Newbie Blackthumb in Georgia

Hello everyone!

I'm Karen from South Georgia and I need some help with my black thumbs. I have desperately tried to grow some flowers in my garden the past 3 years and I always manage to kill them or they just don't thrive. I know the heat and humidity down here can be a factor (so maybe it's not all my fault), but that being said, perhaps I have a tendency to overwater with it being so hot.
Last year I planted Livingstone Daisies (Ice plant) for the umpteenth time and they sprouted fine, and grew nicely for about 2 months, they looked really healthy during this time and then they got rather "leggy" looking, the roots never seem to go very deep and then shortly after they started to die off. I know now that I did overwater them which caused them to rot, but I don't understand why the roots don't grow deeper. Does anyone have any pointers?
I just sowed some new ones today and I'm hoping that this year maybe I'll get it right.

I also planted some angel trumpets (datura) last summer and I saw one bloom the entire season and then the pods that form after the bloom dies off, never really matured. I can't figure that out either because in previous years we've had an abundance of blooms and pods on very healthy plants.

I tried to grow a beautiful flower called Malope and it didn't bloom either. I'm not sure but I think it has survived the winter because there are some happy little plants in the pots near where I grew those but without having seen a bloom I'm not familiar with whether it's Malope or Malva - they grew near each other and neither plant did anything but produce a few leaves.

What am I doing wrong? I was told by a greenhouse expert near here that planting the seeds in Miracle Gro or similar potting mixes causes fertilizer toxicity, so I used ordinary top soil with nothing added to it except some vermiculite to promote drainage and once the plants were about 2-3 inches tall, I added some root starter from Ferti-loam. I thought that would be a good thing but again, it didn't seem to help much.
Oh yeah - we also have a terrific experimental weed garden as well - can't seem to get rid of them which doesn't help matters when they are choking out the plants we actually want. I do spend a lot of time weeding by hand but there is so much of it that I just can't keep up. We're hesitant to use weedkillers like Round-Up and whatnot, because we don't want to hurt exisiting shrubbery and wildlife. I tried boiling water and vinegar (not together) but that didn't do anything at all (maybe that was stupid but someone told me to try that) and now I'm not sure what to do.

Anything you have to offer as far as what I'm doing wrong or just solid advice would be appreciated. I just want to see a healthy and beautiful garden this year and I'm determined to try my best to make that happen.

PS - the photo I've included is how our angel trumpets looked 3 years ago. Can't seem to get that back.

Hi Karen. A few questions.

Do you amend your soil with organic material? (shredded leaves, compost, etc) Most of Georgia has pretty heavy clay soil and that makes it hard for some plants to thrive. Clay soil tends to hold water, compact easily and generally make it hard for things like your daisy's roots to push through.

Do you use mulch? A layer of bark, straw, pine needles etc at least a couple inches thick will help with the weed problem.

There are products called pre-emergents (Preen, Amaze) that you can put down to help stop weed seeds from sprouting. Do not use them in beds that you have sown seeds in as they will stop them from sprouting also.

http://www.mygreenutah.com/tips_tricks/preemergent.html

I have nothing growing directly in the garden other than azaleas and other shrubbery which seems to be doing fine for the most part. It was already planted there when we moved into this house. With the seeds I've tried planting, I use store bought potting mixes which usually have everything necessary. However, as I mentioned earlier, last year someone at a greenhouse told me that soils such as Miracle Gro or similar can cause fertilizer toxicity to seedlings, so she instructed me to use straight top soil with no fertilizers in it. I did that and then added root starter once the seedlings were big enough and periodically throughout the summer I also started to add Miracle Gro liquid to the plants but again, only a few of them bloomed and the daisies not at all.
I had some success with the Painted Tongue (Salpiglossis) and managed to get a few blooms out of them, but that was really all.
You're right that the soil is mostly clay here and very heavy which is the reason I've opted to use pots with potting mixes instead. I have had some amaryllis planted in my front flower bed, which faces north, for 3 years. They did great as far as sprouting each year and the leaves grew fine, but I never saw a bloom. I dug up the bulbs the other day and I plan to put them into a pot to see if they will do better in there. We just purchased some mushroom compost and cow manure to see if that will help with our vegetable garden and perhaps we'll try it with some other plants as well. I've never used either of those before so I'm paranoid about adding too much.
I will look into getting the Preen to see if maybe we can clean up the front flower bed now that there are no plants in it and try to put some established bedding plants in it next year if the Preen does the job.
Thanks for your reply, I will definitely give that stuff a try asap.

I would suggest first is you get your soil tested to see if it needs any nutrients It is sometimes very tempting to just start planting because you want some color but you need to see what kind of conditions you have first. Some plants thrive in sun and humidity while others like sun and drier conditions so you need to make sure your putting the right plant in the right place.
Until knowing what you have why not do containers? You need a soil mix made especially for containers.

My parents lived in GA and my dad had an amazing yard, it can be done with the GA red clay.

You can suppress weeds with newspaper what we call "lasagna gardening" is a great way to amend a garden bed or start a new one.
You can read up on that here...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1037637/

If you are starting seeds you need to use a seed starter mix. and then plant them in the ground...some seeds you can direct sow( will say on the seed pack), in good garden soil.

Hi Karen,
I have clay soil over here in MS too. I've been adding lots of leaves to my vegetable garden each winter and I mulch all my vegetables with wheat straw. Hubby disks it all in for me each January so it will be ready for spring planting. About that mushroom compost and cow manure--it will be hard to use too much because it's so low in nitrogen. I dig a trench about four inches deep and fill it three quarters full with either mushroom or cow manure, then add my seeds and cover them. I use it for things like cucumbers, squash, watermelons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, etc., and they all grow strong and produce lots of fruit. One other tip: I buy only Black Kow because it's actually composted cow manure whereas many other brands are at least half sand which doesn't do your garden any good. If you want to try it, it comes in a yellow and black bag and I always find it at Lowe's. Good luck with your garden.

Thank you everyone for your replies and advice. I sincerely appreciate all the tips I've gotten and I will definitely see what I can put together after making notes on all of your suggestions. Hopefully I can post some pictures of my garden this summer that I can actually be proud of for a change.
I look forward to learning more gardening tips from this site. Thanks again!

Karen

More than anything, Karen, gardens are supposed to be fun. I hope yours brings you lots of joy and bright blooms.