Gardening Flowers for Beginners | Tips & Advice

[WiFO215]

Hi guys,
I love being around plants and want to start gardening as a hobby. I want to focus on growing flowering plants (not vegetables). I haven't much experience with this except doing minimal help back home with my parents, loosening the soil round the plants with a trovel and watering them.
Right now, I'm thinking of starting off with a Pointsettia. Any other plants you guys can think of for beginners? Any guidance or books you guys would recommend which might help?

 

[Evo]

Hi guys,
I love being around plants and want to start gardening as a hobby. I want to focus on growing flowering plants (not vegetables). I haven't much experience with this except doing minimal help back home with my parents, loosening the soil round the plants with a trovel and watering them.
Right now, I'm thinking of starting off with a Pointsettia. Any other plants you guys can think of for beginners? Any guidance or books you guys would recommend which might help?

A poinsettia is a difficult plant to keep alive. The "flower" is actually leaves, there are tiny flowers inside the leaf cluster.

Where do you live? That would help in advising you on what to plant.

Poinsettia care http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1248.html

 

[WiFO215]

A poinsettia is a difficult plant to keep alive. The "flower" is actually leaves, there are tiny flowers inside the leaf cluster.

Yes, I've seen the plant. My parents are growing these at home, so I thought I'd just take one of them.

Where do you live? That would help in advising you on what to plant.

I stay in the south-eastern part of the Indian sub-continent. The weather is almost always warm, between 29-35 deg C.

 

[Evo]

Yes, I've seen the plant. My parents are growing these at home, so I thought I'd just take one of them.

The poinsettia is tropical, so it should actually do well where you live.

I stay in the south-eastern part of the Indian sub-continent. The weather is almost always warm, between 29-35 deg C.

You should be able to grow many varieties of lush tropical flowers. I miss all of the flowering pLants, bushes and trees I could grow down in Houston, TX, here in Kansas it is too cold for most of them.

 

[WiFO215]

The poinsettia is tropical, so it should actually do well where you live.

Glad to hear that! :)

You should be able to ghrow many varieties of lush tropical flowers. I miss all of the flowering pLants, bushes and trees I could grow down in Houston, TX, here in Kansas it is too cold for most of them.

That sucks. Perhaps you might want to look into the Valley of Flowers. This is a national park in the Himalayas which has flowers suited to cold weather. I suppose those flowers would grow in cold weather elsewhere too.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Math and physics people should like square foot gardening (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/) . It is the most efficient and practical way to grow just about anything, without having to mess with whatever soil you have because you make your own mix. The layout allows for more plantings than traditional row gardening, and maintenance is practically nill. None of that awful digging or double digging and tilling and whatever it is people with normal gardens do. A little bit of cost at the outset.

-DaveKA

 

[Evo]

Since we already have a thread named "gardening", I'm changing this to add "flowers".

 

[HeLiXe]

I haven't done actual gardening since I was like 5, but I used to take care of a moss rose and found it very fun and rewarding...the flowers on the kind I had were so beautiful and it was so interesting to see the variety. I also took care of an amaryllis...LOVELY plant. It requires you to love and understand it tho. I believe it's an annual.

 

[WiFO215]

This square foot gardening thing looks more like an elaborate advertisement than something serious.

 

[dkotschessaa]

This square foot gardening thing looks more like an elaborate advertisement than something serious.

I was kind of shocked when you said this, but I guess I can see why you think that. The method has nothing to do with this particular website or any of the products this guy sells. It's just a technique that works better than row gardening in your yard soil. I've never read his books or bought his products in order to use it. But the website has a lot of great information if you can get past the overly rah-rah verbiage.

I set one of these up and had it running for about 3 years with practically no maintenance/back problems. I'm going to be setting up a new one at my current residence soon for vegetables.

-DaveKA