Where do I start?

I am really new to gardening. This will be my first attempt (well since I was a kid and planted a garden!!) I recently moved up to Ohio and would like to start a cutting garden, but I am not sure what kind of plants would be good. I have no pets but I have seen cats and dogs around my neighborhood. I also have a 2 year old so I want to make sure what I plant is safe for him. I would like to plant other things around my yard because we have an acre of land but I want to start with a cutting garden. Please help!!

First you need to look at your gardening spaces. Sun or shade ? Soil conditions; sandy, clay, loam, well draining, wet. Whenever I start a new bed, I take notes at various times of the day, where is the sun at 9am, noon, late afternoon, etc. How close is the outside water source ? This will get more important as the season marches on, you may not want to be lugging hoses 200 feet in the heat of Summer. Please consider a soil test done thru your local Extension office, it will help you identify what nutrients the soil may be lacking, saving you time & $$ in the long run.

Annuals will give you a quick start, but please consider some perennials for the long haul.
I like zinnias , direct sown into their spot. They come is many colors, sizes and heigths, mulching after they've grown a foot or so, seems to cut down on the fungal diseases that they can acquire. Their seeds are large enough that even toddlers can help sow them, a plus in my book. Cosmos are an airy delight. Amaranthus are interesting in bouquets and grow like crazy. Hyssop, snapdragons, the tall marigolds, sunflowers - look for "multi branching" on the package, ageratum- the tall ones.

Perennials for cutting - and landscaping- hydrangea, bearded and non-bearded iris, penstemons, peonies. hosta flowers look good in a bouquet, spirea. Even adding one or two a year adds up.

Have fun with it. Don't worry about failures, also known as experience.

Start slow and small.Expand every year.Plant tried and true favorites.Try some new plants every year.Keep a garden journal,take notes every couple of weeks.Ask all the questions you want,here at DG.We live and breathe gardening.Remember to have fun with it.Go to the library and get some books on gardening.Edge

I've only been gardening outside for a couple years. (I've always really been into houseplants). I haven't really made any flower bouquets, so I don't know too much about cut flowers. But if you are interested in anything else here are some ideas for easy plants.

Seed directly outside:
Alyssum- low growing plant; small white flowers in about 5-6 wks.
Celosia- about 3' tall; colorful plumes of pink, orange, and yellow in about 3 mo.
Lettuce- use colorful varieties; nice impact fairly quickly; good for cool, shade
Zinnia giant- about 3 1/2' tall; flowers pretty quickly but sometimes needs stakes
and sometimes have problem with unattractive fungus. I don't think it is harmful
(might want to check) but the flowers are worth it.
Zinnia lilliput/dwart- about 2' tall
Carrots- have a nice, lacy foliage that can be used as a filler/border plus benefit of
the carrot itself at the end of season.
Sunflower

Store bought:
Marigold
Petunia
Salvia
Ageratum
Vinca
Coleus-shade
White silverdust
Tomato
Sweet potato vine-shade

Plants I had a harder time with:
Cosmos- about 3 1/2' -4' tall, needs staked, I've always had to wait until about
Sep. before I got any flowers (I even started them inside early)
Snapdragon- spent a lot of time planting them, only flowered couple weeks in
spring, then a short time in fall
Viola/Pansy- cool weather plants, didn't make it through the hot summer
Dianthus/Sweet william- needs consistant waterings to produce a lot of flowers
Impatiens- need a lot of water and fertilizer to make them flower like they do when
you first buy them at the store
Morning glory- only flowers in morning, start to spread every year to places you
don't want them to be at

There are many, many more plants to chose from. These are all very common and I think they are good starter plants.
Here are some tips if you are interested:
Don't use hay as a mulch. I've done this before, bad idea. Hay has a lot of weed seeds and it was not fun pulling them out.
You can lay landscape fabric down before you plant. Just cut holes for your plants. It helps with the weeds, but it takes a while to do it.
If you have access to a rototiller it really helps. When I first started I didn't have one and prepared my beds by hand. (Luckily, my stepson loved to dig in the dirt, lol)
If you have the time and patience, install landscape edging. It helps the grass from spreading into your beds and makes it easier to mow. They sell rolls of black edging at most stores for pretty cheap.
BTW poisonous houseplant: Dieffenbachia (there are other ones,just don't know what they are)
I guess non-poisonous flowers- Honeysuckle. The kids use to eat them all the time. They were infatuated with them. (My stepdaughter likes to eat leaves of any flower/leaf she gets her hands on. Don't know why, I tried to explain some are poisonous-she's been lucky so far.)
Anyway, good luck with your garden!

This is my second season of gardening so I am not one to be giving advice. Last year was such a learning experience for me, as I planted shade plants in the sun and sun plants in the shade. I like to say that in that one season, I was gifted with two planting times, as I had to move several things!

