Planning your gardens for 2017 yet?

[plantdoctor]

I know it seems early, but I've decided that now is the time to look around and decide what needs to be done to improve the perennial beds and also a good time to analyze which annuals will make the cut to be grown again next year.  I do this every year, and I am always sure I can remember what changes to make.  It seems when I sleep all of those plans drift off some where never to resurface :-S ..... so this year I am making notes in my journal.  

*Tropical Milkweed
I started Tropical Milkweed from seed for the 1st time this year and next year I will do that again!  They just keep blooming their little hearts out and they are so pretty.  I did take note that they get taller than I expected, so plant accordingly.  I have some that are 5' tall....blocking the 4' tall plants behind them.  There is no deadheading with these plants(I did pick a few seed pods before they burst) and I see Monarch cats on 2 of them, so that is another plus for sure!  I know now why Donna has always loved them so much.

*Vinca (Madagascar Periwinkle)
I think my full sun beds will have these beautiful plants as borders.  I always knew they were heat and drought tolerant, but found out this year that they also survive monsoon conditions.  They require no deadheading and have gorgeous impatien kind of flowers with shiny leaves...have to touch them to make sure they are real.  My borders have always been profusion zinnias,
but I have had to pull most of them due to mildew to the point it was killing the plants.

*Perennial Phlox
We need to thin out many phlox, so yesterday I tied twine string around the ones that need to be removed.  It is easiest to tell now when they are blooming which color I have too much of.  We have several asking for phlox, so they will relocate in September.

* Day lilies
Some of our older ones have gotten to be such huge clumps that they need to be split and divided.  I have a few friends that want some, so they will be happy.

*Asters
I love my annual crego asters and other varieties as well.  This year many of them are getting Aster Yellows, so I read it is best to not grow them for a few years.  

*Marigolds
I plan on growing more of these as well....minimal deadheading and great performance no matter what the weather brings.

*Calendulas
I will let a few of these remain next year because I like them so well, but I have to admit they need deadheading almost daily...gets old. :o

*Coleus
I am really loving all of the new varieties of coleus.  I will use those for splashes of color in all gardens.  I am so glad there are now types that handle part and even full sun.

Enough for now(but I do have more).... I am curious if any of you are making plans already??  Please share...and this doesn't just have to be flower garden talk...plans for veggie gardens included too!   Charlene

[nanatnzone6]

Well, guess what I did this past weekend. Made a map of beds & wrote down what needed to be moved-divided-removed completely. I guess I have finally decided it is time to down-size. Watering has become somewhat difficult. Moving hose is not very easy anymore. So, I have decided to try to get things closer to the house. My favorite things & some very odd stuff. Some I can move in Sept.or Oct., but most will do better here in spring. Guess I'm just getting too old to work as hard as I used to, but I sure do love flower gardening. But, some is better than none. Kinda makes me sad, but I'll get through it & enjoy the ones I have saved. Didn't mean to be sad about this-it was just crazy that you have the post. Have a great day. Take care. Happy Gardening, nanatnzone6

[Angela]

>>and I see Monarch cats on 2 of them, so that is another plus for sure! I know now why Donna has always loved them so much.<<

Those must be strong plants to support cats on them! LOL Don't mind me! The strangest things strike my fancy! 😊

[mnwildflowers]

After spending the last 3 days in the kitchen dealing with produce I'm at the "I'm not gardening ANYMORE stage!!!!!" LOL!!

[tasty]

Good question, Plant lover.
I actually started planning back in May, although the planning was not directly for MY garden.

Every May, we hold a yard sale as a fundraiser for the curling club.  All members are asked to donate, give their time or buy, or some combination  thereof.  Of course that doesn't happen but a lot of us do and it's really lots of fun.

One thing we have always found to be popular is a plant sale.  Our sale is always held the Saturday after the long w/e in May (which is traditionally the start of gardening season here in Ontario).  We found this year that while small perennials did go, what was popular were the larger, better established perennials that fit into maybe an 8" pot.  After a family emergency in early sprig this year, we knew we would not be doing as much vegetable gardening as usual so I decided to use that space to grow splits from my own plants ready for next spring.  Right now I have a nice row of rudbekia , black-eyed susans, liatris etc in bloom for us to enjoy, but they will be easy to pot up come next May.  Altogether I have about 20 plants for the sale.  I would have done more as time went on but we ended up with drought conditions.

