| I AM STARTING A GARDEN THIS YEAR AND WANTED TO KNOW WHAT FLOWERING PLANTS I SHOULD USE FOR MY AREA (VA)... I AM INTERESTED IN PERENNIALS AS WELL AS ANNUALS..I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A VARIETY OF FLOWERS THAT WOULD GROW WELL TOGETHER...THANK YOU VERY MUCH LJ, VA |
| There is a wide variety of plants that would do well for you. You might want to take a look at a book or two about flower gardening to help you begin to evaluate your growing conditions and begin to make some selections. Two books I particularly like are "Perennials for Dummies" and "Annuals for Dummies" because they are very straightforward and clearly written and include lists of plants suggested for different situations such as sun or shade, dry soil or moist. For a sunny garden, some of my favorites would include hemerocallis (daylilies), purple coneflower, "Goldsturm" rudbeckia and salvia for perennials, and cleome, cosmos, blue salvia "Victoria" and dahlias for annuals. You might also enjoy cannas during the summer and a nice selection of spring flowering bulbs to be planted next fall. For a shady garden you might try hosta, pulmonaria and ferns along with annuals such as impatiens and caladiums. I hope this gives you some ideas. |
