Any Gardeners out there? Flower people?

[jennielynn1970]

I built a deck on the back of my house last year, and I put up window boxes by my three windows. I tried out pansies last year because they were so cheery and bright looking, but they just would not thrive. I had some lemon scented shrubs out there too, and heather, and they died too (although that might have been water related... :o ).

My deck faces the east, and it gets a lot of shade. It really doesn't get any direct light because of all the tall houses next to me and infront of the deck (it's a large brick wall of the 1st house in the alley next to our street.

Any suggestions?? I really want to have flowers out there, but I don't want to keep buying flowers that are going to die on me. I just want some that are pretty, smell good, and don't take a lot of care, and don't need direct sunlight.

View of the porch from the back walks between the houses.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/HPIM0277.jpg

Window boxes were attached later, but this is the back of the house by the kitchen.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/HPIM0274.jpg

And this is the front of my house (it's the 5th of 6 row homes built in 1904). It's just the front porch after I painted it, and put up the porch swing, and you can't see the 2nd and 3rd floors on here, but they're not exciting anyway, lol.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/DSCN0497.jpg

[Taz_Zoee]

I just want some that are pretty, smell good, and don't take a lot of care, and don't need direct sunlight.
Aside from the smelling good, I thought these kinds of flowers were called fake. :p LOL Just kidding. I'm no good at gardens. Sorry.

[Scooter's Mom]

My mom had a green thumb. My aunt and uncle do too. Mine is black down to the wrist! I can't grow ANYTHING except weeds.

Good luck finding some plants to grow :)

[Karen]

If you don't mind buying them each spring, Impatients will be perfect for that spot. Some people also call them Patient Lucies. They thrive in shady spots, and will blossom and keep blossoming all season long. They don't have any scent, but you'll have your choice of bright or dark colors, and the leaves are a nice dark green. They don't have any scent, but on the plus side, they thrive on benign neglect.

If you want a perennial that will blossom early spring, Forget-Me-Nots are lovely, but unlike Impatients, they have a short season. Violets will blossom every year ...

[Moesha]

I love Gerbera Daisies. They come in a variety of colors. No scent though. Mine did very nice on my back porch without much sunlight last year. I put them in big pots, but my friend had hers in a window box.

[Catlady711]

Impatiens are a good choice for an annual, although I never found any scent to them myself, but they love shade and fill out quite nicely.

Vinca Minor (periwinkle) is a nice ivy like plant with purple flowers that likes shade and it's a perinnial.

I've never had much luck, but Bleeding Heart is supposed to like shade.

Hosta likes shade, but the flowers are insignificant and don't have a scent.

I have had daylilies grow on the north side of my house which is also under a huge shade tree all day.

Either way good luck with your plants this spring.

[AbbyMom]

If you don't mind buying them each spring, Impatients will be perfect for that spot. Some people also call them Patient Lucies. They thrive in shady spots, and will blossom and keep blossoming all season long.

I also plant impatiens every year in my shady areas and put them in pots on the patio. If they are in pots, I find they must be watered every day.

Also, I started using the potting mix with the fertilizer mixed in so I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the summer.

I've attached some pictures from previous summers so you can see how cheerful they look. Now I'm really looking forward to getting my garden going.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

I asked my hubby and he recommends Impatiens or Petunia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petunia

Good luck!! be sure to post pics of the result :)

[Lilith Cherry]

Do you like geraniums? They come in lots of colours and some have lovely scents too. You can take them inside to "winter" and put them back out next spring too.

Karen, in England we call impatiens "busy lizzies" :)

[Russian Blue]

I do NOT have a green thumb at all and I seem to kill most flowers. BUT, impatiens/geraniums/hostas are the easiest to grow! Also, check out your local garden nursery and get suggestions there from the informative folks. They will know your zone/weather conditions and can give you the best recommendations.

My hostas and ferns thrive in my shaded areas of the garden. Here's a list of other suggestions:
Shade loving plants (http://www.renovatorsplace.com/dsp_articles.cfm?l_article_id=119&l_cat_id=41&catid=41)

Also, you may want to substitute the planter boxes with container gardening. I noticed that planter boxes dry out often, where a deep pot/container seems to do better for the flowers.

Good luck! I'm hoping not too kill too many things this year in my garden. ;)

[jennielynn1970]

I'm going to Home Depot today to get some things to work on my upstairs bath, so I'll stop in their greenhouse area and see what they have.

Is it too early to plant??

[Karen]

I'm going to Home Depot today to get some things to work on my upstairs bath, so I'll stop in their greenhouse area and see what they have.

Is it too early to plant??

It would be up here, but I don't know about your local climate. Ask the folks in the Garden Center. You don't want to plant Impatients until after there's no more danger of frost for the season ... so they may not even be available yet.

[jennielynn1970]

There wasn't too much of anything that wasn't in the enclosed area of Home Depot's Garden Center, so I took that to mean that I need to wait to plant out in the elements. It's warming up down here, but my luck, I'd buy plants and put them out and we'd get an ice storm... not snow, heaven forbid we get snow in my area...grumble, grumble, grumble. I'm so tired of all this darn rain!

I'll check back with them in April I guess.

[jennielynn1970]

My hostas and ferns thrive in my shaded areas of the garden.

Also, you may want to substitute the planter boxes with container gardening. I noticed that planter boxes dry out often, where a deep pot/container seems to do better for the flowers.

Good luck! I'm hoping not too kill too many things this year in my garden. ;)

Those planters did dry out a lot! That surprised me! That might have been part of the problem, along with the lighting and the fact that I'm not a good waterer if things like that aren't right in front of me, lol. Outta sight, outta mind kind of thing. Guess I'll have to BBQ more this year since my grill is on the back deck, that way I'll see the plants and remind myself a lot more, lol.

There were hostas here when I moved in. The previous owners had planted them along the white fence of the neighbor's house. I actually Freecycled them, and had someone come and dig them all up. I wanted to put mulch down, or do stonework there. Now it's just mossy, and icky. I didn't have the guy who did my deck do any other landscaping (we were talking about me doing something to save me $$$, and I never got around to getting stone to put down). I'm not one for taking care of a lot of plants and bushes and all that other stuff. I grew up on a 100 acre farm and moved away from there for a reason, lol. I just want some green I have to take care of here and there. ;)