You’re not bad at gardening…
…you’ve just been told that peonies, roses, and hostas are what make a garden great. Whelp, those don’t work in every climate or all growing conditions. And they might not work for every lifestyle.
Peonies can be great once established. But if you plant them too deep, you won’t get blooms.
It’s easy to feel like a failure if you unknowingly plant them more than two inches below the surface. Usually we plant things deeper than that. So really, not your fault.
Roses are red and lovely, especially if they have a scent or ramble. But they don’t love frigid temps. They like moisture, but not too much moisture. Also, the maintenance is essentially death by a thousand cuts. And it must be done frequently, lest they take over.
It’s easy to feel like a failure if you have cold, wet winters and poorly draining clay soil (hello my fellow Zone 6a Midwesterners). And if you’re a busy human, pruning roses and getting tortured for doing so can feel unmotivating.
And hostas? Their leaves look good but, unfortunately, slugs, snails, rabbits, and deer agree. But like, as food.
Again, it’s easy to feel like a failure when your plants are constantly cut down by orcs, I mean critters.
Right Plant. Right Place.
You’ve been told what plants to buy. When they failed, it was “I don’t have a green thumb.” When it should have been, “Maybe this plant doesn’t fit my conditions.”
Or maybe you bought high maintenance plants (hey there, roses) that you didn’t have time to care for. Instead of a whimsical haven, you got an overgrown death pit.
Solution? Start out with some easy plants, ones that aren’t picky.
I’m not talking about your mother-in-law who says, “Oh I'm easy, I’ll eat anything” but will actually only eat four things.
These are the dudes who come home from the construction site and thrive on whatever food and drink is put in front of them, in any setting, no preferences, no complaints. Water? Whenever you get the chance, ma’am.
From personal experience, here are some easy-going native and cottage-garden plants. The only real requisite is full sun, otherwise, super happy with whatever you’ve got:
Whorled Milkweed
Anise Hyssop
Gaura
Whorled Milkweed
Calendula
Cosmos
Culver’s Root
Ohio Spiderwort
Spotted Bee Balm (not to be confused with regular bee balm which seems more persnickety)
The internet says that some of these need good drainage. Their success in my poorly draining garden suggests otherwise.
Bonus that these are loved by pollinators and would work together nicely in a color palette.
Starting with easy plants will make gardening less intimidating. When the flowers start to bloom, maybe ‘intimidating’ makes way to ‘surprising,’ which blossoms into ‘this is now my obsession.’ If that’s where you land, welcome to the exclusive club only gardeners can enjoy. Club perks include:
getting naturally high from seeing our plants grow
walking around our outdoor spaces with immense pride and ownership
having MAJOR bragging rights
enlightening non-gardeners on what they’re missing out on
learning something new every time you’re in the garden - we all do.
feeling like a do-gooder for doing a wee bit to help the planet and its creatures.
Welcome y’all. It’s good to have you.