We always have a good size garden with tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, onions, beets, carrots, radishes, rhubarb (of course, it's North Dakota!) and I always border by garden with marigolds. I always have hanging pots of wave petunias on my front deck and dianthus in the flowerbeds. North Dakota has a beautiful, though short, summer season and all the flowers and lawns are so pretty. Lilacs, one of my favorites, grows almost wild here too.

My daughter's wedding is this summer, and she wants pictures taken in our back yard, so my focus will be on making things look pretty.

One flower bed well be redone with the addition of stargazer lilies ( her favorite), and lots of pink, purple and lavender flowers, which are her wedding colors.

My raised bed vegetable garden (we have 11 beds that are 4' x 10', and one that is 4'x4') will be filled with basil, rainbow swiss chard, Tuscan kale, beets, green beans, yellow beans, parsnips, Thai basil, 4 kinds of warm to hot peppers, crook neck squash, zucchini, onions, 8 kinds of lettuce, radishes, peas, cucumbers, and herbs, including one bed of perennial herbs.

I always include nasturtiums and marigolds in my veggie beds, mostly because I like the way they look.

I have a lot of work to do, before the wedding, so I'm hoping the weather begins to cooperate soon. Here in Upper Michigan, the green of perennials are just beginning to pop thru the ground, my day lilies are about 2 inches tall. Today or tomorrow seeds for cool weather plants go in the ground, and the bulk of the garden goes in Memorial Day weekend.

I won't be "growing" anything really but will buy stuff for my pots and a bench I plant. I quess I will be maintaining things someone else grew. Thank goodness for all you real growers out there, I appreciate what you do.

Last summer I grew popcorn from a free packet of seeds I got at Sprouts. It was the best, crunchiest popcorn I ever had! So I ordered more and will pass them out to my kids and grandkids to plant before it gets so darn hot here in south Texas. Since we added rainbarrels, I rarely have to use tap water!

Straw bale gardening. I will probably need knee surgery soon so have to limit what I do this year. I have 6 straw bales that have been sitting out for about 6 weeks. I just planted this weekend. Mostly tomatoes, some peppers, some herbs. I have my fruit trees (cherry, apple, peach, nectarine apricot and fig) and a strawberry patch. I always plant a huge pot of herbs on the deck (basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme and tarragon) handy to my grill and the kitchen door. Also I have some older established perennial beds in front. Japanese iris starting to bloom now and hosta filling out nicely.

jashumbert

I was hoping someone would mention either doing this or having done this. I has been going back & forth on this because I have seen a lot on it but I have never spoken with anyone who had used the straw bale method. I was thinking tomatoes & probably green beans, maybe some Armenian cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, butternut squash & maybe honeydew, organic of course to make sure there are no GMO seeds. Just not summer without melons! Haha!

We have two homes. Our vacation home has perennials and bulbs since I'm only there once or twice per month. Once retirement comes along, though. Let the fun begin.

Our year-round home has 13 acres and each year our vegetable garden gets smaller. I've discovered the local farmers and their roadside stands. Way less work. My garden this year will be beans, tomatoes, herbs, lettuce mix and peppers.

After years of changing flower beds, we "redecorated" with perennials. We used to have a large garden until we sat down for some serious calculating (water, weeding, fertilizers, whatever). The costs greatly outweighed the "rewards". So we ditched the $5.00 carrots and $3.00 heads of lettuce for store-bought. Our pocketbooks and backs said "Thank you".

This is my first year! I had a raised bed built in my backyard and spent the fall and winter amending the soil. We now have tomatoes, peppers, Cucumbers, zucchini, beans, chard, lettuce and bok choy. And in grow bags, we are growing winter squash, corn and peas. Very excited to see how it goes!

We have divided the garden into vegetables and flower garden. My husband does the bed and I do the rest so we are growing onions, garlic broad beans early in the polytunnel main crop broad beans, peas, tomatoes, potatoes (we are Irish) runner beans, all the herbs, melon, cucumber, courgette, leeks and carrots. I've probably forgotten a few. The tunnel makes the growing season longer here which is great.
I have a good selection of herbaceous plants lupins, monkshood, echinops, helenium, lillium also digitalis to name a few.

