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ORIGINAL: sub4hire

Currently building a professional greenhouse.  So, in future winters I have fresh veggies.

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ORIGINAL: soultoshare

Stella, that sounds absolutely beautiful!  Unfortunately, I live in an apt, so I have to be content with flower pots.....total bummer!  Plus summer is coming in PHX, so that will pretty much shut down any flowers.
I bet you can grow some pretty tropical flowers there, with enough water. Yeah.. the hotter climates have their growing season in fall and winter, don't they? That's how it is in Florida, at any rate. Have you tried morning glories trained to grow up string? Glories can be pretty hardy, if you water them enough.
Not knowing how the porch and lattice work is going to be done, one thing to remember about the flowering vines for your porch....while they will look great, they will be a huge draw for BEES!  And if the mailman has to come up there to deliver your mail, and he perceives a bee problem, he is not required to leave the mail....people in the midwest and east think planting vines around their mailbox looks quaint, but imagine trying to stick mail into a box covered with bees.....see the problem!  If the lattice meets your railng, the vines will continue up them.  Just a thought....maybe ivy for the porch, and free standing lattice features for the flowering vines?
Well, we have a pretty large porch... the front doorway and the mailbox will be in a different section then the lattice.. I wish I had a picture to show you, lol. It's like a double front porch, with steps going up to the second part. The problem with ivy is that it eventually tears down your house, unlike some annual vines that die back each fall. Free standing lattice is pretty, too, though... maybe eventually arching over the walkway, so the sweet scent catches your nose as you go underneath. So many possibilities, damn
Also, with the variety of flowers you've got, it sounds like it will be a great draw for butterflies and hummers....um, hummingbirds.  I'm drawing up plans for my dream house, and it's going to have a protected area for some sort of garden.  Both flowers and veggies.....I miss fresh produce!  That's my next project, oh the ideas abound!  Thinking of an aviary too......finches and canaries......keep the kitties occupied!
Veggies are on our backyard agenda, lol. We need to set a section apart just for veggies... they'd most likely be stolen in the front, sadly. And one can hope for a hummingbird sighting! Don't you have several species in AZ? We only have one in Ohio.. the Ruby Throated, but he's a real beauty when he comes out. =)
Haha.. fun thing about being a garden and landscaping enthusiast is there there is *always* something new. A new cultivar... expanding, tearing up what you get bored with and starting something different. Are you buying in AZ, as well? See, that climate would *scream" classical Mediterranean garden for me...
 

Would love to see pics when it's in full bloom!

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ORIGINAL: seeksfemslave

I am no gardner and I have a a bush in one part of my garden and I decided I would like to make a bit grow elsewhere. It gets blueish buds about September
.I suddenly realised I havent got the foggiest idea as to how flower/bushes get fertilised. lol LOL... the birds and the bees fertilize it, silly. ;)
Sex really is a mystery. NO?

Incidently Stella by Starlight is a really beautiful tune. I hope you know it. I certainly do, though not by heart. =)

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ORIGINAL: proudsub

All my annuals and perennials are in pots, most up off the ground and in the back behind a fence. Otherwise the deer, rabbits and slugs get them all. I buy and pot annuals every Spring.  The perennials come inside in the Winter and back out in the Spring. I also buy a few tomato plants and strawberries for pots. My permanent garden is all bushes like rhodies, azaleas. laurel and cammelias. I may plant some blueberry bushes this year, but am afraid the animals and birds will get the berries before we do. We used to have a lot of raspberries but a very cold winter killed them. I gave up on a veggie garden years ago because of the animals and slugs. My apple and pear trees have all blown over in our severe wind storms.
What cold heartiness zone is WA in? My mother and I were just discussing how people garden in the NW... we don't have to take in our perennials in for the winter as a rule. It sounds like your soil is very acidic with those azaleas and rhodes

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ORIGINAL: KatyLied

I don't even know if I'm going to plant flowers in pots this year.  Baby rabbits nibbled on mine last year.  They were cute bunnies, but they killed my flowers.    

