Plants hate me!

[Megan Buck]

This is our first house, and my first experience gardening. I say gardening, really all I want is for the flowerbed in front of our house to look half-way decent. The first batch of flowers I tried withered away. We put down 3-5 inches of mulch/planting soil and tried again with marigolds and some other annuals. Again, most of them are withering away. They get a good 8 hours direct sun and I water them with a soaker hose everyday. I don't know what else I'm supposed to be doing. Any suggestions?

[Peggy Wennerlind]

I have been thinking about your problem. One problem is that we are in a drought and unless the soil/lawn around your flower bed is being watered by a sprinkler system or manually, all the moisture you put on your flowers is quickly being soaked up by the surrounding dry ground. You might lay the hose on the ground and let the water run all over the bed, watering deeply several times a week.

It is actually late in West Texas to be planting small annuals because they do not have time to develop a root system before the blistering sun bares down. However, one colorful and sun tolerant annual is Moss Rose (portulaca) which tolerates sun and some dryness through the end of summer. They are only about 6 inches high but have wonderfully colorful little blossoms. They come in 6 packs in the nursury or in seed packets and when planted close together they are very pretty carpet of color.

If you want a tall flower, I have Mexican petunias (perennials) that are bloming purple blossoms and spreading like crazy with little care. I will give you a start if you would like to try them. (Some Mexican petunias in the nursery are the short variety and some are tall.) In the future you may want to plant rhizomes and bulbs like iris and daffodils in the fall for spring color and day lilies for the summer, Or you can go low maintance this summer with some gold lantana which spreads its woody branches to fill up your flower bed and may last through the winter to grow another summer. Good luck!

[Kelsey Dean]

I just moved to Alpine from South Texas. So I had to adjust to gardening in West Texas. I had some annuals whither and die on me this spring even though I was watering them every day. Most of them survived however when the wind slowed down a bit and I added mulch. So try adding mulch because it gives them protection from wind, sun, etc. Marigolds should work just give them time.

[Megan Buck]

Thanks to both of you. Several people have suggested an extra layer or two of mulch to help with the wind problem. And I think I will try rhizomes and bulbs in the fall — since the irises I planted last year were some of the only pants that did okay. What other bulbs/rhizomes would you recommend?

[John White]

Megan,

Let me add my dime's worth of advice in the general matter of gardening. Since it appears that you are just starting out let me assure you that we have all been there at one point in our lives.

1) Research It depends upon the amount of time and money you are willing to invest, but I would suggest a good gardening book, preferably one that explores several varities of plant material that are well suited for the arid and windy Midland climate,
You will need to find out your planting zone and heat index numbers in order to determine if that particular annual or periennal will survive the harsh Midland climate. For instance out here in Nacogdoches, Our planting zone is an '8', which means that the average minimum low tempeture is approximately around in the low 30's. That doesn't mean it hasn't been colder, but it is the usual norm for the Piney Woods for most years. The other factor is the heat index. Believe it or not Seattle and Nacogdoches have the same Zone 8 rating, but you and I both know that East Texas is considerably warmer that Seattle. There are some flowers that will wilt in the unforgiving oven that is our Summers here in Texas. It doesn't matter how much water you give to the plant.. These particular plants will not thrive.

2) Seek Advice Don't be like a man and not ask.(lol) I would seek out a local nurseryman for assistance in plant selection. You may pay a bit more for flowers with an independent, but I assure you that by establishing a good relationship with an area nursery man ( or woman ) will be it worth in gold. It's awful tuff finding knowledgable help at Walmart. You may need specific help with a specific plant like.......Irises. I betcha that Peggy W. knows her stuff about gardening,especially in the field of Irises 'HINT" Iris will do well in your locale. I would also explore several other choices of periennal including daylilies, spring bulbs ( daffodils) Elephant ears, ...ect.

3) Draw up your plan Know what you want in flowerbeds. I would suggest drawing your idea on a blank sheet of paper to see a 'Bird's Eye' view of the layout. Attempt to stay away from using straight lines in your flower beds. Instead use arcs's, undulating line, ect.... in order to soften the harsh lines that a house can present.
Take time to prepare the bed with plenty of mulch and enriched soils. It will save you plenty of time in the future in maintanance ( weeding ) and how your plant selection will thrive.

4) Execute your plan Remeber if you are looking for color impact, mass planting is the way to go. You may use 4 inch spacing or six inch, depending on the mature growith of your flowering plant. Of course, spacing is extremely important when it comes to planting bushes and trees. You have to think 10, 20 or even 30 years down the line in order when you plant that small little switch, that will be 30 feet tall at maturity. Also take into consideration that as your landscape matures, the requirements of light and water will change. In other words, your personal gardening experience will evolve in order to adapt to the changes that full and lush yard presents.


Now, that is a lot to digest in considering when you 1st get into gardening. Don't sweat the big stuff. It will take time to learn the specifics for you area, It's a little like 'on the job traiining. You will make mistakes. You never get over making mistakes. That is part of the growing experience that is gardening. It is in the victories that come along that make all of the dirt under the finger nails, the scrapes on the hands and arms. and the sweat on the brown, well worth the time.

Gardening is like painting. The canvas is the good earth. The color palate is your selection of planting materials that you use to fill in that brown void, The brush is the effort that you place into planning and executing your own floral dreams . Whatever you do, it will be a masterpeice. Have fun. It is an endeavor that can last you a lifetime of pleasure.