Tomatoes are a GMO crop as are potatoe, corn etc. They were GMO 'd by the Inca people. Do n't sweat the GMO thing.

Garlic and spinach planted last fall. Will soon be putting in potatoes & onions. When it gets a little warmer will be putting in patty pan, Kubocha & butternut squash, a variety of tomatoes, jalapeños and maxi bell peppers. Cherry & apple trees are blooming as are our strawberry plants - hope for good crops. Happy gardening everyone.

Just ate my first cherry tomato yesterday. Planted the last week of March. Have green tomatoes coming along on my "San Diego", and just a few set so far on my "Mortgage Lifter", but it is a dependable producer later in the summer in my experience. Looking forward to lots of fresh homemade gazpacho this summer!

Emily O'Byrne, GMO is not the same as hybridization or selective breeding within the same species. GMO involves using gene material from an entirely different species and implanting it into a germ cell of a plant (or animal). The ancient Incas (or even Europeans) did not practice gene splicing across species.

I actually beat the squirrel to a couple peaches for the first time. I have eggplant and peppers producing and am watching for the first tomatoes and zucchinis. Had few asperigus and swiss chard. he's include cilantro, chives, rosemary, basil, mint, parsley ,fennel, lemon balm and thyme. My figs and raspberries are struggling but flowers all in bloom, roses, honeysuckle, jasmine,irises, winecups, mums, fuchsias cannas, and more.
I like to play in the dirt.

I moved this year to an apartment, after living 45 yrs in a home with a yard full of flowers and a vegetable garden. Amazing how many different flowers can be grown in pots. I have roses, impatientes, fuchsia, mandevilla, begonias and petunias. All red of course to attract Hummingbirds,

I am growing, flowers, herbs, tomatoes, strawberries, squash, sweet peppers and lemons.

We are in the process of creating client packages, and inside we've printed on https://www.botanicalpaperworks.com! Paper turns to flowers, herbs or veggies!

Weeds, probably ... if last year is anything to go by ...

We haven't seen warm enough weather for more than a day in the Thumb of MI yet. It gets warm - that means over 50 degrees - for a day or two, goes up into the 70s for a day then back down into the 30s and 40s. Maybe June will be springlike and safe to plant my garden.

I'm still trying my hand at growing lemon. Also planted some lavender, pansies and I can't do a summer without tomatoes.

I tried veggies and, like others above, decided it was a lot of work and expense to produce something I can buy for very little when the crops come in, so FLOWERS ALL THE WAY! Actually, not just "flowers," but finishing up more permanent landscaping, so plenty of shrubs and perennials. I do so want to get things to where they look nice for three seasons without a whole lot of maintenance, maybe just a few annuals here and there -- that's my goal.

Had to replace just about all the major plantings here (old house), so did crape myrtles, camellias, azaleas, spirea, abelia, pieris japonica, Rose of Sharon, a few hollies, hydrangeas, climbing hydrangea on trellises, and the world's most nondescript barberry, etc plus a couple of new maple trees are going well. Hostas, catmint, dianthus, lilies, gaura, blackeyed Susans, spring bulbs, and a few roses here (southwestern Va, zone 7) continue to do pretty well also. My grandmother's next door neighbor passed along to me some plants Grandmother had given her, such a thrill! ---ferns and peonies.

Hardscaping done in past years is holding up and helps a lot -- focal points involving little maintenance. Picked up an extra couple of pieces of statuary at an estate sale last weekend, can't wait to install once repair of adjacent fence is complete (hope I can get the sweet autumn clematis to go back up).

To me, the whole gardening proposition is not just a question of exactly what I will plant, but of what is currently the worst-looking spot and what will convert it to something that will look good for as many years as possible to come, hopefully without way too much maintenance. For example, keeping the ivy off the older trees and generally under control takes some time, but I just reviewed that and found it wd cost over $10K to replace an ugly concrete wall the ivy is currently camouflaging, so the ivy still looks better! Maybe in the course of nature it will EAT the wall entirely, and the whole thing will fall down, saving me about half the cost! At that point, I think I'd splurge on a really pretty rock wall...

