Ideas for a Sunny Flower Garden

One way to enhance your yard is with a nice sunny flower garden. Typically, the flowers that grow well in a sunny location are colorful and vibrant. This makes it a perfect focal point to add curbside appeal and a welcoming ambiance to visitors. Flower gardens are one of the easiest and rewarding additions to beautify your property. Does this Spark an idea?

Location Basics

Planning and location are important in creating and maintaining a sunny flower garden. Plants that enjoy full sun typically like a minimum of five to six hours of full sun daily. For this reason, you shouldn't plant your sunny flower garden at the base of a tree. The flowers compete for sunlight, water and nutrients with the tree. Walk around your yard and select a sunny location that is highly visible and easily accessible.

Plant Height Basics

Consider plant height when you create a sunny flower garden. Tall plants should go in the center or at the back of the garden if it has a background piece, such as a patio wall or fencing. Some good background flowers that grow 3 to 6 feet tall include: Hummingbird Mint, Tutti Frutti, Twlight Prairieblues, Sea Shells, Bluebird, Semaphore, Purple Coneflower, Stargazer and variations of the Sunflower.

Shorter plants should be placed outside the background or center flowers to be visible from a distance and to avoid competition for full sunlight. Some good border plants that grow 6 inches to a foot tall include: Blue Danube, Yellow Splash, Blue Pimpernel, Callie Rose Star, Million Bells, Cosmic Red and Cheddar Pink. For even shorter border flowers, less than 6 inches, consider: Iceplant, Meadow Saffron, Saffron Crocus, Alpine Pink, Yellow Whitlow Grass, Pasque Flower, Stonecrop and Prairie Zinnia.

Deck or Patio Sunny Flower Garden

You can grow a sunny flower garden on your deck or patio if there is full sun in the area. This is a great way to spruce up this area of your home. Select plants that grow 6 inches to a foot in height for containers. Select a few more that will grow less than 6 inches. Select containers that are bright and colorful. Pots that will show the most should have vibrant designs. Place taller plants next to the patio wall or deck railing. Place the shorter plants in front. This is ideal for a corner section of the patio next to the house or a corner section of your deck.

Some good background plants would include: Yellow Splash, Cosmic Red and Million Bells. Combine these with smaller plants such as: Alpine Pink, Iceplant and Prairie Zinnia. These six flowers combined, displayed in colorful pots, would bring an array of different colors to the patio or deck corner.

Attract Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are fascinating to watch from an office window or a sunroom. Select a sunny location for your hummingbird flower garden that is visible from a room you often find yourself gazing out the windows from. The key to attracting hummingbirds is to plant flowers that naturally attract them. A garden edging that is a colorful red or brilliant blue will also help to attract hummingbirds to the sunny flower garden.

For the center flowers, which should be tall and naturally attract hummingbirds, consider: Hummingbird Mint, Anise Hyssop, Cosmos, Day Lily and Blue Bird. For the middle-row plants consider: Blue Danube, Sweet Dreams, Cosmic Red and Gold Rush. For border plants consider: Stonecrop, Georgia Blue and Prairie Zinnia.

Rock Garden

You might consider a rock garden for a sunny flower garden idea. These are very attractive in dry areas of your yard that receive full sun. You can use rock edging. Larger rocks and even 2- to 4-feet high garden statues could be placed in the center as a focal point for the sunny flower garden. You will want to use flowers that thrive in drought conditions and are less than the height of your focal point statues and rocks.

The following plants require dry soil and grow 1 to 3 feet for a rock garden: Just Peachy, Sea Lavender and Painted Tongues. You could then plant Snow-in-Summer plants as the outside border for the rock edging because they thrive in dry conditions and full sun.

The Garden Source: Inspirational Design Ideas for Gardens and Landscapes

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This is a must-have for anyone looking for garden design ideas. Hundreds of full-color images are cleverly arranged to offer thousands of possible design solutions and inspirations for any type of garden. The book includes gardens from all over the world and features projects by the best contemporary designers at work today, including Topher Delaney, James van Sweden, Piet Oudolf, Rick Darke, Sean Hogan, and many others. Alongside never-before-seen private gardens, the book also includes celebrated public spaces such as Manhattans High Linea disused elevated freight track redesigned into innovative, naturalistic plantingswhose ideas can be adapted for the home garden.

The book is divided into four sections: Connect looks at design features that act either as connecting or dividing elements; Divide considers elements that can be used to create rooms within gardens; Space explores different spatial types; and Styles covers every type of garden style throughout history, from cottage gardens to todays minimalist designs. Rounded out with a series of useful directories on designers, sources, and public gardens, this is the book for garden design ideas.

