Question
I have a summer house that was purchased last year for just the summer.  We don't spend time there the rest of the year.  Maintenance is therefore a problem when it comes to gardening.  I am not a very energetic gardening afficianado.  But I do like a few flowers in the summer especially in the afternoon when we all congregate.  Can you give me any advice concerning the best approach to this, given our lifestyle?  There is a great deal of sun and I have some general help for basic work but not much else.  Thankyou.

Answer
Some basic answers here - Annuals are fairly basic and undemanding.  Most need a great deal of sun, which you have.

I would like to add however that many summer-blooming bulbs will give you the color you want with the nofuss nomuss cultivation that you require.

In addition, if you are in the habit of building up your soil, rather than piecemeal fertilizing of plants, you will have soil so rich that only the most demanding garden dictators can deplete (Roses for instance would still be off the list - they are heavy feeders, attract all kinds of insects and fungi, and not much to look at when not in bloom).

I.  ANNUALS:  

1.  Annual sprees for White and Pink Petunias in parts of your garden that bake and fry in the hot sun will not be disappointing.  Just make sure you deadhead as often as you can and once a month cut the main stem down to half to get it to branch and consequently flower even further.

2.  White Sweet Alyssum is a low growing Petunia companion.  It too should be cut down by half and baked outside.  These are practically groundcovers, they are so short.  Both Petunias and Sweet Alyssum are fragrant, especially at night, and especially if watered on schedule.

3.  Blue Lobelia is more shade-tolerant than Alyssum and provides a riveting azure blue to the garden that is unmatched almost anywhere.

4.  Bachelor Buttons are also a beautiful blue color.  These are taller and usually bloom like crazy.

5.  Yellow Marigolds.  Not the usual Orange or Multicolored blooms - bright yellow.  Have your General Help deadhead daily for longest bloom and cut in half monthly to get more branches and flowers for the rest of the season.

DO NOT FERTILIZE!  Maintenance in this case is watering daily as deep and thoroughly as possible, not fertilizing.  Deadheading will extend bloom.  If you fertilize, however, you will ruin everything.  Make sure the General Help understands you NEVER want your annuals fertilized.

II.  PERENNIALS

I cannot ignore them - just don't get any high maintenance ones.  Especially if you have General Help for the basics:

1.  Oriental Poppies bloom around Memorial Day and into the next few weeks around Long Island.  If you are South of us, you may get earlier blooms.  Depending on how early you get to your Summer Residence, these could be a good idea or just plain invisible by the time you arrive.  If "Summer" to you begins on Memorial Day, this is one showstopper you don't want to miss.  The blooms are enormous and traffic stopping.  Yet all it asks for is serious drainage and full sun.  Have the General Help amend your flowerbed with half coarse sand to keep them happy and have the spent flowers snipped to get energy toward next year's gigantic blossoms. I am partial to vivid red and the sophisticated peach colors that contrast with the rest of the summer's sailboat-color hues.

2.  Yellow Heliopsis flowers are tall, graceful and vividly colored.  They need water and full sun.

3.  Hydrangeas are shrubs, but they're all over Nantucket for a reason.  These sky blue beauties generate enormous blooms that are popular enough to be reproduced on Waverly sheets, pillowcases and wallpaper.  Newer hybrids are bluer than ever.  Just make sure it has lots of space.  Bloom comes in mid-summer.

4.  Delphiniums are so unreliable they may as well be annuals.  If you've got money to throw out the window and the General Help knows how to stake these, get your hands on a few dozen Delphiniums for June.  If June is too early for you, have the General Help disbud and deadhead through June until late summer - these will bloom with abandon in August and September if they don't have the chance in June.  Early disbudding is the secret.  Better still, pinch so much that the plant doesn't even have the chance to THINK about blooming.

III.  BULBS:

Alliums bloom in May and June.  What's so wonderful about these is that they live on sun and soil only; rainwater will suffice.  They are so unobtrusive when not in bloom that every house should have a few dozen.

You'll find these all at Graceful Gardens (www.gracefulgardens.com), Bluestone Perennials (www.bluestoneperennials.com) and Brent and Becky's Bulbs (www.brentandbeckys.com) for ordering online.  Have them delivered to the General Help so they can get started.  You can always move them if you don't like the first location - just like furniture!

Good luck and thanks for asking.  These are my favorite questions.