Small Flower Plant for Zone 6.

Hola !
I am new in gardening, I would like to know about some Small Flower Plants ( 12" tall or less) for spring and summer (all around the year?) in zone 6 - New Jersey.

I have an small yard and I am looking for small plants in order to cover some space on it.
Some Ideas?
Thank You !

There are many, many small flowering plants that will grow where you live. Is the area sunny or shady, or both? What colour flowers would you like? Are you interested in annuals (live only one year but have a long blooming period) or periennials (live for years but have a shorter blooming period each year)?

I would rather Annuals... my place is mostly sunny with some periods of shadow.
I would prefer colorful flowers and smalls plants, aprox 12 inch +/- some inches

Thanx Rose.

Rose,
French Marigolds is one, easy from seed or started plants.

Sorry, I am Mikel, I mean to thanx to Rose for her help.

You are right Dale, I forgot this nice Flower, I had them in Orange and Yellow last year... they are really nice and long lasting, I just wonder if they have more colors.

Just wondering if there is another option.

Thank you very much !

Mikel, marigolds have a small range of color, zinnia is a little better colorwise, and many different sizes and shapes, also easy from seed.

Coleus>

Portulaca requires that you buy plants....

Cosmos Sonata stays low, other types don't

I didn't have any luck in zone 6 with zinnias or the cosmos. One of my very favorite low growing plants in zone 6 was Bellis Perennis which came in red, pink and white mix........then I put white alyssum around it. (which is a very low growing plant). Lobelia in blue did well for me.

I grew all of these in the summers of zone 6. Another surprising one was Gazania that did well. And never forget the geraniums in lots of colors . Petunias did great in that same zone in the summers.

Good luck
***edited to say I forgot the best of all. Iceland Poppies did beautifully from seed also. In fact, all kinds of poppies grew well from seed.

This message was edited Jan 22, 2009 9:12 PM

Here is Bellis, Alyssum and Anemone>

You can always just go to a retailer and try a mix of your own - tall, medium and short for the border. The photo below is just a bunch of pots that I bought and set together to see how the would look. Experimenting can be fun....

Oh, Dale...........I love your picture of Bellis, Alyssum and Anemone...........dreaming for me that next winter I will plant just what you have there.............looks like you have the tall bellis........I always grow the 6" plant........would love to try that one

Gessie,

I had to go thru my photo disks to find a full size photo of the Bellis Bed and yes they are the big flowered hybrids>

And this is that same job I had in Napa, CA. A different bed, Iceland poppies>

Same job, the Spainish Lavender hedge>

Bellis in front of GG Park Conservatory San Francisco>

I have never grown anything but the small one.............next winter I am going to try all sizes...........
I always love your pictures!

I planted some Bellis for a friend who lives out by Lake Travis, they go dormant in summer and come back in late Fall. Annie says they bloom their little hearts out every winter.

PS. Your better get started, they are a cool season plant. Now is the time to plant them.

Don't forget annual poppies (Papever rhoeas, shown) and California poppies (Eschscholzia californica)!

Dale, Austin is a lot colder than here. We use all these plants for our winters and plant in November. They do great throughout the winter here. Bellis perennes would die with out summer heat and sun. So.....they have to be planted as annuals each fall and winter.

I am so jealous it is so cold here.

On the bright side, arejay, you get to grow perennials like the big luscious poppies!

The only perennial I can think of that survives our summers might be hollyhock or coreopsis or echinacea.........we are totally dependent on annuals throughout our summers.

Mikel, one of the prettiest little gardens I planted was red, white and blue, way back in 1976 for the U.S. bi-centennial. The first row was white allysum, the second row was blue ageratum, and the third row was red button zinnias. The zinnias only grew 6-8". Burpee Seeds has a zinnia with mixed colors called Thumbelina, which grows to only 6" and is supposed to start blooming at 3". I think zinnias are so colorful.