Make Your Own Garden Decorations

Gardens can be a private nook or an expansive retreat. No matter the size of your garden landscape, you can add a personal touch to your garden with homemade decorations. Purchase inexpensive crafts to build your own decorations or you can utilize your personal belongings. Choose to repurpose unused items around your home to create a whimsical decoration or display your favorite accessories. No matter your budget, you can create a variety of decorative items to accent your garden landscape. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

Windchime

1

Create a windchime using a large aluminum can and silverware set. Punch a small hole in the bottom of the aluminum can.

2

Pull the chain of a long silver necklace with a charm attached through the hole. If you do not have a charm for your necklace, you can add a washer to your chain prior to pulling it through the hole.

3

Punch additional holes in the base of your aluminum can. Wrap floral wire tightly around the handles of three spoons and three knives, leaving 8 inches of slack. Pull the unwound portion of the wire on each piece of flatware through the prepared holes. Twist the top of the wire to anchor the flatware to the can.

4

Hang personal trinkets from your wind chime to customize your design, and hang the chime from a tree branch.

Basket Flower Pots

5

Use three wicker baskets to create flower pots. Choose baskets in varying sizes and shapes.

6

Line the baskets with coffee filters to create a clean, simple drainage system.

7

Fill your baskets with soil and plant a perennial flower in each basket. Perennial flowers are an appropriate option because these flowers require little maintenance, but are long-lasting. Place your basket pots around your garden to accent garden furniture or along patio steps.

Colored Citronella Candle Holders

8

Collect unused glass jars and vases from your cabinets. Place appropriately sized citronella candles in the containers. For example, ensure that large pillar candles are paired with large, wide-mouthed jars that allow the candles to be easily removed and reinserted.

9

Lay a disposable picnic tablecloth over a table outdoors. Place a large pan, 9-by-13 inches or larger, or a plant saucer on top of your table. Use a dish that you don't mind getting stained by paint.

10

Fill the pan or saucer halfway with water. Add a layer of spray paint designed for floral crafts to the water. Spray the water lightly. You can find this type of paint in most craft stores.

11

Dip each jar or vase into the water, rotating it fully until all sides are covered in paint. Use tongs to avoid getting paint on your fingertips. Place the completed jars on your tablecloth to dry. Allow 8 hours for the paint to dry.

12

Test a small area on the rim of the jar to determine if the paint is dry. If the paint smudges when touched, it may need an additional hour to dry. When the paint dries, you will have "glazed" glass candleholders. When the candleholders are dry, place citronella candles in each jar and light them. The candles will function as a mild insect repellent as you relax outdoors.

Dramm 12380 Heavy-Duty Brass Adjustable Hose Nozzle

Features

• Great Cleanup Nozzle for walkways, patios, gutters and more
• Multiple spray patterns and flow volume are at your fingertips
• Twisting barrel adjusts water from fan to cone spray to powerful stream
• Manufactured in the U.S.A. from solid brass

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10-12380 Features: -Hose nozzle.-Great clean up nozzle.-Fan to cone spray.-Made in USA. Color/Finish: -Finish: Brass.

Tuff-Guard Extra Flexible, Kink Proof Garden Hose Assembly, Blue, 5/8" Male x Female GHT Connection, 5/8" ID, 100 Foot Length

Features

• 100-foot garden hose assembly for watering applications, washing vehicles, and other outdoor tasks
• Extruded three-ply construction with a polypropylene double helix exterior for stability to help resist kinks and knots
• Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) tube contains braided polyester core for flexibility and strength
• Machined brass male and female Garden Hose Thread (GHT) connections for spigot and nozzle attachments
• 100 pounds per square inch (psi) for maximum working pressure, 300 psi for burst pressure

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The Tuff-Guard is a 100-foot kink-proof garden hose assembly with 5/8" male and female Garden Hose Thread (GHT) connections for use in watering and wash-down applications. The garden hose has a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) tube for increased flexibility and easy maneuvering around the garden, and its internal braided core is made out of two-ply spiral polyester fiber for added strength. A polypropylene double helix coils around the hoses exterior for dimensional stability that helps resist kinking and crushing to maintain full water pressure while compressed. The double helix design also helps protect the hose from abrasion, is weather resistant, and weighs less than traditional hoses for easier portability.

Heavy-duty brass ferrules connect the garden hose to its end connectors. The ferrules are internally expanded instead of crimped to the hose to preserve its 5/8 internal diameter for optimum water flow and to prevent leakage. The garden hose has a male GHT connection on one end for attaching sprayers or sprinklers and a female GHT connection on the opposite end of the hose for connecting to male-threaded water spigots. The connectors machined brass provides corrosion resistance and strength to prevent crushing, and their design permits wrench tightening and loosening. The garden hose has a maximum working pressure of 100 pounds per square inch (psi), a burst pressure of 300 psi, and a vacuum rating of 29 inches of mercury (inHg). It has a temperature range of -20 degrees F to 158 degrees F and comes with a one-year warranty for workmanship and material defects. This Tuff-Guard extra flexible garden hose is suitable for use in lawn watering applications, wash-down tasks at worksites or home residences, and various other uses.

