Newbie Gardener Lessons Learned

The Passion Flower Vine Here is my first video.  I'm doing an introduction to the Passion Flower vine, which I enjoy growing and tending to.

My Third Year of Gardening So, a lot of flowers came back this year on their own.  I learned that if I leave my petunias alone, they will grow and bloom wonderfully on their own.  Yes, they do need pesticide spray.  The colors on this plant are miraculous. Irises - These flowers are resilient.  They come back in full force during spring. And they spread their seeds.  I have Asiatic lilies in my flower beds and they started out with 2-3 flowers, but this year, they came back with 8-9 flowers. I'm expecting them to multiply next spring. Swap out dead flowers and feed the new ones with Miracle-Gro food and spray a pesticide on them.

Year Two of Gardening I've been busy and I'm learning a lot.  I'll cut right to the chase. First things first.  You should know what Zone you are planting in.  For zones, refer to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.  http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ Perennials vs. Annuals This was my biggest blunder.  I had picked out so many beautiful flowers when I first started gardening.  Here's a picture of the flower beds when I first started. I had quite a few perennials. I had a couple of annuals.  Well, as the summer progressed and fall came along, the temperatures began to drop and quite a few of the annuals began dying away.  I tried relentlessly to keep them alive.  Turns out, that's what they are supposed to do -- die away in fall/winter.  The perennials, however, lasted almost all the way past December.  And when their blooms fell off, they remained.  And they bloomed again in the spring time, bigge...

G ardening L essons L earned So, I'm a Northern California Central Valley resident.  And the first thing I noticed after moving to this area is the fertility of the soil.  I recognized that this area is one of the largest producers of the nation's produce.  Grapes, asparagus, garlic, onions, tomatoes, corn, squash, melons, strawberries, peaches, figs, almonds, pecans, pears, pomegranates, list goes on, all grow in the surrounding farmlands.  My neighbors grow peaches, nectarines, lemons, cherries, and I'm sure, a ton of different vegetables. Having realized what all can grow here, I decided I want to try my hand at growing something as well.  I started by asking my fiancee to build 4 wooden garden beds.  I walked through the aisles of plants at Lowe's and picked out what I thought was beautiful and affordable.  I selected a couple 12-packs of annuals and a few 12-pack of perennials.  I bought a lot of garden soil.  Garden soil, not pot...