Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

Mosquito Plant ( Agastache cana ) It’s a purple-ish plant that is good in zone 7, also it’s perennial, and is supposed to attract all 3 (bees, butters, and hummies). The ” Butterfly Bush” is another good one, it attracts the butters and hummies too. The “Hummingbird Bush” is supposed to attract all 3 as well. Butterfly’s like Columbines and Hollyhocks too. Bees LOVE lavender, as well as butterflies.
There are a ton of websites devoted to “creating a butterfly garden” and “bees and butterflies”. I have hummingbirds that visit my feeder and my lemon tree, and like someone else said, they are extremely territorial, and you will have only so many in one area. Good luck, I hope your garden will attract every kind of creature you want and be your own little piece of heaven!

GardenersCardiff answers:

I live in Europe, but always try to get some Georgia peaches when I visit your area…and anyway I think I found a good web page that answers your questions. It appears that if you live in SOUTH GEORGIA you can plant “squash”.

This text is an excerpt;

You can grow any of the Brassica-family crops, including cabbage, broccoli, collards and similar vegetables, anywhere in Georgia in the fall. You need to sow seed for these crops in August or September.

Carrot seeds can be sown from August to November in south Georgia. They’re not recommended for north Georgia fall gardens.

Many warm-season vegetables can be sown or transplanted in August in south Georgia for fall production. This would include tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplants, cantaloupes and okra.

Onions are a good choice for transplanting in midwinter. Look for plants from your garden center starting in November, or sow seeds of short day onions in October.

Good Luck !
Http://www.thebladeplus.com/news/2006/0804/News/019.html

Edit: Sorry, as Spytfire said you are a Zone 7 person. Lol I had no idea that a U.S. State calls their territories Zones. Well anyway, if you move South…you’ll know what to plant. 🙂

GardenersCardiff answers:

Lists of autumn interest plants:

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/shrubs/2002043614013311.html

http://www.inthegardenonline.com/basics_10favplantsforautumnB26.htm

http://www.rainyside.com/archives/autumn.html

10 gardens famous for autumn interest
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060930/ai_n16762781
they prolly have pix at their websites

winter blooming plants:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=winter+blooming+plants&ei=utf-8&fr=b1ie7

winter bulbs:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=winter+blooming+bulb&ei=utf-8&fr=b1ie7

u know, i am not sure how warm u are there in zone 8 but i wonder if u WERE a little warm, then maybe u could chill some bulbs and plant them and they might grow right away thinking it is spring? Like outdoor “forcing”.

There are a lots of lists around about what bulbs are good for forcing and what their chilling requirements are. Here is a starter:
http://gardening.about.com/od/floweringbulbs/a/Zone_8_Bulbs.htm

long blooming..when i was once upon a time thinking of this, non-autumn related, i liked the trumpet vine and gaillardia. Just now i saw a bessera elegans. Appears to be like a red trumpet vine but grows from a bulb. I can’t say it’s easy or good to grow because it looks like it is kind of new but if u come across one, pick it up maybe since i read it blooms in the winter.
Http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=bessera+elegans&ei=utf-8&fr=b1ie7

another good one would have been (certain kinds of?) statice. But u have to grow it in the spring/summer maybe but then it is like a bright dried flower that stays on it’s stalk until the weather beats it down.

A good way to get stuff to experiment with is to ask the labs. They give for free if u will do research or breeding.
The US germplasm request center:
http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/acc/acc_queries.html

a few others (most of the world particiaptes in one way or another):
http://pgrc3.agr.gc.ca/links-liens_e.html

internationally speaking, i think mediterranean plants have winter interest to northern climates in the winter.

Seed swap and plant exchange is another great way to acquire new genetics. A majority of online garden communities have a trade board:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=seed+swap&ei=utf-8&fr=b1ie7

highly fragrant stuff<<this reminds me of herbs. People say it is nice to plant them alongside or in paths so you brush them or step on them as you pass and the fragrance is released. Other folks like to put plants like that next to benches or in windowboxes.

Here is a thread about the most fragrant plants people know:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fragrant/msg0703390714096.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2099513_grow-fragrant-flowers.html
link about how to grow fragrant flowers. That site said on a different page that the most fragrant usually have white or purple petals, or thick petals (Tuberoses) or the word "odorata" or "odoratus" in their name. Also they remind us that some are fragrant at night only (Night-scented stock, four-o'clocks and flowering tobacco).

This guy says lavender does really great in zone 8. Blooms "all year". He describes 15 different kinds. Different smells and forms and colors:
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/lavendercareandtips.htm

"variegated foliage" is a great search to do for color.
Here is a page with the word "hardy" included:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=hardy+variegated+foliage&ei=utf-8&fr=b1ie7

and one with the word "image". Some variegated stuff is really incredible:
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&ni=21&va=variegated+foliage&fr=b1ie7&xargs=0&pstart=1&b=148

to see what most any thing or plant looks like, that is what u can to do..search with their name and the word "image". For the more obscure plants you might have to search with their scientific name.

Last, is plant selectors. Like selecting for a cause. Like u could find all the plants that bloom in zone 8 that have pink petals. Or fruiting trees that will not get taller than such and such feet or not throw out surface roots to driveways or blah blah whatever criteria. Each will have a certain limited assortment of plants in their database. Sometimes u can find someone local to you that has one, like ur agricultural university or a native plant society (good if looking for native plants):
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=plant+selector&ei=utf-8&fr=b1ie7