JGB Enterprises Inc. manufactures industrial and hydraulic hoses, assemblies, and accessories. Founded in 1977, JGB Enterprises Inc. is headquartered in Liverpool, NY, and meets International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2008 standards.

How to Build a Vertical Garden

Vertical gardening is the perfect solution for a small space where a garden must maintain a small footprint. Vertical gardening includes anything that takes growing plants and flowers and raises them up off the soil bed. Walls with natural hollows, hanging plants, trellises and graduated plant stands all contribute to a vertical garden.

Instructions

1. Assess the space and plan for a vertical garden of multiple layers to keep the garden interesting to the eye.
2. Decide on the backdrop first. Chain links or cross posts in fences create perfect anchors for plant hangers and trellis mounts. Use the existing divots of a wall of stucco or concrete, or create new divots to hold plugs of planting material where plants can root and grow. Consider an artificial wall specifically designed for growing vertical gardens, such as the Living Wall System by ELT Easy Green (see Resources).
3. Plan a second vertical garden layer using the wall, trellis or hangers as a backdrop. Make the second layer a little bit shorter than the backdrop. Consider potted trellises and hanger poles that support plants without the aid of a backdrop wall.
4. Decide on a third layer for the vertical garden that is somewhat shorter than the second layer. Use plant stands and elevated pots to keep the plants one level off the ground.
5. Use the ground as the last layer for in-ground planting beds and pots of plants. Use small potted trees as accents.
6. Add non-plant accents to complement the plants, to create visual interest and round out the garden. Wall ornaments, gazing balls, torches, hanging lanterns, hanging string lights and lights woven into the greenery keep the small space vertical garden from being too uniform or boring.
7. Include plant accents for the finishing touch, such as chia pets or other free standing plant forms that grow quickly and can be positioned anywhere in the vertical garden.
8. Vary the choice of plants so the vertical garden displays an array of greens along with mosses, grasses and various flowering plants.

source: eHow.com

How to Identify the Types of Ferns

One of the longest-living plant species in the world, ferns and fern allies count among them more than 12,000 different species. Ferns grow in northern climates where winter temperatures exceed -10 degrees Farenheit and in the warm and humid environs of tropical rainforests. Ferns grow in all parts of the world except sub-arctic locations. Ferns are one of the oldest type of plants. Ferns that lived more than 350 million years ago are the major component of coal, a fossil fuel. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1 Consult a fern identification guidebook or database. Guidebooks are available at the public library, online or at bookstores. Several websites provide interactive databases with photos of many of the different species of fern.
2




Newly emerging fern fronds are called fiddleheads.

Examine the underside of the fern leaf. Ferns propagate by rhizomes that spread under the soil and by spores that develop on the underside of the leaf. Spores resemble dots on the leaf. Spore spots are called sori. The spots may be black, brown, green or yellow and vary in size and pattern depending on the species of the fern.
3 Examine the size of the fern. Rattlesnake fern (Botrychium virginianum) is one of 12 species of grape fern that grow in the cooler regions of the United States, Canada and Europe. Rattlesnake fern is the most common of the grape ferns. Growing from 12 to 18 inches tall, the plant can be found in shaded, moist forests with nutrient-rich soil. The plant has a single leaf, paired with a single frond. Coin spot tree fern (Cyathea cooperi) is a large, evergreen tree fern that grows up 40 feet tall.
4 Look at the color of the stalk or stem. Fragile Fern (Cystopteris fragilis) also known as brittle fern, grows from 12 to 18 inches tall grows only in rich woodlands. Found mainly in rock outcroppings, this fern's leaves have a stalk or stripe that is a dark brown.

The New York Botanical Garden

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A verdant jewel and National Historic Landmark in the heart of New York City, the New York Botanical Garden is cherished by residents and visitors alike. Here, the institutions remarkable history and unparalleled collections are presented in one magnificent volumethe only comprehensive history of any of the worlds botanical gardenssure to inspire plant lovers, home gardeners, would-be horticulturists and scientists, and armchair naturalists alike.

Through hundreds of beautiful photographs commissioned especially for this book and reproductions of rare botanical art, readers can tour the Botanical Gardens 250 historic acres and admire the more than one million living plants in its care. The books engaging text describes the origins and purpose of a botanical garden, and provides a fascinating look at the Gardens groundbreaking scientific discoveries since its founding in 1891.