what wound be my best choice of garden plants?

Question

I want to start a garden in the spring infront of my south facing living room window. There is a tree on my front lawn, but it is still not all that big. I figure it to be about 2 story's high at the moment but I don't yet know what kind it is.

I don't have a lot of money to work with, but I would like my place to look nice, I miss my garden since we moved here. I left a garden full of alysum and the name if the other flower has slipped my mind right now, it has pea sized white seeds and the flowers were yellow, orange and orange-red. It was also crawling. Anyway we moved the end of July to a townhouse with garden space in front, but nothing in it, except my recycle and compost bins right now.

I had the idea to put in some spikes, probably either 1 big one in the middle or 1 on each end. If the one I have now survives through this currently snowless winter, I will use it in the garden. I am not sure what flowers to use in this garden though. I like calendulas and dwarf buddies.

I am in Southern Ontario, so nothing tropical will work.

I was just looking at a plant hardiness map on botany.com and my area is 5a, 5b or 6a.
They are all close in colour as far as I can tell.

The other plant was nasturtium and it looked like it was growing wild in my shade garden. My garden at that house was 100% north facing as was the house so it really only got the morning sun for a couple hours. The alysum never did very well in with the nasturtium in the shade, I think it got crowded out. I picked off a bunch of seeds and threw them back in the day before we moved from there, so I think the new tennants in that house are going to have a nice garden next summer.
Also for digitalis, Ontario is in Canada. We are having a very mild winter so far, no snow yet, so I really have no idea what to expect for spring and summer this year. Even hotter than last year probably, I better buy a second garden hose to keep up with my garden's thirst. I am also worried that there is a downspout right at the end of my garden, it killed that part of my garden last year so I am not sure how to avoid this problem this year. I want to raise the garden bed somewhere between 6" & 1'.

I want to raise it so I can see it from my living room and also so I have more room to add better soil, the ground seems pretty unforgiving right now, I barely saw weeds grow there in the summer. I plan to add drift wood to the corners of my front yard, it is a small yard, maybe chip out some holes and put in chicks and hens, and something simple and fairly short in front of that. I am debating weather to put anything around the base of the tree or maybe just a small ring of mulch. I have RBG size dreams on balcony box size money. I also plan to have a few puts of veggies in the back yard, I want to keep them in buckets as the backyard is fairly shady because there are bigger trees behind my small backyard. I live in low income housing so I don't get a lot of room to be creative outside and my cats will eat anything I bring inside. I just want the place to look nice and be comfortable here.

I grew up in an apartment, now my own family, we live in a townhouse. My mom always had many many plants around, and still does. There is only 1 rood in the apt that doesn't have any plants in it and that is the bathroom. I love having plants around and I want to hopefully pass that love of plants and gardening on to our son and any other children we have in the future. I actually want to speak to management of this complex and see if there is room somewhere on the property to make a community garden, just for the complex. I am sure there would be a lot of interest with my neighbors.

Answer 1

Truthfully, your best bet would be to go to a garden center in your area and see what they have to offer. There help usually are very informative and can even help you pick out bulbs for fall flowering and next spring--

Good luck to you and your new garden to be!

Answer 2

You obviously must have a lot of sun there. So make sure you get plants that are for a sunny location. Which is the large majority of them. You can never go wrong with Black Eyed Susan, Shasta Daisy, Purple Cone Flower, Blanket Flower, Lilies, Fall Asters, Tulips, Daffadils. These bloom at different times, so you will have color, they also multiply every year, thus allowing you to divide and transplant. Have Fun!

Answer 3

i think the other plant was nasturtiums, Go buy a couple of punnets of seedlings and try out the differant varieties, i normally get 1/2 dozen varieties at a time and see what works

I dont know what country you live in, so it is hard to say what will grow, if you know your seasons, match them with the descriptions on the tags on plants at your local nursery.

Answer 4

I looked up zone 5 online you still have a wonderful selection of flowers and bulbs-I live in Montana zone 4 but some of my favorite bulbs and flowers are allium,asters, astilbe,bee balm,liatris,wisteria,black eyed susan,butterfly bush,CATMINT,clematis,columbine,COREOPIS you still have a very wide choice of flowers so ENJOY!

Answer 5

Tough zone. Below is a link you might enjoy, a little difficult to navigate at first, but have a look around. Go to "visit forums" to see if you want to sign up it's free. Have fun!

http://www.gardenhere.com/