OT: Any Gardeners Here?

[flere-imsaho]

In my first full year of owning a house, I'm looking to add to the already-good garden left behind by the former owners. Some thoughts so far:

1. There's a bare spot (2'x3') by the front walk that had impatiens in it when we bought the house. Obviously, they're gone now (from the winter). Is it too late to buy/plant impatiens? Are there alternatives (colorful, essentially groundcover, light-loving)?

2. I want to do a couple of container gardens, at least one for herbs. Where do you get those half-barrel containers? Or similar? Do you see any problem with growing herbs in these (i.e. the creosote or otherwise in the barrels causing problems when you eat the herbs down the line)?

3. It may be too late for this, but I thought it would be neat to spread wildflower perennials throughout some parts of the lawn. Since I intend to let the lawn stay at about 4" or so (max height on my push mower, I believe), said wildflowers would have a couple of months, at least, in the spring to live. Any ideas?

Any other thoughts/stories/ideas would be greatly appreciated. For reference (on advice), I'm in the Chicago area.

[Franklinnoble]

http://www.picture-newsletter.com/gardengnome/garden-gnome-pipe-9r.jpg

Or, you could go with the flamingoes.

[flere-imsaho]

I should have known better.....

[Raven Hawk]

http://home.earthlink.net/%7Eravenhawk/mary-jane.jpg

I suggest you plant this. It's a cash crop.

[sovereignstar]

I'm not a gardener, but I'm a prospective gardener. First, I need to get out of this shithole of an apartment. I wish I could show you guys a picture of my counter. My wang could stretch across it. Sorry I can't help.

[albionmoonlight]

Surtt, what is your advice? In particular, what do you think about "wildflowers?"

[Surtt]

My advice would be; go to Home Depot, pick out what you like, and plant them.
If you are looking for seeds, Park Seed (goggle for the web site) is pretty good.

I don't know how warm it is in Chicago, but I would say it is still early in the season.

I would stay away from "wildflowers." Do you really want to plant weeds in your yard?

[albionmoonlight]

Thanks, Surtt.

flere,

you may want to try a local gardening store/nursery. They tend to be staffed with knowledgeable people who love giving advice on this kind of stuff.

[flere-imsaho]

Thanks for the helpful advice, folks. I'll check out the locals and see what I can come up with.

[Flame Eater]

1. Impatiens (sp?) are available and plantable all summer.

2. You can get barrels at any lawn/garden center. I've seen untreated ones at Wal-Mart. They have seeds for all kinds of plants. If you do herbs in smaller (ie movable) containers, you can keep then going year-round (and enjoy fresh herbs year-round too).

3. Dude, "wildflowers" is a gardening code word for weeds. If you want grass...do grass. If you want weeds...do weeds. But you probably won't be able to do BOTH very well. I'd vote for grass. It will support your yard better. Foot traffic and playing kids will turn a weed patch into a mud hole real quick. Grass is stronger and more resilient.

4. Don't be afraid of flower bulbs. They grow back every spring, bloom and then die down. In up-state NY they die down just about the time I need to start cutting grass. So I just run them over with the mower, and look forward to seeing them next spring. I don't have time for formal flower beds. So we just plant bulbs around the house. It looks great in the spring. We also have rose bushes, and they provide the summer/fall flowers. I would recommend daphadels (sp?). Animals don't like them and won't eat them. Tulips and Crocises (sp?) are candy to rabbits and other little animals.

Enjoy.

David.

[wade moore]

Flame Eater stole my answer...