I would suggest though, if they grow well in your area, to plant some coneflowers. They are beautiful, not to mention, they practically take care of themselves. Coming originally, I believe, from the dessert, they require hardly any water at all, just sunshine!

You've been given excellent advice so far. I agree that it's very important to get your soil tested and probably adding amendments.

Please take lots of "before" pictures. This is something that I regret not doing. I really wish that I could show people what my yard started out like and how far it's come. I took pictures the second year after I started changing it but it's just not the same.

hi newbie, i am new to gardening too, so last year i dug my beds. here is a pic...my roses are on the left of the pic (and blanket flower, a perennial)
this is my before picture, with a hydrangea in the pot

ok HERE is the pic (i hope)

here is the same bed, in August, these are zinnias

and same bed again in october. these are cosmos. very easy to grow and they last a longgg time. i directly sewed the zinnias and cosmos:) -Vicki

Pretty Zinnias. Did you have lots of butterflies?

I am new to gardening too. I second the recommendation for sunflower and cosmos, if you have a sunny garden. Nasturtium (Tropeolum majus) is another winner, and it's edible. Nasturtium is not tall, but it does make a pretty cut flower for short bouquets, and the leaves are ornamental too. They are all easy to grow from seed directly sown in the garden, and the seeds are large and easy to handle. Your 2 year old might enjoy helping sow the nasturtium.

velnita- we had a few, maybe we have more this year? im not good at identifying butterflies, we had the black ones and quite a few of the small purple ones. moonflower attracts those large moths, i thought that was pretty cool
rosemary-i may have to try nasturtium-pretty blooms!

nogreenthumb...what type of coneflower did you post??? all of you gardener's pics of your flowers are beautiful...great job!!!

I don't have that particular coneflower but it looks like Coconut Lime (if I'm wrong hopefully nogreenthumb will come back and correct me).

Here are some great reference books to add to your library and get you started.

http://www.abbyjenkins.com/2009/03/git-along-little-garden.html

Of course you are already in the right place here at DG! I have learned more here, thru all the members, than I could have in a lifetime of trial and error. Welcome!

I have purple coneflowers and the yellow and yellow and brown mexican hats(prarie coneflowers)
Liatris (gay flowers) bloom at the same time are the same color and look good together.Am also a petunia lover you can get seeds or plants. They come in many colors.pink,red, white, purple.Marigolds are sturdy drought plants.

The coneflower is coconut lime! I'm very excited to say I've seen some new growth on that plant already this season!

Thanks for the compliment on my flowers virginbred. Last year...my very first attempt at planting anything...I went to a local nursery and just told them that I had never ever planted anything at all. They were very helpful in telling me what things would grow best in my area. There is a new (to me anyway) coneflower for this year that is red. I think it's just beautiful. I don't know if I'm partial to the coneflowers because they are so easy to grow or because of their beauty...whichever it is...I just love them!

The nursery that I go to have a 75% sale at the end of the season. When that time came around those ladies really loaded me up!

Happy Gardening!

Lisa

NoGreenThumbTN,
I love coneflowers for both reasons--they're both beautiful and easy to grow. I also love their long blooming season.

lisa...i had a beautiful prolific purple coneflower that came back year after year...i loved saving the seed heads and putting them in dried arrangements...my sweet husband was putting some roundup out early spring thinking to catch the weeds before they got out of hand and accidentally mistook my coneflower for a weed...alas it was no more...i was crushed...

I"m brand new myself, good luck with getting started!

Jerrod

I planted a few purple coneflowers last year too, I just love them. I want more...I planted mine with ornamental grasses and guara whirling butterflies. It's the one area I'm happy with!

Virginbred...Oh My Gosh...That's awful!

Lynnie...I've tried to read everything I can about them. I've learned that, in about four years time they will need to be seperated. Also...they reseed themselves and multiply in your garden. I so hope that's true!

Salvias attract bees and butterflies, also some hummers, so you might want to consider some perennial salvias for your garden. And bronze fennel is host to the Eastern Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar. My fennel is covered with them in summer! And the bronze foliage is just a lovely backdrop for blossoms.

If you need some shrubs, my weigela also attracts hummers.

Have fun!

Angie

Hemophobic, that's funny, I planted a few salvias in that area too! Now I don't remember why, I think I wanted to put purple there.
NoGreenThumb, we could have the same screen name ;) maybe I'd be called SERIOUSLY no green thumb lol I would be ecstatic if those coneflowers seeded or multiplied, can't wait to even divide 'em...(although I'd be afraid to kill them). They're so expensive. I need to read up on them, myself, I need to cut them back.

Lynnie...A few of mine already have new green leaves...almost coming up from the ground. They are expensive...but like I said...every where that I've read says that they do re-seed themselves! I can't wait to find out...:)

Lisa