For this year, however, I think the big project will be to replace the burning bushes, which have gotten WAY too big, loose their pretty fall foliage in a couple of weeks due to too much wind coming uphill, and are a real eyesore in the winter. It will be a very major project to get the roots dug out to the point where I can put in something new and tidy -- dwarf Japanese maples, I think, the red weeping kind that can be kept down to maybe 5 feet. I need a Really Good Vision, to fuel all that digging! And I need to quit writing long posts and get to work!!!

We do our tried and true herbs, tomatoes, and flowers every year and try new things each year. This year we added blueberry bushes but took out carrots. Added wisteria but took out half the lettuces. Always a work in progress based on what we did and did not consume or grow well. With so much variety there's no reason to have a wilting garden or underutilized consumables. My neighbors and I also do a lot of swapping. They love our abundance of tomatoes and I get things that I don't seem to grow well like cilantro and peppers.

i have 300 of different planet inmy roofgarden!!

i have 300 of different planet inmy roofgarden!! iran. tehran

We have had a garden for nearly 50 years. This year we are doing a straw bale garden on the back deck as I'm having a hip replacement soon. We have a raised bed already on the deck that worked well for smaller vegetables that sometimes get lost in the garden (go away for 2 weeks and the weeds have taken over). My husband will do potatoes in his ground-level bed and maybe add a few tomatoes. Tomatoes did well last year in the straw bales but got a late start. anything we don't grow we buy at the local farmer's market.

I clicked flowers, because we have innumerable ones--many edible; But i am also growing some herbs (Indoor window & greenhouse boxes), fruit & nuts (orchard) & vegs.

I am very new at gardening but I am going to try to grow tomatoes, roses, strawberries, and herbs this year. Wish me luck!

We grow apples, plums, walnuts, herbs, flowers, lettuce, onions, cucs, green peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, wax beans, green, beans, peas, carrots, & might add broccoli & cauliflower if there's room.

papaya, peach, fig, banana, sugar apple and tomato.

Fresh veggies!

Flowers, flowers, and more flowers!

Basil, tomatoes, Rosemary.

Emily, I will grow: raspberries, 25 heirloom tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, 3 kinds of basil, parsley, 4 kinds of melons, 3 kinds of carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, arugula and many kinds of lettuce.

Older...

Oh yeah!

Living in the desert without the ability to avoid ground squirrels which have lived here a lot longer than I, I need help to figure out how to get a garden to grow.

Ground squirrels, wild bird species and other critters are entitled to live here, but they are able to get to all of the spaces I have tried to grow. Suggestions?

I live just west of Orlando, FL and the ground is pure sand. Our house sat empty for a couple years before we bought it so the yards were just weeds. I'm still working on my front yard - lots of flowers and ground cover (so when it all grows in I won't have any mowing to do). It's starting to take shape but it'll be another year before the ground cover completely does its job and in the meantime, I'm busy pulling that doggone crab grass (which grows twice as fast as the Asiatic Jasmine).

Last year, I tried growing a veggie garden in the backyard - spent lots and lots of money on improving the "soil" (aka sand) and reaped about 50 cents worth of vegetables (heavy sigh). So I've decided to plant the back yard in Perennial Peanut (a nice ground cover) and get my fruit trees in. I'll wait a bit before I try a veggie garden again, but when I do, I plan to try a straw bale garden, hopefully with better results.

We have herbs, veggies, and flowers! This spring on the west coast if California has been beautiful. We have many veggies but our corn is already hip high and the tomatoes are looking meaty and delicious. In our herb garden we have basil, parsley (curly and Italian), rosemary, sage, two types of thyme, tons of mint, tarragon, oregano, and cilantro. We have also been replanting our rose garden and grape arbor.

My husband and I just finished building our raised beds and are working on the back yard of our new home. We moved 5 tons of rock and 11 cubic yards of soil/compost in 2 weeks with wheelbarrows to finish this project and get our garden starts planted! We are growing corn on our hillside; and in the raised beds we are growing spaghetti squash, pumpkin, zucchini, scallop and yellow squash; 8 kinds of tomatoes; jalapeno and shishito peppers; pickling cucumbers; basil, rosemary, greek oregano, sage, mint and parsley. Emerite and Fortex green beans are in the half barrels. We ran radishes down the center of the tomato planter and kale/swiss chard down the center of the pepper planter. We are hoping for a full freezer and pantry this year! One planter is 12' long; the other two are 18' long. They are 2' tall and 3' wide.

