Things I've learned about "gardening" (flowerbeds)

• Starting flowers from seeds is low-cost but also low return on investment. If you want instant gratification, spend a little extra on plants. If you do start from seed, opt for bigger plants and be sure to use better potting soil to increase your odds that the seedlings won't shrivel up and die. Once they get to be a couple of inches tall, transplant them where you want them. Also, check seed-depth instructions on your packets. Don't smother them in too much dirt and mulch.
  
• Bulbs/rhizomes/tubers do not fall under the previous generalization about return on investment... even though they do cost more than seed packets. But don't just stick bulbs into poor soil, and plant them at the appropriate depths. Buy a cheap bag of potting soil and/or compost and mix a couple of cups in with the existing dirt. This year my daffodils planted in previous years returned. It looks like my gladioli, calla lilies, and asiatic lilies are well on their way to coming back. (Hopefully they will bloom), I did plant some acidanthera bulbs because I couldn't help myself. Day lilies are also pretty fool proof... the builder planted some 5 years ago, and they are still thriving. I did thin them out last fall.
  
• Don't try to tackle it all in one day. You'll end up tired, sore, and frustrated or bitter. Do a little at a time.
• Plant a base bed of perennials and add extra color with annuals. Otherwise, you may have to spend all day tackling the planting of annuals. Or, if you just absolutely prefer annuals, do a little at a time.... the mailbox bed, a row or two in main flowerbed, etc.. Some bulbs are technically annuals and need to be lifted out of the ground before it gets too cold, but in some areas you can get away with leaving bulbs in the ground. Ask around or check online to see if the bulbs you like can be grown as perennials where you live. If you want to save trouble, don't mess with the bulbs that HAVE to be lifted in your growing zone.
  
• Also try to plant things that bloom at different times of the growing season. I'm still working on this one.
  
• When/If hubby complains about the cost of mulch, nicely tell him to get over it. It's protecting the investment you've put into your plants. Plants need good soil and protection. You wouldn't refuse to feed your children if they were whithering away, and though plants don't have souls, they need water and nutrition, too. Though if you have to choose between tending to your kids or your flowers, please let the flowers die. At the same time, too much mulch CAN smother the roots of trees and plants... so don't go overboard.
  
• Follow watering, sunlight and feeding guidelines for plants. A plethora of info is available online.... that's where I get most of my info. I also pick my parents' and in-laws brains from time to time, but not everyone will get the info they need by doing that.
  
• Before you put a layer of fresh mulch down, sprinkle some fresh compost or potting soil on top of the old mulch. If you are really ambitious, grab a hand cultivator (rake) and mix the old mulch and the new soil together to help stimulate breakdown of the old mulch.
• Use a wooden toothpick to mark where you have planted seeds in your yard or flowerbed, if applicable.
• Fertilize using miracle grow or the generic equivalent according to package recommendations or what the plant tag recommends.
• If you have toddlers, you might want to check to see if plants are poisonous before planting them. For example, lantana is a pretty and drought resistent flowering shrub thing, but its berries are poisonous. And berries ARE tempting.
• If someone offers you plants from their yard, take them. Odds are they will just throw them out if you don't take them, as many plants need to be thinned out at least every couple of years. Even if you don't LOVE them, they will grow on you as you think about the money saved by not spending it at the store (and hopefully knowing who gave them to you will also be a good thing). My Mom planted one variety of sedum about 2 weeks after Bear was born. When we went to Gramma's farm last Memorial Day, she gave me some hastas, black-eyed susans, and another variety of sedum. A neighbor gave me some iris rhizomes that she dug up this spring; I'm hoping at least some of then take to their new home.
• Let your kids help. Bear calls bulbs "onions", and I let her drop them into holes. I also let her scoop dirt into the holes. Yes, it's messy, but that's clean-up is what hoses and bathtubs are for. Teach them how to water plants. Odds are, they will water everything but what you want them to, like rain gutter trays and rocks, but at least they will be occupied while YOU water. (Give them their own small watering can that they can hold/carry.) Teach them what flowers they can pick and what ones they cannot, and tell them why. This Spring, I had tulips and pansies in bloom. Pansies rebloom shortly after being picked. Tulips do not. While we did have some casualities of toddler curiousity, we also had a toddler who identified tulip leaves in the garden center because she listened to Mommy tell her the names of the green things that were poking through the ground. Praise them for what they do right- for not stepping on the flowers, for being nice to the flowers that don't want to be picked, etc... And I still have a few tulips that have not whithered away or been picked yet.
  
• Don't try to tackle everything in one day. Pull old weeds and plants on one day, add dirt/soil on another day, plant new plants shortly after (within a couple of weeks), and mulch within a week or so after that. If you are building a new bed from scratch, after you have killed the grass and weeds and given the weed killer (whether organic or not) time to "fade" so you don't poison the plants you want to keep, it's actually better to till up the old dirt and add in some new dirt, then let them sit and "stew" before planting so the soil pH levels out.
• Be generous with mulch... it keeps weeds down and water in. As your bed is established, you won't have to add so much. The finer to medium mulches compost themselves, adding to the soil over time, but the thicker chipped mulches get ugly and don't break down as well. We prefer a medium colored mulch to the blackest mulch... fading is less noticeable.
  
• To spruce up the look of your beds after the mulch fades, try raking lightly with a hand cultivator/rake so the faded mulch gets turned over. Be careful not to rake out your flowers in the process.
• If a plant doesn't sem to be thriving where you put it, move it before it starts to struggle. I planted 2 columbine flowers a couple of weeks ago. One took well and has lalready doubled in size, the other has stayed about the same size as it was when I bought it. I noticed it was getting less sun, so I moved it to a bare spot that needs color.
  

A good friend spent ALL day yesterday doing yard improvement. Her flowerbed is going to look great (I saw it after sunset, but I am sure it will look great). But I hate that she was sooo exhausted and ready to swear off gardening when I saw her last night. I often tend my garden while Bear naps.... because though there are times I want her to "help", there are times she does get on my nerves being underfoot. I do think if I tried to do everything in one day, it would drive me to need Prozac again. By spreading things out, I enjoy the process more. Especially when things start to bloom.

I should be doing dishes, but I don't want to wake up the rest of my family, so hopefully someone will find this post helpful. Really, I should be sleeping... now maybe I will be able to get some sleep... after I pee again.