I'm getting ready to go visit my parents in a couple of weeks and this year Ive decided to plant a 30 ft runner on the NW side of their house. My mom use to do this but she's getting older and really doesn't want to spend much time tending to a garden. She does miss the flowers however, so being the Good Gay Son that I am I'm going to do most of the work for her.

Basically I figured out the seeds and the landscaping but just wanted any advice on if the plants will gel together and look nice. I've done some research but I cant find any real instructions on mingling different flowers, so I thought why not the ORG.

Basically the set up is: In the center will be bout 2 ft of Sunflowers, the 4 ft size, followed on both sides by 7 ft of Zinnias. The Multi Color Variety. Then Finishing off with 5 ft of Black Eyed Susies.

The Zinnias and Black Eyed Susies will sprout new blooms after you cut the present bloom off, so they both will grow and bloom through out summer. The Sun flowers will take longer and I think last bout 3 to 4 weeks once they bloom.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.



Black Eyed Susies


Zinnias

Sunflowers.

I probably wouldn't put the sunflowers in there. They can tip over sometimes, and the flowers are so large, they might look out of place.

I've planted many flower beds in my married life, and when searching for flowers to plant I first use the gardening color scheme as described here: http://aggie-horticulture...color.html

Then I think about size and then bloom time. I always mix perennial and annuals. Personally, I tend to stay away from common things like petunias and marigolds in flower beds, reserving these for pots.

And don't forget to get some non-flowering plants as well!

I agree with the sunflowers. They might look awfully out of place in a runner.

I don't think there is really a guide to such things. As long as the flowers can live where you want to put them, it sould be ok. They aren't going to kill each other off.

Personally I would go for color and vary it up that way. You can get some dynamic schemes if you place them right.

if your mother has done it for years she probably has some ideas for low maintenance stuff...
plus i find when our parents get older they aren't too keen on change
i would suggest planting a lot of the varieties that she used to with a few new things thrown in to surprise her.

for low maintenance something that fills out well is key to keeping out the weeds. if planting the sunflowers i would mix them in with the other stuff so that the ground under them is not bare.

i love lobeilia i like to use the mounding type as the edging plant. and fertilizer always makes a nice bed look fabulous. good luck and what a good son she has

Well Mom likes the sunflowers, thats why I thought I would go for the smaller version of the sunflowers. They are only 4 ft tall. I agree with the bare underneath them so I will look into some vine or greenery. Thanks!!!