Year Two of Garden - Lessons Learned

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, bigger and stronger.  A handful of the annuals came back, which was surprising.  Here's a list of what worked for me and what didn't.

Perennials for Zone 8

Geraniums -- Of course, these plants don't seem to die no matter what you do to them.  They last all year long.

Daylily - These flowers open up each morning, take up quite a bit of area, but are beautiful and hardy.