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What cold heartiness zone is WA in? My mother and I were just discussing how people garden in the NW... we don't have to take in our perennials in for the winter as a rule. It sounds like your soil is very acidic with those azaleas and rhodes

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ORIGINAL: Bearlee

OMG...I played in the dirt a very very little bit on Sunday (we had rain (!!!) on Saturday); it's still too wet.
 Man.. there's not to much better then sticking your bare hands in the dirt for the first time in the season, is there?
I'm just sick that I've run outta money (been working on the house), there was a root-cellar outside my kitchen door (footprint= 10x14) which I planned to use as the 'hole' for a new Koi Pond.  I built one at the last house I owned and absolutely LOVED it; kept Butterfly Koi, specifically.  For a picture see:  http://goldiloucks.mystarband.net/images/LafayettePondLG.jpg
 That's absolutely beautiful. =) We were looking into a small pond, but it wouldn't be practical for the size of our front yard. what we will be doing is taking out all the lawn and replacing it with a nice groundcover.. maybe chamomile? We'll fit as many accessible beds in as we can, connected by short stone paths. We're also tearing up the yucky nasty concrete from the walkway this fall.
My front yard is perfect for an English style cottage garden. It's small, square in shape, has a great southern exposure so there's plenty of light. I want brick red siding, with a white porch and trim, with a cute little picketfence in the front.
This new home includes four lots in a VERY rural area one house from the river; think big trees, high water-table (good when living in the high dessert of SoCo).  As I can afford to, I’ll be planting more small trees, shrubs, perennials, big, clumping grasses and scads of Zeric and native plants.  
 What kind of native plants grow in that region? Lots of pine? NE Ohio is mainly deciduous. We have trillium, wild violets, trumpet lilies, spring beauties, naturalized flox and daylilies, a few others. Local plant gardening is really interesting, if I had the space, I'd try it for sure. Your gardening projects sounds very woodsy and peaceful. =)
While I love a lush garden…I prefer it when it’s built to sustain itself as much as possible.  I love paths…and conduct what I call ‘Turf Wars’; digging up lawn and replacing it with the gardens I described and wandering paths throughout.
That's the general idea of a cottage garden, as well. Traditionally, cottages intermixed veggies in with the flowers for function as well as beauty. But there are *way* too many hungry mischievious kidlins on my street.. I'd end up inadvertently feeding the whole block, lol.
I prefer raised beds for the food garden and especially enjoy tomatoes and various lettuces.  One might call me a guerilla-gardener; I look specifically for heirloom veggies. 
Raised beds are just a good idea, period. Especially in a region where you get frequent summer downpours. And you and my mom would have something to talk about. She swears by heirloom tomatoes! Do you plant heirloom flowers, as well? Antique roses are just amazing.. they're hardier then modern hybrids, and they have a much stronger fragrance. The downside, according to some rose fans, is that they only bloom once. But it's worth it to me.. just to have that scent.  

bearlee

Edited to add:

Both the White Flower Farm and High Country Gardens catalogues arrived this week... VERY yummie!  And, the Gardens Alive catalogue includes a $25 certificate...no minimum order!!!  I also adore Forest Farms book; but they have no pictures...dammit!  Any other favs?
Oh, it depends on what kind of seed I'm looking for. Parks and Burpee's have been good to me. =) Right now, I'm specifically looking for a catalogue that specializes in wild flower seeds for naturalizing. There's this gorgeous wild violet that blooms all over the place in early spring here, and I want more. =)
How is Colorado with spring bulbs? Do you have to lift them for the winter?

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ORIGINAL: proudsub

We are in a rural area sort of in the foothills of the Cascades. We don't take in the bushes, but we do take in the geraniums and other potted plants that have a chance of surviving the winter. I don't know what a lot of them are, I just buy and plant ones that look pretty at the store LOL.  They flourish by my south facing windows.

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ORIGINAL: SunNMoon

Stella that sounds so lovely. That's my dream garden. Right now I'm just hoping my potted trees and other green plants make it.

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ORIGINAL: StellaByStarlite

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ORIGINAL: SunNMoon

Stella that sounds so lovely. That's my dream garden. Right now I'm just hoping my potted trees and other green plants make it.

Awww. =) Take care of them, and they'll thank you for it. =) What kind of plants are they?

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ORIGINAL: StellaByStarlite


Any other passionate gardeners around here? What are your projects, and what's in your garden now?