spread and fill a lot of space, the more invasive flowers are rudbeckias (tall) and snow in summer (short) for example. Sooner or later you'll end up hacking these back, as they take over.

Daylilies are really care free, you can put them at the back of the bed and they just get bigger and more majestic with more blooms every year. There are lots of kinds and colours and you can pick several that bloom at different times through summer.

Of course for a girlfriend's house there's always roses to consider. There are lots of old fashioned heirloom roses, they're great, much tougher than the tea roses and hybrids (ie lower maintenance).

[Labradors2]

How big will the flower beds be, and do they have sun or shade? Some plants like Hostas and Pulmonaria prefer shade, and won't do their best in full sun.

Do you want perennials that return every year? Can you afford a few shrubs?

Linda

[MrsTwigg]

My only advice would be to try to stick to one or two varieties of plants (or colors of flowers). It will help things look more "put together," especially if these are small-ish beds. Don't forget about foliage color and texture, too.

The advice from Tormato is very wise.