[flowerlady2]

YES!! my girls are telling me what seeds they want me to plant next year. We are working on a shade garden.We planted sun perennials near a weeping crepe myrtle and it grew so big (a tree now!) too much shade so we are working on plans for that. We plan to plant our seed earlier! Charlene vinca and profusion zinnias have been my basic plant for several years. They are the hardest of all. I planted double coreopsis this year and the plants are beautiful but haven't bloomed. Suppose to bloom in 120 days but didn't. I was so excited about them.  Abey 

[Kathy_SD]

Oh yes I have a notebook filled already, lol.

I had ordered 7 different colored standard iris, 6 different colored rebloomer iris, 5 bulbs each of 6 colors of giant hyacinths, 10 bulbs each of 5 colors of tulips and 15 bulbs of spanish blue bells and 15 bulbs of spanish pink bells. They will all be here by end of the month.

Bed that has wisteria climbing an old clothesline pole in the middle of the bed: I have a few iris, poppy mallow, geraniums and purple salvia in it now. I am going to move all the mallow poppy to the south end of the alley and plant a little over half of those bulbs in there along with some geraniums between them.

Bed at corner of back deck I now have phlox and Cadens daisy with pots of assorted plants around the edges. I won't put pots there again but the rest of those bulbs.

I am going to move around Rose of Sharon, helianthus, gloriosa, black eyed susans, spurge, maltese cross, wormwood and blue flax.

The annuals / biennials that I plant like castor bean, canterbury bells, calla lilies, oxalis, leadwort, malva, Yvonnes salvia, lavatera and poppies among a few others I will plant next year in different spots that I have already marked as to where I want to put them.

Made note to myself....FEWER POTS.

Charlene I will be sending you white canterbury bell and white and red poppy seeds sometime next week.

Only plant 1 tomato and 1 cucumber plant! but plant more onions.

[Gayle]

Oh yeah.  I make notes year round for the next season coming up.  They get changed & changed back several times before  the season gets here.  LOL

Too many to type here.  But I am still in the process of re-vamping my D'way bed so it looks less "wild".

And the Angel Bed is next. (this Fall)  All the Lilies are coming out of there & moving elsewhere.  They will be replaced with some shorter flowers.  I haven't made any final decisions on just what yet.

[iliz9]

It is fun to read about the future plans for your gardens....
I'm so sorry that my seeds planting ability has not improved,  would like to pay more attention to it.....Since our weather permits almost year around gardening, I am concentrating in my single flowerbed in our C.Yard and my many containers...I really would like to give away my Blueberries, they have done nothing since we moved to this place..also have a Fig tree that is not bearing any fruit either but it looks healthy...
The metal arch in the C.Y. has a Passion Vine, 2 Bougainvilleas, 1 Clematis and one rose..do you thing that's too much????  LOL, something has to go...
Then, a Dipladenia that refuses to grow/bloom, will be taken out of its big pot....Also, the Crape Myrtle in the front will go to the C.Y., so maybe the red rose tree, but it is soooo heavy even with the roller.....
DGF that is moving, gave me 10 1gal clay pots, I already painted them and are ready to be used...lol...but, now might have to get me some new plants to put in them...?? Another GF was ready to throw away a metal rack, of course, I volunteered to take it and now that's clean need to be spray painted ..still don't know how is going to be used....
Happy Planning!!

[pippin3]

Am pleased at how well vinca does in a pot so that is planned for next year., have to convince my husband that the only cucumber he should plant is Sweet Slice....and am planting garlic after reading that we are importing it from China! Asked our produce manager an he told me that that is what they sell! Crazy!

