Very new to gardening- what idiot-proof plants/flowers?

[FirstFallopians]

As the title suggests- I’m starting to dip my toes into gardening with some pot plants and hanging baskets.

I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing though.

I’m looking for interesting looking flowers and plants which are easy to look after and as a bonus, offer flowers or colour for a decent chunk of the year.

Any Recommendations? Especially for hanging baskets!

[LadyGardenersQuestionTime]

Garden centres often have mixed packs of things that look nice together. if it's called 'bedding' then it will do for this year and die at the end of the summer and that's fine for beginners.

Anything in a hanging basket will need regular watering and feeding; ditto anything in a small pot.

Some herbs are really tough - rosemary, oregano, thyme, mint - and will withstand some neglect. Nothing like eating what you're growing to make you feel like a good gardener.

If you are prepared to water/feed then there are tomatoes that do ok in hanging baskets - ask at the garden centre.

[ohfook]

Im also very new to gardening and have been putting a lot of Cordyline in my garden.
It's not died, it grows fairly quickly, it's only £4 in b&q and I think it looks quite good. It basically meets all of my criteria.
I agree with the pp about herbs. I've found coriander grows as easily as a weed but I always feel really fancy going out into the garden to snip a bit off to stick in my fajitas!

[FirstFallopians]

Thanks!!!!

It’s just so confusing at the garden centre with all the different terms- bedding, cottage plants etc, so this is a good start!

[viques]

For hanging baskets I use trailing geraniums, they don’t mind if you miss a day or three of watering. I like white ones, but the very dark red are lovely too.

For borders look for reliable perennials , that means they come up every year. I like cranesbill geraniums, lots of different colours/ leaves, penstemon, campanula, salvia , sedum,Siberian iris,geum, crocosmia, ladies mantle, hellebore, rudbeckia, .All easy to get hold of, don’t require much looking after, pretty reliable in most soils. After a few years you can usually divide the plants to make new free plants or share with friends.

I also like reliable things that will happily seed themselves around like cyclamen, acqualegia, (spelling) bronze fennel, California poppies, Nigella, field poppies, marigolds, Italian arum ( bit of a thug). They might take a bit of establishing but once they get going they will keep coming if you see what I mean..

Bulbs such as amaryllis, nerine are a bit harder to get going but lovely, so start yourself off with spring flowering bulbs, the usual suspects.

easy annuals like nasturtiums and morning glory are satisfying to grow. Herbs are pretty and do well in pots usually.

[hedgehogger1]

@ohfook

Im also very new to gardening and have been putting a lot of Cordyline in my garden.
It's not died, it grows fairly quickly, it's only £4 in b&q and I think it looks quite good. It basically meets all of my criteria.
I agree with the pp about herbs. I've found coriander grows as easily as a weed but I always feel really fancy going out into the garden to snip a bit off to stick in my fajitas!

Cordyline get big. Just to make you aware if you're putting loads in

[helly29]

Sarah Raven's podcast recently did a mini series on introduction to gardening, worth a listen! The podcast is called "Grow, cook, eat, arrange"

Good luck!

[mummabubs]

We moved to a new house a year ago with a huge garden, we came from a tiny new build with a North facing garden that nothing ever successfully grew in 😂 For my birthday this year my husband bought me the DK book "What Plant Where Encyclopedia" and it's been really helpful for planning which plants will work best in our space. Definitely recommend it.

[carefullycourageous]

First thing is how much sun does your garden get and what type of soil do you have?

For hanging baskets I favour things that can cope with drier conditions to avoid the need to water constantly.

[AWeekinJanuary]

I love pots filled with pelargoniums and I’ve never killed one yet, something I can’t say for lots of other plants I’ve bought sadly. They sometimes even survive until the next year. Fuschias are also really good if you want something that looks lush and spectacular with just watering.

My worst track record is with lavender. I’ll never buy another lavender plant as I just can’t face another drying to a husk in short order.

[Volterra]

Erysium Bowles mauve is really easy and flowers for ages. It will last for a few years but eventually burns itself out. There’s an orange one that is similar called Erysium Apricot twist if you want something brighter.

Geranium Rozanne is very easy and Mexican fleabane too. Heucheras are another and a sedum such as Autumn Joy.

[herecomesyour19thnervousbreakdown]

Rosemary often does well and has amazing flowers when it does bloom

Also hardy perennial comes back every year -

[FirstFallopians]

Thank you very much everyone, great advice here!

[PurpleFresias]

Following too ... Mumsnet is my go to place for most things, but I didn't know about the gardening thread! I'll be back with pics of my own woeful garden looking for some advice

[OldSpeclkledHen]

Shamelessly following 🙃

[lady0fshallot]

Following! Great thread!

[BlooberryBiskits]

Second Erysium Bowles, it’s a lovely plant. My tips would be :

• to have a peer at your neighbours’ gardens to see what is working for them
• try supermarkets vs garden centres: popular plants are generally easy to grow & if they are cheap then a failure is not so tragic
• think hard about what you can put on for early season colour (eg flowering shrubs - Viburnum seems a good option) and late season/winter interest - cosmos, some later flowering bulbs etc

[FanSpamTastic]

If you are looking to put in a border then consider gardenonaroll. It's like painting by numbers! I am not remotely green fingered but managed to plant up a border using this company.

[TheDogsMother]

Loads of great advice here. If you'd like excellent cutting flowers for months on end try Dahlias. There are some great modern colours available, not just pastels, and they flower from the end of June to October. Mine are in one end of the veg plot and I never lift them though we are quite far south.