Landscape Ideas For Front Yard: Tips to Grow Roses

Prepare the soil

Roses require rich and loamy soil. When choosing a spot to plant new roses pick one that gets at least six hours of sunshine a day. Roses don't like their feet wet so stay away from areas that don't drain well. Dig a hole twice as deep and wide as your rose bush container. Backfill the hole with a mixture of 50% compost and 50% of the soil you've removed. Sprinkle in slow release fertilizer per the package directions. Please the rose in the prepared hole. Make sure the soil line on the rose is at the same level as the soil line in your garden. You may have to fill the hole a little more or remove a bit of soil. When you're satisfied, place the bush in the hole and fill the hole half way and water well. When the water has drained completely fill in the hole.

If your roses are already established freshen up their soil by adding compost, well rotten manure, or top soil. Sprinkle with a slow release fertilizer and work this mixture into the soil around the rose bushes.

Bugs and other critters

Keep ahead of bugs by inspecting the roses on a daily basis or at least twice a week. If you catch problems early they won't become serious. Aphids love roses. Wash them off with a hard spray from your garden hose. If that doesn't work use a spray of 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid in a gallon of water. The soap sticks to the aphids and kills them but it won't hurt the roses.

If you find a grayish to white film on the leaves and rose buds it's probably powdery mildew. It's not serious but it will ruin the look of the flowers. Use a fungicide especially for roses. Neem is a good one.

Other problems are dark spots on the leaves, holes, skeletonized leaves and flower buds becoming brownish. Take a sample of the rose bush to your local plant nursery and they can tell you exactly what the problem is and how to solve it.

Landscape Ideas for Front Yard: More Flowers For Baskets

Bacopa
Bacopa vines are have small dark green leaves and bright white tiny flowers. Several varieties have blue flowers. Plant both in one container for a showy basket. Bacopa grows slowly but steadily. It does not recover from wilting, so keep well watered. It needs sunlight to blossom but doesn't like the heat. In Arizona it's best grown in an eastern exposure. Use it to grow over the sides of a raised planter as well as from hanging baskets.

Petunias
Petunias are ideal for a hanging planter in the sun as long as it's well-watered. If the soil has pulled away from the sides of the pot, submerge the entire pot in water until it stops bubbling. Dead head spent blossoms to keep the petunia blooming. Combine petunias with a taller plant such as snapdragons for contrast.

Succulents
Several succulents grow in containers and have a trailing habit. Burro's tail has overlapping oval shaped trailing cylinders. Lipstick plant has bright pink flowers that look like a tube of lipstick when in bud. Ice plant blooms in red, purple, pink and yellow.

Landscape Ideas For Front Yard: flowers for hanging baskets

Ivy Geranium
Geranium flowers on a vine rather than on an upright bush, ivy geraniums do well in planters. The flowers clusters are a bit smaller than on upright geraniums. Colors include pink, white, red and purple. Often the flowers will be streaked with a contrasting color. Ivy geraniums need shade from the hot afternoon sun. They do best in late winter and spring.

Sweet Potato Vine
Once sweet potato vines get going they grow to 20 or more feet long. Propagate the vine by taking a cutting and rooting in water. The leaves are loped, 4-inches long and 3-inches wide and chartreuse green. Purple sweet potato vine is a deep dark purple. It grows a bit slower than the green variety. Both grow in dappled shade and direct sunlight. The vines break easily so keep them in a protected place. Trim to keep the vines contained. As long as there is no frost sweet potato vines keep growing all year long.

How To Grow Spring Bulbs in the Winter

Waiting for spring during the cold winter months doesn't have to mean staring at a bleak winter landscape wishing for warmer weather.  Get a head start on spring with forced flower bulbs. Many varieties do well in pots when given the proper environment.  A little planning ahead and the right types of bulbs is about all it takes.