[nanatnzone6]

It seems we (gardeners) always have a new idea roaming around in our heads. If I stay away from garden centers I'm usually ok, but if I stop--oh my goodness, more plants will be coming home. This season I have gotten the least new plants & kinda proud of my self. In spring started looking at what I already had & if they could be divided to have more & that has made a big difference. Didn't realize I had so many plants that could be divided & moved & make me feel as if I was working on a new flower bed. Like a need another bed. haha!! Things are so dry here I will probably lose many plants. One of my favories helleborus are looking real bad. Have watered but just too hot for them. They like it cold. Ferns are also stressed. But, spring will come & I will start all over & love every minute. Enough rambling for me. Have a good evening, take care, Happy Gardening, nanatnzone6

[luvmyb_b]

I have definitely been fine tuning my plans for next year.  I try to periodically sit down and make notes of what has worked this year and what has not.  I hope I can convince myself come January that I must NOT start any broccoli or cauliflower seeds.  They are just not good for growing in pots. 

I will definitely be doing Profusion zinnias again next year.  They are simply awesome!  I'm pretty happy with all of the zinnias I grew this year.  I'll do all of them again for sure. 

The nicotiana has also done super for me this year, so that will be another must for 2017. 

I'm not loving my salvias so much this year.  I put a lot into them, and they are just mediocre. 

I love my ornamental cabbages.  The rabbits actually left them alone so I have three really nice ones this year. 

My Crego and Powder Puff asters always reseed for me so I don't have anything to do for them except watch for one color to dominate the bed. 

I will do more of the dwarf asters for the window box.  I didn't do nearly enough of them this year.  They'd look very nice in there with the smaller zinnias kind of fading about now. 

I'm also looking to do the balsam and cypress vine again next year, also the brachycome and browallia.

I LOVE annual vinca!!! We didn't have any of it this year because by the time I went looking for it, the choices were limited.  My favorite part of having vinca is that I can have it on the front porch in mostly shady conditions, or I can have it in a pot out by the pool in full sun.  It lets me know when I have got to water it, and it always perks back up when I do.  I do not plan to grow it from seed, though.  It seems to be expensive for the number of seeds in a package, and I always like a lot of vinca when I have it.  It's just one thing that I know I will want to purchase. 

Oh, I want a greater variety of snapdragons for next year also. They reseed year after year in the rose bed, but the colors are getting a little redundant.  I need to get some red and oranges to spice things up!   

I have started a list on Ebay of things that I definitely want to get for next year.  Like food and my stomach, it is much bigger than I can handle. The list is replacing my paper list that I always misplace by the fall when it is time to buy the seeds. I'm sure I won't be buying much from Ebay, but it is convenient to have a place to keep my list.       

Other than saying what I won't grow veggie-wise, I will definitely be growing tomatoes, bell peppers, green beans, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, and onions next year.  They all do well for me in containers. 

I plan to try and grow birdhouse gourds in one of the pots that I used this year for broccoli or cauliflower.  Years ago, Stella turned me onto the idea of a birdhouse made from a gourd, and I haven't given up on the idea.  It's just taken a backseat to other things.  Next year will be my year of the birdhouse gourd!  LOL!!!  

[Angela]

Lots of flowers, etc mentioned here that I have never heard of. The birdhouse gourd really caught my attention & I am off to Google it, Karen! 😊

[luvmyb_b]

Aug 17, 2016 19:21:20 GMT -5 Angela said:

Lots of flowers, etc mentioned here that I have never heard of. The birdhouse gourd really caught my attention & I am off to Google it, Karen! 😊

Maybe we can get Stella to share some of her pictures of the ones she did?!?  I'll be blaming Stella when DH complains about me trying the gourds next year.  LOL!

[Angela]

Aug 17, 2016 19:26:33 GMT -5 luvmyb_b said:

Aug 17, 2016 19:21:20 GMT -5 Angela said:

Lots of flowers, etc mentioned here that I have never heard of. The birdhouse gourd really caught my attention & I am off to Google it, Karen! 😊

Maybe we can get Stella to share some of her pictures of the ones she did?!?  I'll be blaming Stella when DH complains about me trying the gourds next year.  LOL!

Always good to have someone to blame! I may need that excuse as well since I'm getting so many ideas here! If Ray only knew what might be in store for next spring! LOL