Lots of flowers, some herbs, tomatoes, beets, basil and marijuana since it's legal in Washington.

For those of you wanting to plant gardens in SMALL SPACES ,check out " urban planters.ca " . Some great ideas for vertical planting . My favorite looks like a wide ladder - the rungs are removable planter boxes ( so one can take boxes inside to start seeds ) . Just lean the planter against house or wall . Would be nice to have herbs in this close to the house ......

jes3940

The best suggestion I can give you is raised beds & bird netting. Build your raised beds & put rabbit wire on the bottom before you fill in the beds with dirt. That should do nicely to keep out the digger squirrels (ground squirrels).

As for the birds, you can use wooden dowels or wire to tee pee or drape your raised beds with bird netting.........

Where there's a will there's a way! :-)

Thought I'd check off all boxes but after the one for flowers the poll was sent. Should have checked off all of the above as we grow vegies and flowers, herbs, shrubs, and vines. Lots of work however, for an 82 and 75 year old - but just can't give it up after years and years of gardening. Good to be outdoors, exercise goes without saying, but the gifts of our labour is very rewarding. It's still ground level for the veggies and would prefer raised beds now. I love potting up flower planters and have them on the decks, front patio and in hanging baskets and love the attraction of hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.

What am I planning on growing this summer?

Weeds.

Unfortunately.

Desperately needing serious re-grading of my property, but...

Just try having a very small, postage-stamp sized property and getting a landscaper to actually want to take the job. Never going to happen, so long as there are bigger/wealthier customers to be found...
If anyone knows a reasonably priced and decent landscaper who takes on small jobs in the Rhode Island area, please let me know!

Hello I make a mistake when I vote I want vote all this above tomatoes, green pepper cucumber red oignons Spanish oignons

Peonies, Roses, Lilacs, Snapdragons, Tulips, Hydrangeas, Honeysuckle & Hibiscus! Peach, Plum, Pear, Pomegranate trees. Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Cilantro, Chile Pequin, Onion, & Pumpkin.

I have planted peonies (first time in years), one daylily (it was a free gift with a peony root), various annual flowers, Cherokee Purple tomatoes (the ONLY kind I plant), one eggplant (in a pot), basil, and and two pots (long story) of parsley. I planted all in the ground with the exception of the eggplant, parsley and annual flowers. I have fantastic luck with the Cherokee Purple tomatoes, high yield and no disease (keeping my fingers crossed) and, to me, they are the most delicious tomatoes ever--very sweet.

I grow abit of everything well not much in the way of fruit. Where I live I get fruit from the orchards, my husband and I find that the orchards do a fine job, so we support them. I do grow herbs and veggies, and flowers.

I am growing roses but also trying my luck with a beefsteak tomato plant and a cherry one. I also brought back some rhubarb from the house where I used to live and planted it here. Also chives. I have never seen chives get this big!!! The ones we used to grow were almost half the size of the ones we had at the house. For the rhubarb I read somewhere where one could not pick any when it is in its first year. Is this because it needs to get established?? I left it too late to actually dig up the roots as two thirds of it already had big leaves on it. So I went to the end of the row where the leaves were smaller and dug up about 4 or 5 of them. Two of them are going like gangbusters. But the ones our apartment hired to do the gardens we all swear they don't know a flower from a weed. In fact people have planted stuff and then they come along and pull them out. I think they did that with one of the rhubarb plants. Then there was an iris growing there and it got the stalk with this big bud on it ready to open and then they come along and cut the stalk with the bud on it off when I imagine using the whipper thing. I always check my roses every day and so far none of them have suffered the same fate. I guess they know what roses are. I would love to have a garden and grow zucchini, leaf lettuce but there is no room for me to put them. There are gardens other people are using to grow their vegetables in and this one woman I asked regarding hers last year but she said she needed it to plant herbs in and whatnot but not flowers. Well this year she had to give it up as she was too busy working at the PO to look after it. I had no idea it was available and the payoff was the husband and wife that just moved into the apartment this year they up and used it to grow their vegetables in.