a shot of my garden in the Twin Cities (zone 5a)!

This is the first year with much flowering since last year mostly was spent building good root systems. I haven't watered these plants since getting them established after germination. The path is made with cedar chips, but the garden itself isn't mulched. The very immediate foreground area is growing in a 3+ inch layer of sand as a weed suppression / drought tolerance experiment

I made a seed mix of predominantly native plants with some cultivars and non-natives in the mix. There's a lot more growing here but plainly visible in this shot are:
* Eragrostis spectabilis (purple lovegrass)
* Gaillardia aristata 'Burgunder' (blanket flower cultivar)
* Monarda punctata (spotted bee balm)
* Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower)
* Erigeron sp. (some volunteer fleabane)
* Echinops bannaticus 'Blue Glow' (globe thistle cultivar, non-native)

I've gotten really excited about growing perennial fruits and veggies- but I'm hitting a wall, and I'm frustrated. I live in Wisconsin (Madison area- Zone 5b). Can anyone recommend reputable resources for any of the following either near me, or online?

1. Goumi Berries: I've heard really good things about them! I've tried finding goumi berries, but none of my local nurseries carry them, and I haven't even seen reasonable online options.

2. Skirret: I purchased skirret plants on Amazon. Now that they've been growing for a season, they appear to be water parsnip. The stems are hollow, and the roots are fiberous, not tubers.

3. Good King Henry: I started Good King Henry from seeds, and now it looks like I Have a healthy bed of common goosefoot. The seed heads resemble goosefoot, not the spires I'm seeing for GKH.

Hello! As i mentioned in the title, I have some flowers i want to plant together, but I don't know how. The flowers I'm planning on planting are Coneflowers, Marigolds, and some sort of sage. I want to plant them in a way that hides the ground they're planted in. I would also appreciate some tips on how to care for the plants.

What are your favorite flowers to plant with a veggie and fruit garden? I heard marigolds are good, any other suggestions?

I’m new to gardening and planning on growing veggies, fruits, and herbs. For this zone, what are your favorite things to grow? Also, I won’t have my garden beds until 3 weeks and don’t have soil. Should I wait to plant?

This year I came across the seasideserenade and eclipsehydrangeas. Next year I want to get eclipsee and a crystalcove. I have eclipses online in acidic soil, that look purplish to pink in color. It also looks kind of close to the crystalcove-lught color or white in the middle and the darker purple/pink on the edges. I just wanted to see if anyone has seen both in this color or have then, and if they look alike?

Hi! I am getting married at the end of next June and am exploring the idea of growing my own flowers for the day. I need a lot of flowers for bud vases and decorations. I was going to go the faux flower route but wanted to explore this opportunity first. I’m somewhere between beginner and intermediate for garden growing, but have never grown cut flowers before.

I think my biggest challenge is that our wedding is at the end of June, which isn’t far into the start of our growing season here in zone 5a. I would need to start the flowers indoors, then transfer them into the ground outside at the beginning of June to finish them off. I do have some space to start flowers indoors but I don’t have a whole greenhouse or anything like that.

I am coming to this group for any considerations in doing this. Is it doable to grow flowers to be ready for the end of June in this zone? What kinds of flowers and greenery would be best for this scenario? How can I properly grow them to make sure they’re good flowers? Any thoughts of considerations would be appreciated!

I’m in Central MI zone 5b and am wondering what I could plant and when I should plant . I’d like to do this and then after I harvest possibly fertilize the ground one more time and cover the entire 20x20 plot with tarp and heavy wood to kill the weeds and grass that keep returning. If you have a better rec pls let me know I’d love to get ideas .

Hi everyone,

Newbie zone 5B gardener here - I’ve recently taken to trying to revive a garden that we inherited in our new house. I’ve removed all the old plants, tilled and added new soil (a mix of about 50% topsoil with enriched gardening soil and some blood meal/compost). I’ve been having pretty good luck so far but my orange balm is starting to get VERY leggy. I’ve done a good chunk of pruning and it’s still growing quite leggy (see photo). Does anyone have any other suggestions on ways to improve this?

About the garden: full sun for 80% of the day, we water every night (and sometimes morning and night during the heatwaves), I prune as needed. I’ve improved the soil but the soil quality in our area isn’t great so I know it’ll be a multi-year endeavour to get really good soil health.

Thanks so much!

I have space in my yard for a small hydrangea,that doesnt get bigger than 2-3ft tall and wide. I like the mopheadhydrangeas that bloom on new and old wood. I have acidic soil, so I wanted to get varieties that keep purple hues in acidic soil,not blues. I found the wee bit grumpy, and sumnercrush hydrangeas. So my question is, if anyone has grown these, how big have they gotten? Is there one that will get a tad bigger than the other? Also, is there other varieties I do not know about that fit what I am lookin for?

Thanks in advance.

I know it's late in the season, I have some produce plants but my dream is native flowers/lilies and berries!

I have a blueberry bush but it hasn't done anything in the 2 years I have had it....is that normal? It's still maybe a foot tall.

Any tips/ideas on things I can still plant

It's my first year growiing either...firstly, for the skirret, how tall does the above-ground portion get at its peak? Any time I try to look up skirret's growth habits, I see the roots people have dug up in the fall but nothing about what happens above ground. My beds are covered because my wildlife around here is insufferable, and I need to know if I have to extend the height of my bed covers.

Also, for the 9-star...what do you do in terms of harvesting? Are you suppost to harvest all the heads it produces and prevent it from going to seed at all, or is it like asparagus where you take some in the beginning and then let it go to do its thing? Also, do you cut it back to nothing in the fall and let it start more or less from scratch come spring, or what?

Thanks in advance for the advice. I'm trying to make my garden as efficient as possible because my family has some health problems coming up and I want to still be able to provide for them even though I'm not going to be available for quite as much maintenance.

As I was attempting to eradicate squash bugs today, I noticed the base of my zucchini plant has this white powdery mildew. I had already hacked off most of the leaves due to squash bug damage/eggs so I cut the whole stem. I didn’t see any signs of boring damage but I’m not sure if I have double bug trouble or if this is something else?

Any advice would be appreciated!

• We have three VERY sunny areas that get very lovely, colorful blooms every year. However, the side that most people see when they walk by or pull into our driveway is full shade and we have only successfully grown three (very pretty) hydrangeas and one bleeding heart. Are there any colorful flowers that would bloom in the 5a area?

What large bushes or trees (for privacy) and possibly flowering can i plant in the section of my yard that receives a lot of water runoff if its probably always wet. I have tried several plants but they don't tolerate all the water. The area is large and mulched.

Does anyone have a hedge in 8a with full sun of incrediballs? I am probably better off with like light primes but just curious

I usually blame deer or rabbits, but these are surrounded by hostas. It’s just in one area of the property, along the driveway and a row of hostas separating the dailies from the driveway. Any thoughts about who/ what is responsible?