The front of my house faces east.  Then of course the back is facing west.  Each area has tremendous sun but only for part of the day.  I have fried an egg on our front deck :)  I have and still have a problem knowing what to put out front and out back.  Everything I try is a failure.  Impatiens work well on the north side.  Not much room on the south side, but some.  South gets blazing sun all day.

I am excellent with house plants, but I would like some Spring, Summer, Fall, outdoor-flower garden fun.  I really love flowers.  It bothers me that I have problems growing, I have almost given up!!

I have a raised bed for flowers on the east/front side...and a long bed in the west/back side, I did have some luck with catnip...it comes back each year, but nothing else survives.

p.s. I am in very rural "windy" area of sw Minn.  There is nothing to stop the southern wind.

Help

If you want flowers that like sun, you can choose sunflowers with all heights. If you want short ones, the Teddy Bear sunflower is short and the flowers feel just like a teddy bear. Hollyhocks are good in your area. My Mother in SD used to raise them on the East side of the house and they come in all kinds of colors. Zinnias also have lots of colors and heights and have value to attract butterflys. Here in eastcentral MN we have morning glory plants on the west side of the house. When tied to a trellis they withstand a lot of wind.

Apr 17, 2009 -- 9:42PM, cann wrote:

The front of my house faces east.  Then of course the back is facing west.  Each area has tremendous sun but only for part of the day.  I have fried an egg on our front deck :)  I have and still have a problem knowing what to put out front and out back.  Everything I try is a failure.  Impatiens work well on the north side.  Not much room on the south side, but some.  South gets blazing sun all day.

I am excellent with house plants, but I would like some Spring, Summer, Fall, outdoor-flower garden fun.  I really love flowers.  It bothers me that I have problems growing, I have almost given up!!

I have a raised bed for flowers on the east/front side...and a long bed in the west/back side, I did have some luck with catnip...it comes back each year, but nothing else survives.

p.s. I am in very rural "windy" area of sw Minn.  There is nothing to stop the southern wind.

Help

Maureen has made a fantastic point about the need for some form of windbreak for you to really get a grip on taming the landscape for a flower garden, especially if you are on the Buffalo Ridge west of Marshall!! Not only is wind in summer a problem, the wind in winter will likely be blowing off any protective snowcover from atop the flower beds, exposing any perennials to the bitter cold. And, since you're in southwestern Minnesota, do you have a problem with rabbits?

A quick fix for you would be to buy a roll or two of cribbing. Box out a nice 30 x 30' area (for example) and place the cribbing around it to lessen the wind in your now fenced-in flower garden. Building upon Maureen's recommendations, you can start planting shrubs on the outside of the cribbing to begin to create a nice green windbreak. The fastest arborvitae (an evergreen) for you there would be the Techny arborvitae to use as a hedge. Also popular would be any red-osier dogwoods, the classic lilac, Siberian pea or alpine currant (all four of these are deciduous but are ornamental!!). Form a solid line or a cluster of these shrubs per your aesthetics.

Classic Minnesota garden perennials for you to use within your enclosed space would be daylily, peony, bearded iris, and  Autumn Joy sedum. Grow them in a line or in a cluster in full sun. All four of these are easy to propagate and locate in nurseries and catalogs and chances are someone locally you know will likely let you dig up some plants from their garden and bring to yours!

With the black loam soil of the prairie, you have lots of options for annual flowers. And, with the cribbing helping to protect the plants from the nasty summer southeast winds, you can better create an area for a wide array of annuals--either ones you start from seed (like the easy zinnia, bells of Ireland, sunflower, hollyhock and cosmos), to ones you may want to get as starter packs from the nursery (such as petunia, vinca, celosia). In a sunny, wind-protected spot you can try dahlias and gladioulus tubers/bulbs.

The world is your oyster, but take a breath and realize you should start small and get a grasp on one area of your property that you have found you can easily manage and have success in. In other areas where there is just lawn for now you can also invest in a couple of tough shade or accent trees such as a Colorado or Black Hills spruce, a crabapple, Manchurian apricot, Kentucky coffee tree,  or mountain ash, basswood, or sugar maple, among others!

I sense a simple, protected, fenced-in flower garden may prove perfect for you this first summer!

PS, I've sent you a private email so that a fellow native southwestern Minnesotan can give you leads on plants and nurseries! I wish you well!

Hi Carol! Glad to know you're determined and interested in becoming a successful gardener, even if challenged with a seemingly tough situation!!

I believe there may be a few snafus in the system currently and that may be a reason why your email attempt failed.

Since you wish to post photos of your house and property, might I suggest you start a blog? Think of it as your journal of thoughts, questions, frustrations and ideas. Intermingly occasional photos or posing questions makes for an excellent reading, and anyone can comment to your blog, too, on that very posting page. Others and I can check in as you post new topics/entries and contribute ideas or suggestions if that is what you wish or ask.

If you haven't already, the link for Blogs is in the orange menu bar above, and you can set up some basic information and perhaps post your first notes. The blog-writing can be very theraprutic and helpful in getting your ducks in a row when it comes to goals for your garden.