Hi All,

I'm new to GardenWeb and this is only my second year of gardening...I moved to a rented house in central Phoenix last year and we built a raised bed garden to go in the backyard. Last year we grew quite a few pepper and tomato plants and had the most success with serrano peppers, eggplant, and cherry tomatoes. The raised bed is in a spot exposed to morning and afternoon sun, which is my guess as to why everything else didn't thrive. I was also horrifically attacked by a squad of mosquitoes every time I went out to water, so that may have also had something to do with it...

This year I spent my garden funds on a mixture of vegetables/fruits as well as flowers, since I was lacking some color in the yard. Since I'm still a newbie at gardening, I was wondering what exactly is considered "morning sun" so I can help the plants grow to their best potential. I'm assuming it's from dawn until noon (or possibly earlier?).

I'm planning on splitting the raised bed into two separate sections, with one section having some shade cloth to protect plants from afternoon sun, and the other section being fully exposed all day. If anyone has any suggestions to changes I should make to this plan, please let me know! I'm here to learn :)

Shaded section: Strawberries (June bearing and everbearing), wild cherry tomatoes, Longfellow cucumber, onions

Full sun section: Crimson sweet watermelon & Balls' zucchini

I also bought a large variety of herbs to experiment with - cilantro, Italian oregano, basil, chocolate mint, rosemary, and curled parsley. My rosemary from last year did very well, but if anyone has any special Arizona suggestions for the rest of these herbs, please let me know. I was planning on potting them and setting them in a slightly sunny but cooler location.

Thanks everyone! I look forward to learning and participating in this forum from here on out.