The daffodils and peonies my Great-Grandma left in her old garden survived 3 generations of tenants with no care whatsoever. :)

You could lay down Salvia coccinea seeds and the hummingbirds/butterflies would really appreciate it....they are lovely plants, too.

Hi thorndancer....

I am also an organic grower. Started my first veggie bed in the early 80s. I also try to provide plants that are attractive to bees, etc., and use natives as much as I can. So it would seem we are on the same page. :-) Your question inspired me to think about what you are trying to accomplish so I hope you will overlook how long a post this is. [g]

I would like to clarify that you are renting an apartment in a residential home that has a backyard that had neglected raised veggie beds that you have used while you lived there. This property belongs to your landlord who I assume does not live on the premises? If all of the above are true, then here are my thoughts..

Just as you moved in and saw the empty raised beds and decided to use them, don't be too sure the next tenant would not do the same. Perhaps a potential tenant who already is a gardener would be looking for such a rental. If you plant mint, I feel you would be creating a problem for the next tenant should they at some point decide to use those beds, or for your landlord who will have to deal with the mint at some future time at which point it will probably be growing from one end of the backyard to the other. It can be seriously invasive and I have read a number of threads on GW from gardeners reporting horror stories using it. I love mint and I do realize it is a beneficial attractant and I do grow it, but I grow mine in large plastic pots and dig them into my vacant veggie beds for the winter and dig them out again in the spring. This way they are easier to control. Believe it or not, some of it got into the bed I was 'storing' them in for the winter. I could barely believe that some of it had escaped the container in the brief time it was in 'cold' soil.

So, what can you put there? We are talking about three 3x5 raised beds in full sun, right? I understand where your heart is, but, I'm not sure how effective your plan will turn out to be in reality. We just went through a summer here with very very little rain. I have a lot of plants that I consider drought tolerant and easy care, but even with some supplemental watering from the sprinkler, a lot of plants in my garden look awful right now.

What looks the best in my yard this fall? Sedums, Coreopsis moonbeam, chrysanthemums, asters, shasta daisy becky and snowcap, dianthus, artemesia silver mound.

If you are planning something that will look good and be useful to wildlife and insects while getting little care at all, some of these could be considered candidates. The asters I have seen woodchucks and rabbits eating down to the ground, My sedums in the fall are covered in bees and all kinds of pollinators..the rest of the plants may be be more decorative but they will look very good most of the season with little care and provide blooms for pollinators. The other plant that I only have one of in my yard but it is a performer, is asclepias tuberosa. In bloom a long time, drought tolerant and a butterfly attractor, self seeds, is a good height, will mix in with the rest of these plants well.

Realistically though, unless someone waters them once in awhile, nothing will survive a full season of entire neglect. Even my mint looked awful back in late July and I had to cut it all the way back and water it well for a few weeks. So, picture doing all that work and no one takes care of it and what it will look like if you end up having a summer of drought. You could leave a note for the future tenant, describing your plantings and your intentions and the minimal care that they would have to provide. That could work because really beyond watering during a dry spell, I think all these plants could be pretty carefree.

But since it is already the end of October and you are moving in the winter, I don't see how you could plant this garden. Maybe you are thinking of just planting seed in the beds that will come up next spring? Unless you are thinking of hitting the season end sales at the nurseries or know someone dividing plants in their garden. If you are wanting to just sow seeds and hope for the best..asters, asclepias tuberosa, shasta daisy becky, snowcap and dianthus are all plants I have winter sown.

Other than that...you could hope that the next tenant would be inspired by the raised beds in the yard to start a veggie garden. You could clean them out good and layer organic materials on them so they are ready to be planted come spring, or plant them with a cover crop that would keep them in condition for the next person that wanted to use them whenever that would be. Hairy vetch has worked well for me...I wouldn't use winter rye. Clover is something the rabbits would love. Johnny's Seeds offers a good selection of cover crop seeds and are good at helping you decide which one suits your purpose. Again, a note to the future tenant about how you have prepared the beds for them and leave them a little booklet on beginning vegetable gardening with a brief description of how you started out and how much pleasure you have gotten from it. A lot of people, if nothing else, would love to grow their own tomatoes. You could leave them a few seed catalogs.

Hope that is of some help and good luck! I hope you find a new rental with a great gardening space.

:-)
pm2

Cosmos makes beautiful flowers that bees and butterflies love. Easy care and they reseed prolifically, if heavily planted they will help to keep weeds down in the bed. But being an annual, they shouldn't present a problem for the new tenant if they wish to use the bed- or to the landlord.
I think your idea is a great one. A surprise to the new tenant in the spring, and yet one that wouldn't interfere if the new tenant wanted to garden on their own.

Dwarf Dahlias and Hostas.

Dwarf Dahlias reseed and are very uniform and bushy in their growth. They look healthy without paying any attention to them, and they don't get out of hand.

Hostas are always nice because they are dependable and they add interest without getting ratty looking. And they always look nice from a distance.

I think combining these two would be nice :-)

Linda

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and comments! I'm taking many of the points here into consideration and have been becoming active on the seed exchange forums to seek out many of the plants you have discussed -- the new tenants may get more cosmos than they can handle! (And maybe they will want to take over the boxes, after all.) Warmest thanks for taking an interest. :)