Bulbs
Lots of bulbs can be forced or tricked into blooming out of season.  Most of them naturally flower in the spring time with a few exceptions.  Easter or trumpet lilies are forced for very early spring blooming when they naturally bloom in mid summer.  Amaryllis is forced for blooming during the winter holidays but naturally bloom in early summer.

Spring blooming bulbs include tulips, hyacinths, crocus, daffodils, tulips, and grape hyacinths.

Get the bulbs ready to grow
Most spring bulbs require a period of cold to induce the flowering process. However, cold doesn't mean freezing. If the bulbs freeze they'll die. Keep the bulbs in a dark cool (below 40 degrees) place such as a garage, in the vegetable crisper of the fridge or planted in pots that are kept outside in a protected area. When the chilling period is within a week or two of the appropriate time check the tops of the bulbs for any new shoots. They'll appear as tiny very light green bumps. If you see them it's time to plant.

Tulips and hyacinths require the longest chilling period, 16 weeks. Crocuses require from 12 to 14 weeks. Daffodils from 10 to 12 weeks. Narcissus, a relative of daffodils don't require any chilling. Chilling times are approximate.

house cleaning tips
Planting
Select a pot with drainage. Fill with three inches of soil. Place the bulb in the pot flat side down and pointed end up. If you have spotted the light green bumps, plant that end up. Cover the bulbs with soil and water thoroughly. Let drain.  Do not over water or the bulbs will rot. Let them almost dry out completely between waterings. Keep in a cold dark area until the shoots are above the soil. Move to a warmer sunnier area.

Forced in water
Bulbs will grow forced in water without soil. After the chilling period fill a clear glass or glass container with several inches of marbles. Place the bulb on top and add marbles up to the neck of the bulb. Fill the glass with water up to just over the bottom of the bulb. Place in a well lighted window. Keep the water level steady. Don't immerse the bulb in water. If the water gets cloudy change it completely.

More flowers for window boxes

Plant the flowers in a plastic light weight window box using a potting soil which retains moisture.   Line the inside of the window box attached to the house with a layer of sphagnum moss.  Place the planted plastic window box inside the attached window box.   These extra steps will keep the flowers from drying out so quickly.  In addition the plastic flower box can be removed for a good soaking which might be difficult with the attached window box.

Combination

Probably the best location for a window box is morning sun and afternoon shade.  Geraniums come in a myriad of pinks, purples, reds and white and do very well in window boxes.  They are probably the best flower for that purpose.  Lobelia is a low growing flower only four to five inches tall and 12 inches wide.  It's covered with small blossoms in brilliant blue, pale blue or light purple.  Petunias are a window box standard.  The flowers can be single, double, grandiflora or ruffled.  Some flowers are edged in  white. 

When planting the window box, choose flowers that trail over the edges like alyssum, some that grow taller such as snapdragons for the back of the box and some that are Contrasting colors

The Best Flowers for Window Boxes

Best is a relative term and that goes for "best" flowers.  Nearly all flowers will grow in window boxes but some varieties are better suited than others. Generally flowers that do well in containers don't need to be dead headed to keep blooming, have a moderate growth habit and roots that don't need more than 12 inches or so of soil.

Shade

The location of the window box is one of the most important factors in how well the flowers bloom.  Most flowers need at least six to eight hours of sun per day to bloom.  However, there are a number of flowers that thrive in the shade.  Begonias are fleshy leaved plants that have small flowers.  The leaves can be bronze, pure green, or dark green.  The flowers come in pink, white and purple.  Tuberous begonias have flowers the size of golf balls and arrow shaped dark green leaves.  Both do well in shade. Other flowers for shaded window boxes include monkshood, dwarf columbine, lily of the valley, impatiens, violets and pansies.

Sun

Window boxes that receive sun all day long need to be watered as much as once a day during the warm summer months.  Lantana is drought tolerant and loves the sun.  Zinnias do well with lots of sun and will pop right back if they wilt. Salvia is another good choice.